I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who gets this reaction when I mention I'm doing a family history: "That's great. I always wanted to know where we came from. Will you send me what you have?" Then, after I spend time checking my records, creating just the right kind of reports and sending them out, along with a simple request to have the recipient fill in some of the blanks (or correct errors)....Nothing comes back! Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to share what I know. But a little reciprocation once in a while might be nice. Sigh. Here's a possible solution: a web site -- geni.com -- that lets you create an interactive family history you can share with other family members, whom the site then invites to join you and participate in the project. And the site promises to keep your info restricted to people you choose to share it with. I've only looked at the site briefly and, though I'm not a big fan of Flash animations, which the site uses for the interactivity, but it seems pretty straightforward. Heck, maybe I can even get someone to participate! I'm curious to know if anyone on this list has used geni.com. Here's some info from the web-site's FAQ page: ----------------------------- Geni is a unique approach to solving the problem of genealogy, which is the question of how everyone is related. Geni lets you create a family tree through our fun simple interface. When you add a relative's email address, he or she will be invited to join your tree. That relative can then add other relatives, and so on. Your tree will continue to grow as relatives invite other relatives. Each family member has a profile which can be viewed by clicking their name in the tree. This helps family members learn more about each other and stay in touch. Family members can also share information and work together to build profiles for common ancestors. Geni is a private network. Only the people in your tree can see your tree and your profile. Geni will not share your personal information with third parties. Geni was founded by former executives and early employees of PayPal, Yahoo! Groups, Ebay, and Tribe. It is backed by venture capital firm Founders Fund. If you have any further questions, please contact us. http://help.geni.com/index.php?_m=tickets&_a=submit Privacy? Your family network on Geni is private. We follow these rules: * Only the people in your family tree can see your tree. No one outside your tree can see your tree. * Only the people in your family tree can see your individual profile. No one outside your tree can see your profile. * You can further restrict viewing of your profile information by changing your account settings. * We will not provide any user's personal information to advertisers or third-parties. This includes your email address and the email addresses of those you invite. * We will not spam you or your relatives or enable anyone else to do so. Geni may send service notifications that you can opt out of by changing your account settings. User privacy is of the utmost importance to Geni. --------------------------------------- Here's part of a review at webware.com (part of the CNET Networks): ----------------------- "However, Geni's ease of use comes at a price: Its simplicity leaves out methods of coding in single parents, for example. It's not a tool for professional genealogists. But it's the best thing I've seen yet for people who just want an easy way to record their family tree. It's a lot of fun, too." http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9678187-2.html ------------------------- -- --- Richard Danca Newton, MA rdanca@gmail.com ------