Yes, it's time, trust me. I'll be honest, we call much of that 'antics with semantics', and no one wins. After 30 years of math teaching, with the turning-in of a late homework paper often escalating into a Supreme Court arguement . . . my eyes/ears say it's time. I'm in my 5th year with Ancestry, the subscription is my Christmas present from an understanding spouse. I use it by the hour, especially the Census records. I know a search-engine when I see it, and Ancestry's is good. Once you get the parameters & quirks sorted-out, it's very good. In my opinion the code-witing is brilliant, and in a non-Defense Dept venue, too. >From 1750 all the way up to 1930 with my direct German/Swiss 6-gens, meeting 6th Cousins online; and as an amusement sorting out a bunch of Soucie (speaking of being able to easily explore spelling variations - and horrible handwriting) shirttail relatives who came with Fr. Chinquey from Quebec to St. Anne's, Kankakee County & environs. And learned a lot of history I never knew, even growing-up only an hour north of there. I've made some miracle-saves, German and French (confirmed by different sources, of course), just because of the tenuous leads I can follow/exhaust. Because of some recent health problems . . . without it I would be nowhere. I still hope to visit the Newberry, only a hour METRA ride away, but not until I can do it in better shape. Ditto a visit to the Ft. Wayne library. And, a visit to Shenandoah County, VA. As you can tell, I'm dangling some very important juicy carrots under my own nose to speed my recovery. Keep up the Good Gen Work -- I really appreciate learning from experts, and I put both of you in that category. This is a GREAT LIST to subscribe to! Sue > > Now I know you can continue this conversation forever but I think we > > ought to wind it up before everyone's eyes glaze over. > Richard