Hi everybody, Well its almost time to activate our new web sites. I have submitted request for each surname list to have all seven selections, and it looks like we're gonna get them all. That means that there are 4 surnames; AGEE - BRAND - IRVIN - SPEARMAN; and each one will have a Query board; a Bible board; a Biography board; a Will board; a Pension board; an Obituary board; and a Deeds board. That's a total of 28 sites to be filled in soon. Hopefully you will all be able to see that I cannot do this alone. I will need help from all of you. For the people who work a regular 8 hour day, for the people with small children, and for those who have a medical problem limiting their ability to enter information, and for my full time students, I will be glad to do the work for you. The only problem here is that I'll need the information. So you can either send it via email, or snail mail. For those electing to send the information via snail mail, please email me for an address. This message goes to archives where "anyone" would be able to pick it up. In addition, I'll split the copy costs and postage with you. Just be aware that I'm retired and live on a fixed income. I'll reimburse first come first served. Now we come to some things everyone will need to think about. Please use some common sense when posting items to the boards. These items will eventually go to archives to be viewed by anyone wishing to see them. It isn't at all like our mail list where we have some privacy for a period of time. So don't put a physical address on a query. And I'd suggest too that the statistical information about living individuals be kept out of your posts as well. Next is the subject of copyright. If you are in doubt about copyright there is a RootsWeb mail list where you can ask questions about copyright. It is COPYRIGHT-L-request@rootsweb.com It works like any other RootsWeb mail list. If any material that has been copyrighted by another individual before it was posted to the web sites, other than by the person holding the copyright, it will be deleted. The best remedy to this is to ask for and receive permission before you post. So send a letter to the editor of a newspaper before posting a full obituary or biography. Most will tell you yes, with credit given, and ask you not to edit. There are two different ways that our web sites can be set up. The first one is an open item and the second one is a closed item. I plan on having our Query board open to anyone who wishes to post to it. As members of the mail list we'll see every query posted here first. However, I want the other boards closed. People who are not a part of our mail lists will be able to see them, but they won't be able to post to them. Only subscribers will be allowed to post to those boards. We now have a new purpose for our mail list. This is where we can bounce ideas around before we post them to our boards. As long as we all participate with feedback, those who finally post to our boards will have a better idea of what they actually want to see in print. Please be aware. I only have two hard and fast rules. No Flames, and no Spam. Anything else is negotiable. However, Spam and a Flame will be deleted without notice. This brings up another subject. Unlike the mail list, I will now have the ability to edit our web sites. So if you accidentally hit a wrong key and it gets stuck like that, don't worry. Just drop me a line and I can go fix it. The only other thing to mention is that if you are in doubt about what to post, just drop me a line. We'll talk about it. Or if I'm not available talk it over via our mail list, surely someone will help you. This message is going out to all my lists all at once. For those who are subscribed to two or all 4 of those lists please pardon the duplication, I promise it won't happen very often. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm so excited I can hardly wait. I look forward to hearing from all of you in one way or another soon. Respectfully, donna brand higgins list host AGEE BRAND IRVIN SPEARMAN