Hi Lynda, Thanks for writing. I greatly appreciate your very well written message! :-)) Ancestry has grown very quickly. They still haven't gotten my subscription correct from last year and it has now expired. They have tried to compensate me for their errors. However, they still haven't gotten my subscription correct after numerous phone calls. The problems probably wouldn't have occurred if I had used a credit card because their system is *not* setup to handle payments otherwise. Please do not cancel your subscription because Ancestry needs subscribers like us to help support RootsWeb. Hopefully, they will be better organized this year! I feel that it is part of the price you pay for progress. I greatly appreciate your sharing and hope that you continue. :-)) Thanks again, Mike ************************* Michael G. McManness, a Jayhawk through and through, eating, sleeping, and bleeding Crimson and Blue near the University of Kansas. Family genealogist and research historian. "Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones." --- Phillip Brooks ************************* ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynda Monnig" <cupido@cchat.com> To: <MOHENRY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2001 11:13 AM Subject: [MOHenry] Rootsweb/Ancestry Explanation > I have never responded to comments on this list, however the messages > regarding > "free" genealogy prompted me two throw in my two cents. I have been > tracing my > family trees for over 20 years. I can remember a time when I spent hours > at the > courthouses, LDS library, National Archives, etc going through > microfilm, fiche and dusty books looking for records of my ancestors. I > spent "money" for gasoline, parking, babysitters, photocopies, food, > postage, etc. When genealogy reserach hit the internet I was thrilled. > With a few clicks of the keyboard there was the possiblility of asking > another researcher a question and getting a reply in minutes instead of > weeks. > > The internet's greatest genealogical assets were the USGenWeb project > and Rootsweb. Information at these sites was free, but that does not > mean that they > didn't have a price. Someone had to pay for the computer equipment, > servers, and internet access. Volunteers that transcribed records had to > pay for many of the fiche's, microfilm, books, etc out of their own > pocket. > > I ask myself, how grateful am I to all the people who have contributed > to this effort? > The answer is VERY! So what! Grateful and a dollar will buy me a cup of > coffee. > What do you and I give back to keep genealogy "free". Ask yourselves, > what have I contributed? Have I transcribed any "public" records and > donated them to the USGenWeb or other free genealogical site? Have I > created and maintained a free web site on the internet for other > researchers? If the answer is "no" then shame on you and shame on me. > We take, but we don't give. If we want public information to stay free, > then we all have an obligation to contribute. The alternatives are to > get in our cars and drive where ever there is a record we need and dig > it out for ourselves, buy or rent that roll of microfilm (don't forget > the reader) and spend hours searching for that one ancestor on poor > quality film just to find out later that he moved from that county a > month earlier. No, not me. Been there, done that. I'll gladly pay for > a copy of a will I saw indexed online and when it arrives, transcribe > it, and donate to the online community. But I expect everyone else to do > the same thing. Do you? > > As for Ancestry.com! I too have a regular membership, plus the census > images subscription. Perhaps it is the increase in subscribers, but > there has been a major problem in the area of online census images, > i.e.broken links, records not available or the server is very slow in > responding. I have written my share of e-mails complaining of the > problems. And I do think they have an obligation to compensate in some > manner the subscribers. I guess if I get real unhappy I can cancel my > subscription and wait for them to get things better organized. > > Happy hunting! Lynda > > > ==== MOHENRY Mailing List ==== > Going to be Gone? There is not a formal no-mail mode. > Unsubscribe when you want the messages to stop. Subscribe when you want to start again. Follow the instructions below: > > QUICK INSTRUCTIONS > > To unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to: > MOHenry-L-request@rootsweb.com (for individual messages) > MOHenry-D-request@rootsweb.com (for a digest of multiple messages) > In the body include only one word: unsubscribe > (Turn OFF your signature file when sending this command) > > To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: > MOHenry-L-request@rootsweb.com (for individual messages) > MOHenry-D-request@rootsweb.com (for a digest of multiple messages) > In the body include only one word: subscribe > (Turn OFF your signature file when sending this command) > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=702&sourceid=1237 > >