Along Those Lines... Message Board Postings That Never Get Answered by George G. Morgan I don't know about you, but for me, message boards and mailing lists are an integral part of my genealogical research. I make contact with all sorts of people who are actively pursuing their family history. They share information in their postings, post queries for more information, and are often willing to collaborate with you for the purpose of extending their research. Best of all, these are free resources! Perhaps the best message boards on the Internet are at Ancestry.com and can be accessed from the tab labeled Message Boards at the top of the main screen. Another good source are the GenForum message boards (http://genforum.com) at Genealogy.com. It is unfortunate that so many posted messages are never answered. In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, let's discuss the ins and outs of creating really good message postings that will pique the interest of other researchers and more effectively draw responses. Create an Informative Subject Line Whenever I get an e-mail that contains a meaningless subject line, such as "Help," I immediately delete it, along with all the e-mails with no subject line. They are certainly less than intriguing. They convey no information whatsoever about the contents of the e-mail. Subject lines on message board postings produce the same effect for me. I feel sad that the poster will probably never get a response to their posting. The subject line of your posting should cause someone to be interested. It should convey enough information that the reader can think, "Wow! That may be one of the people in my line!" There are message boards for surnames, geographies, and topic areas, so your posting might vary a bit. However, a really good subject line contains several pieces of pertinent information: * the name of the primary person for whom you are seeking information; * a year (or year range) for the information you are seeking, and * information about the location(s) where they may have been or to which they may have migrated. Here are examples of two good subject lines: Spencer BALL - (1773- ca. 1856) - Fairfax, VA> Tallagdega Co., AL This one tells me that a man named Spencer BALL lived from 1773 to circa 1856, and that he migrated from Fairfax, Virginia, to Talladega County, Alabama. The > character is used as an abbreviation to indicate movement. Walton C. WEATHERLY - 1882-1948 - TN>AL>GA>NC This one tells me that Walton C. WEATHERLY, born in 1882 and died in 1948, started in Tennessee, moved to Alabama, and then to Georgia, and then to North Carolina. Both of these subject lines help the reader understand precisely who the people are that you are researching, and perhaps he or she will open the posting to read the contents. A really bad subject line conveys little or no information. For example, there was a posting on a surname message board in 1998 and the subject line read, "Need [surname] Information." To this day, that message has received no response. Tell the Reader in the Body of the Message What You Are Seeking Once someone has opened your message board posting, you need to communicate exactly what you are seeking. That also should include any information you already know as well as any resources you may already have exhausted. This will prevent a reader from duplicating the efforts you've already expended. This is a very nice courtesy. The body of your message may include more information about the person or family for which you are seeking any information, including names and nicknames, vital dates, and places. It is better to provide more concise details to indicate what you already know that to omit what you feel is obvious. It is important to organize your message in such a way that it is logical and easy to understand. A wandering diatribe will lose the reader's interest, and he or she may not even be able to determine what it is that you want to learn! Here is an example of a body text of a message board posting that I made: "I am seeking information about Jesse HOLDER and his wife, Hepsebah (Hepsevah?) who lived in Gwinnett County, GA, in the 1830s and early 1840s. They produced at least two sons, Green Berry HOLDER and John Thomas HOLDER. I am descended from Green Berry and have all descent there, and most of his brothers. I am looking for more information on Jesse and Hepsevah (maiden name unknown). Thank you." Here is an example of a less than complete body in a message posting: "Hi I'm trying to find information on a Mr. and Mrs. Scoobydoo that died in 1929. They were on their honeymoon and the hotel they were at caught fire. I don't know if they both died in the fire or if they died shortly after as a result of it. The woman's name was Ruby but have no info on the gentleman's first name. If anyone can help, please post a reply. Thank you." As you can see, there is a big difference in the content of each posting. A good education for you is to go to one of the message boards and read some of the more interesting and complete postings. They will provide insight into what captures your interest, and you can begin to emulate really well-written postings. People Who Post Who Disappear Many of us have changed e-mail addresses over the years. If you change yours, post a message on the message board indicating that you have previously posted there and that you have changed the address. Ask people to respond to that address in future. You might do this as a general message, but it is perhaps more appropriate to post it in a reply to your message postings. Post to Multiple Message Boards Readers of message boards often read more than just the surname boards. Therefore, you may want to post the same or a similar message to the geographical message boards for the places that your ancestors lived or to which they migrated. You may often get a response from one or the other posting. There also are subject areas on the message boards and you might consider posting to one or more of those that may be appropriate for your ancestor's condition. Such categories might include the Adoption, Cemeteries and Tombstones, Ethnic/Race, Immigration and Emigration, Military, Orphans and Orphanages, or other message board forums. The USGenWeb Project at www.usgenweb.org consists of state and county websites, many of which allow you to post a query on some sort of message-type board. Its international equivalent is the WorldGenWeb Project at www.worldgenweb.org, which represents countries around the world and their subsidiary governmental entities, such as counties, parishes, provinces, etc. These, too, may provide the capability of posting queries. Family websites, including personal Web pages and family sites established at MyFamily.com, may also provide message posting facilities that help you make connections to other living family members and researchers interested in your family lines. Establish a Review Methodology If you post to a message board and never go back to check for replies, you've probably just wasted your time. The message boards on Ancestry.com provide a facility to add the board to a notification process. That means that, whenever someone responds to your posting, you receive an e-mail notification with a hyperlink that takes you to the board and the posting. Not all message boards provide a facility with this convenience. I also have a routine that I use. First, I bookmark the message board sites to which I have posted for the surnames, locations, and topics in my Web browser. I maintain these bookmarks in a separate folder. Then, every Sunday afternoon, I go out and check those message boards for postings that have been made in the last week. Therefore, whether my postings have been responded to, I can see who is posting and whom they are researching. Who knows? There might just be that missing link to knock down some brick wall. Message boards can be fun to use, and you will almost definitely make connections, perhaps to other researchers and long-lost or distant family members. If you haven't used the message boards, give them a try. Happy Message Board Posting! George [reprinted with prior permission of Juliana Smith, Editor of Ancestry Daily News] Sally Rolls Pavia sallypavia2001@yahoo.com "A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good." 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