To listers on this website, Here are some VERY good words of advice. There is no teaching tool quite like doing it yourself, perhaps failing, but doing it better the next time. These are not my words but those of the editor(s) of Rootsweb Review: RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 48, 26 November 2003, Circulation: 941,133+ (c) 1998-2003 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist [email protected] Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Search and post messages on all relevant surname, locality, and topic Message Boards and Mailing Lists: Message Boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ Find and share your ancestors: WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Learn how to trace your family tree: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests or e-mail address changes to the editor. Use these special e-mail addresses: [email protected] -- this adds you to the RWR Mailing List. [email protected] -- this removes you from the RWR Mailing List. * * * If you need assistance please visit the HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help.cgi Search/download past issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. "Self-reliance: Prized Attribute"; 1b. Editor's Virtual Desk: "Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991"; and "Wales on the Web"; 1c. Tips from Readers: "Passing Along Our Research Efforts" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling -- Genealogically" 3. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb 5. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 6. New User-contributed Databases 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Casting Genealogical Bread Upon the Waters"; "The Daughter Connection"; "Seeing Names with Your Ears"; "RÈpondez s'il vous plaÓt"; and "Searching for a Crippled Slave" 8. Humor/Humour: "Pass the Broom, Please" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Self-reliance: Prized Attribute of Family Historians Have you ever asked a question on a RootsWeb mailing list or message board only to receive a reply suggesting you look here or there and thinking to yourself, "Why didn't I think of that before I asked the question?" There comes a point in genealogical research when you need to learn where to look and to think matters through for yourself and not rely on someone holding your hand through each step of a search. Perhaps you have saved a link to a site within the freepages at RootsWeb that starts with: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ and you can no longer find the exact page for which you have a link (it might be something like this [this is NOT an actual page]: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~johnskin/kansas/1903.htm Instead of asking others why the link no longer works, start by removing the ending of the URL (address) -- that's the "1903.htm" until you work your way back to the root (or main) domain in the address: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~johnskin/ Perhaps you can find your way to the correct or new site by navigating from the root URL -- working your way forward again from that point. With URLs watch out for caps and lowercase letters -- the Web is case- sensitive. Be aware that "l" (the letter) and "1" (the number) and O (capital o) and 0 (zero) can be hard to distinguish. One frequently asked question at RootsWeb concerns a volunteer-hosted project called The Obituary Daily Times. This is a mailing list on which an INDEX of new obituaries is posted and it has an interactive search option. Researchers often do a search there and then ask where they can obtain the full text of the obituaries, what the results mean, and other questions that they could find answers to by going back to the main page http://www.rootsweb.com/~obituary/ (located under HOSTED VOLUNTEER PROJECTS) and follow the links to "Publications List," and "To Subscribe" that explain the project. If you have a question about a volunteer project at RootsWeb, you can usually find information linked from the main RootsWeb homepage http://www.rootsweb.com/ When using RootsWeb resources such as the SSDI (Social Security Death Index), if you have questions about this resource, such as what names might you expect to find listed and why might someone's name might not be listed, look first for help pages at RootsWeb with facts about the resource such as you will find in the RootsWeb Guide: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ When you check the index page to the RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees you will find a link to learn more about the SSDI: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson10.htm (it's also linked from the SSDI search pages, too). Finding answers for yourself does more than answer an immediate question at hand, it teaches you HOW to find solutions to other problems as well as teaches you to be self-reliant. Self-reliance is a great attribute for genealogists--it's an invaluable asset when searching for your elusive ancestors. * * *