Hi folks, I surely do not want to renew the age old bash Ancestry / defend Ancestry dialogue that pops up from time to time. Each individual hopefully makes their own decision based on their own circumstances. That is why I ended my note with the below quote. At 11:36 AM 7/23/2008, you wrote: >Just my 2 cents. Having said that, let me state flatly that I have spent a considerable sum on gathering certificates, copies, images, etc., as has anyone who has been pursuing their roots seriously for any period of time. I totally understand, but do not necessarily agree with a position that consists of not wanting to give those documents the widest dissemination. Why? you might ask. Well, my GOAL is to learn as much as I can before I pass on about the heritage from which I am the result. It is my personal experience ( I am not trying to apply this to anyone else ) that despite having personally paid for something, when I share it, I normally end up receiving equal value in return, in the form of other document copies, or more importantly, finding the trail to a new cousin. I have also transcribed for "for pay" entities, as well as a very small contribution to this wonderful Brooklyn list. Personally (and again I am NOT trying to push my feelings on to anyone else) I could care less where my work ends up, because the net result is to further the total available knowledge for other researchers. Imagine! I have a certificate for the marriage of a PIGGOTT grand cousin in New York City in January 1879. All family members completely disappear for the FREE 1880 census, and I am at a standstill. I can just imagine that some clue that I need is in a sealed LDS record, or was found and transcribed by someone who for personal reasons does not care to share. If that record could be accessed by me, whoever worked on it in the first place would immediately have access to the 20+ years of research and document gathering that is my database. I would hope that such a perspective is at least considered in the overall decision whether to share or not, regardless of the entity involved. Again, just my 2 cents. Joe