--------- Begin forwarded message ---------- Just received this from another site and thought I'd post. You might want to check it out. IMMIGRANT SHIPS TRANSCRIBERS GUILD CELEBRATES ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY BY OFFERING TO THE GENEALOGICAL COMMUNITY THE ISTG COMPASS <http://istg.rootsweb.com/> by Patty MacFarlane Prather <Ships07@aol.com> As mariners depended on their compass, you can count on this special section of the ISTG Web site, which will act as a guide for all and make navigating the roots of your family tree a little easier. Harriet Rosch, resource coordinator, and her crew: Mary Rigali, Sharon Richlen Ballard, Bette Dew, Faith Gibson Tegethoff, Jan Mann, Jane Stauff, Kathy Stice, Barbara T. Grimm, Pat Lisk, Lynn Faranda, Regina Landis, Pat Becker, Penny J. Sabin, Rose Robke, Ruth C. Hakala, Penny Jansen, Deb White, and Maia Cowen are to be applauded for this wonderful addition to the site. Researching the data included in the ISTG Compass took more hours than we can ever imagine. Sheila Jensen Tate, production coordinator, also spent countless hours designing this Web site. The ISTG Compass is a site for young and old alike, with some special attention given to young people who are discovering the value of studying their ancestors and what they left behind, what they endured on the voyage, and how they began to build a new life in a new land. Some of the categories designed to help in your research are: IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION BY COUNTRYPORTS & OTHER PLACES OF ENTRY ETHNIC AND IMMIGRATION RESOURCES MARITIME RESOURCES - MUSEUMS/LIBRARIES PASSENGER LIST SITES EMIGRANTS -- By Surname EMIGRANTS -- By Group SHIPS SHIP TYPES & DESCRIPTIONS INDIVIDUAL SHIPS WITH THEIR OWN SITES SHIPPING LINES SHIP IMAGES (These are sites where you may view ship and nautical images/photographs/prints/etc.) SHIPWRECKS BIBLIOGRAPHIES, ARTICLES and MEMOIRS MAIL LISTS SITES OF GENERAL MARITIME INTEREST JUST FOR FUN and MISCELLANEOUS VOLUNTEER HELP SOME OF OUR EMAIL (A few thank you notes for our first year) ACRONYMS and DEFINITIONS -- coming soon. The ISTG Compass will be an ongoing project. The research began 10 months ago and is likely to continue for as many more. One year ago on September 15, 1998, a small group of volunteers began the difficult task of transcribing manifests from the National Archives and Records Administration, putting them on the Web site generously provided to ISTG by RootsWeb, where they would be freely available to all. Today, the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild is 450 members strong, has completed its first volume of 1,000 ships' passenger lists, and is almost 500 ships into the second volume of 1,000 passenger lists. ISTG staff members Patty MacFarlane Prather, guild coordinator; Sheila Jensen Tate, productions coordinator; Pam O'Day, surname coordinator; Harriet Rosch, resources coordinator; Marie M. Davis and Mary Beth Arthur, coordinators of new volunteers; Meg Sibbrensen, interpretations coordinator; and David Anderson, correspondence coordinator have given many hours of their time and effort each day to the guild, its volunteers, and its Web site since the first list was uploaded on October 1, 1998. "Each and every guild member is essential to our success," says Patty MacFarlane Prather, guild coordinator. "In addition to the staff members, many volunteers take on the additional tasks of formatting the lists, managing data, and serving on various committees and crews which are critical to the daily operations of this highly visited Web site, which now receives more than 2,000 hits each day." The guild has received thousands of thank you notes from researchers who are grateful to find a Web site devoted to adding passenger lists to the Internet at no cost to them. "We are very grateful to the have the ongoing support and cooperation of Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson and the RootsWeb staff, Sue Swiggum of Ships-L and Debbie Beavis of Mariners-L, with whom we have a good working relationship, and many other Webmasters with whom we have reciprocal sharing of information in order that it gets maximum exposure." "Like raising a child," Patty concludes, "it takes a village. While the work can be exhausting, the cost of maintaining the project expensive, and the deciphering of the lists frustrating, the rewards are great. I am honored to be working with a group of dedicated and selfless people who share a common passion." You can visit the ISTG Compass at: <http://istg.rootsweb.com> ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.