I thought this excerpt from a recent RootsWeb Review might provide valuable hints and directions for some of our listers. In a message dated 9/19/2002 12:41:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: [quote] << Many of us use e-mail to communicate with others who are doing genealogical research on a surname, locality, or topic of mutual interest. We often copy multiple friends, family members and other researchers when discussing these subjects. However, prolonged discussions can become unwieldy as the group grows and the e-mail addresses of group members constantly change. It was from this concept of shared discussion among individuals with common research interests that the idea of Mailing Lists was born. The first and largest genealogy Mailing List, ROOTS-L, was started in 1987. Today there are many types of Mailing Lists at RootsWeb and elsewhere covering almost every subject imaginable. RootsWeb Mailing Lists are all free and cover a wide variety of genealogy-related topics. There are lists dealing with surnames, various geographic locations, or a variety of topics such as ethnic, religious, or occupational groups, lists that offer census lookups, or even lists devoted exclusively to the descendants of a specific ancestor. There are lists to provide help with the use of RootsWeb resources, help with genealogy and computer software programs, and general computer and Internet help with the goal of assisting you in your genealogical research. Mailing Lists are also available for the use of the various volunteer organizations hosted by RootsWeb. RootsWeb lists use a software program called SmartList to process requests to subscribe and unsubscribe, to manage the subscriber list, and to handle the distribution of mail to list members. All RootsWeb lists are "closed" lists, which means that only a Mailing List subscriber may post a message. Having closed Mailing Lists helps to ensure that they remain spam-free and secure. RootsWeb Mailing Lists do not permit attachments and limit all messages to plain text -- ensuring that viruses and malicious code cannot make their way to the Mailing List subscribers via the list itself. Volunteer Mailing List administrators manage most of RootsWeb's more than 25,500 lists. List administrators set their own rules for the lists within the bounds of RootsWeb's AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). Mailing Lists often develop a personality or atmosphere of their own as a result of the management style of the administrator and the contributions of the members. Some lists, such as those for rare surnames, have only a few members and limited, but vital discussion, while other lists have thousands of subscribers with hundreds of messages posted every day. Often researchers decide whether to subscribe to a list in mail mode or digest mode based on the number of messages they receive from the list on a daily basis. Subscribing to Mailing Lists gives you access to the knowledge of expert list members on the subjects the lists cover, such as what records are available in a specific locality during a specific time period and where and how to obtain copies, or what records were maintained by a specific religious group. Most lists have long-time subscribers who are willing and able to answer your queries or to direct you to someone who can. Mailing Lists put you in touch with others looking for the same information and those who are willing to share their knowledge. Mailing Lists encourage in-depth discussion within the group, and joining a Mailing List often leads to finding new cousins. RootsWeb's Mailing Lists are listed under these categories: Surnames, U.S.A. (locality specific), International, and Other. You can subscribe and unsubscribe from a Mailing List at any time as your needs and interests change. While subscribed to a list, you may post messages for distribution to all list subscribers and you will receive copies of all messages posted by the other list members. You may subscribe in regular mail or list mode (almost always designated by: -L) and receive a single copy of each individual message sent by other list members to the list, or in what's called digest mode (almost always: -D) and receive a digest -- a collection of several messages lumped together into one e-mail. See Section 5 [of the RootsWeb Review] for information about brand-new Mailing Lists at RootsWeb. To find and join the RootsWeb's Mailing Lists that meet your needs click on the Mailing Lists tab near the top of the RootsWeb Home Page http://www.rootsweb.com or go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ >> [unquote] OR - see our list tagline for the address of John Fuller's remarkable list of lists: http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html a winner!