My friends - About every five or six months, I try to devote a posting to responding, for everyone's benefit, to some of the various questions that come to me by private e-mail about the List and its operation and function. It has been longer than 6 months since I last did this, and so, tonight, I am taking a short break from data postings to respond to those questions which I receive most often. What I am giving below is not all of the various types of questions I get, but are those that I receive most often. In a few cases, in which I may refer to a specific posting by someone else, no names or addresses are shown, and the individual in question is no longer a subscriber. We'll return tomorrow to our regular data posts. -B ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Q. How long has this List been in operation? A. Two years in November Q. Why did you start it? A. Two reasons: 1)The Jackson Purchase region of KY has been somewhat overlooked over the years by historians and genealogists and, 2) it is my way, in small measure, of repaying the debt I owe to the genealogical community which has been so helpful to me over the 35+ years that I have doing research. Q. How many people subscribe to the JP List? A. As of today, 562 Q. How many e-mail messages do you get in a week? A. On average, between 600-700, of which I will need to respond to about 300 of them Q. From what do you draw all of these data posts? A. Most of it is from items that I have accumulated over the years, including nearly 200 published works and 350+ microfilm reels relating to the JP. Much of it is material that I transcribed from film over the past 25 years. Q. What is the funniest message you ever received from someone on the JP List? A. There have been several, but I think the most amusing was a message I received from a subscriber who had received a dataset from me, and, as I always do, I had noted(it was a marriage record)that there was the "Consent of father - not named". I had inadvertently run the two words "not named" together, resulting in "notnamed". The subscriber wrote to ask if I had any material on the Notnamed surname in the JP. Q. What causes problems for you as the List host? A. I have few problems, due to the character and intelligence of the subscribership of the JP List. There are rare occasions when we have an "incident" arise, but those are handled as quickly and diplomatically as possible. If there is a violation of the List guidelines, as outlined in the Welcome Message, the violator faces suspension or removal from the List permanently, depending on the scope and nature of the violation. Q. What is your direct involvement with the JP? A. All of my paternal lineage springs from the JP. My father was born in Murray, in Calloway County, and, when I retire early in a few years, my wife and I will be relocating from where we are today in TX to 100 acres of land which we own in NE Calloway County. Q. The Welcome Message says you are a "Certified Genealogical Records Specialist". What does that mean? A. It means that I have been certified as a Genealogical Records Specialist by the Board for Certification of Genealogists in Washington, D.C., which is the national certifying authority. In my case, some 18 months of work were necessary to gain certification. The BCG insists on professionalism and continuing education in the field of genealogy, as they have done since 1964. Q. How long have you been doing genealogical research? A. Nearly 36 years Q. How old are you? A. 52 Q. What do you do in the "real world"? A. I am a labor negotiator, mediator and administrator. Q. How many hours a week do you spend working on the JP List? A. It varies, but on average, about 14-20 Q. Are you ever planning to stop hosting the JP List? A. No plans to stop at this time, although I made a pledge to myself that if things ever reached the point that it was not fun any longer, I would discontinue hosting it. So far, I'm still having fun. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++