From the Association of Professinal Genealogists mailing list; posted by Joan Young, list administrator. APG Mailing List, The Association of Professional Genealogists http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html What is being SOLD is a subscription to an advanced search feature that will match data from the free (still free) family trees and that found in other pay databases and census records at Ancestry and present it to the subscriber in a neatly stitched together package -- taking the work out of the searching and matching for him. What is being SOLD is CONVENIENCE and not the trees. The trees are still free to submit and free to search and match using the same tools that have always been part of the program. Nothing has changed in that regard. If I'm upset about anything connected to OWT it is the fact that it was introduced in a "stealth mode" which always tends to make the users suspicious and causes them to come up with "conspiracy theories" and plots of evil intentions. That leaves people who admin RootsWeb mailing lists left with the chore of digging out the truth (which I've done) and trying to fight off all the incorrect and inflamatory "rumors" the nay-sayers are posting to the lists before we can head off the problem. This puts an unfair burden on the list admins to seek out and provide information that should have been forthcoming directly from Ancestry when the program was launched. I have no problem with the program itself in its present form (although I suspect it will appeal more to Newbies who want "instant trees" than to seasoned genealogists), but I sure wish it had been introduced in a more forthcoming manner providing the "positive spin" and assurances to the users that a program like this needs. Joan

What would really be great would be if everything that has been submitted were correct and documented. Sharon ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 5:12 PM Subject: [INPUTNAM] Ancestry.com > >From the Association of Professinal Genealogists mailing list; posted by Joan Young, list administrator. > APG Mailing List, The Association of Professional Genealogists > http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html > > What is being SOLD is a subscription to an advanced search feature that will > match data from the free (still free) family trees and that found in other pay > databases and census records at Ancestry and present it to the subscriber in > a neatly stitched together package -- taking the work out of the searching and > matching for him. > > What is being SOLD is CONVENIENCE and not the trees. The trees are still > free to submit and free to search and match using the same tools that have always > been part of the program. Nothing has changed in that regard. > > If I'm upset about anything connected to OWT it is the fact that it was > introduced in a "stealth mode" which always tends to make the users suspicious and > causes them to come up with "conspiracy theories" and plots of evil > intentions. That leaves people who admin RootsWeb mailing lists left with the chore of > digging out the truth (which I've done) and trying to fight off all the > incorrect and inflamatory "rumors" the nay-sayers are posting to the lists before we > can head off the problem. This puts an unfair burden on the list admins to > seek out and provide information that should have been forthcoming directly > from Ancestry when the program was launched. > > I have no problem with the program itself in its present form (although I > suspect it will appeal more to Newbies who want "instant trees" than to seasoned > genealogists), but I sure wish it had been introduced in a more forthcoming > manner providing the "positive spin" and assurances to the users that a program > like this needs. > > Joan > > > > > > > ==== INPUTNAM Mailing List ==== > Please send research questions to the list rather than the mailing list manager. Thank you. > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >