This is "off topic" since it's about how/where it's appropriate to talk of non-Buffalo non-"strictly" genealogy topics. Didn't chime in during earlier discussion so I've given a heads-up here - will give some thoughts in general - then some online options - then clear out of Dodge on the topic! :) 1) To me, "contextual history" is important for "putting flesh on the bones" of our ancestors - and on ourselves for that matter, for those who come after us. Certainly "on topic" for our heritage interests in general. 2) The question is - where is it appropriate to meet up with others of like mind and do that. It comes up now and again on most lists and in most groups. That's why there are list/group FAQs and on/off topic guidelines - and we make decisions about which we want to join. It's also why other groups come along - to widen our options - and keep each one "on topic" for what it is. Someone already pointed to the Niagara Co genealogy list vs the "folks" one. Both are valid. Both are now "on topic" for their stated purposes. 3) There's always a "bit" of wiggle room - or likely better said - some personal judgement - when "local history" or "locality culture" is the topic. Probably talking "in general" might be off topic for a genealogy list - but tied to an ancestor and needing help/resources to find more research sources would be "on topic". Talking very loosely here. :) Talk of candy stores in Buffalo "in general" vs talking of the store one's gr-grandfather owned and looking for business license info, pictures, etc for example. Certainly the 2nd one is ok for a genealogy list - locality specific occupation/business. The 1st is likely better on a general locality list or group. 4) Luckily, we have lots of options! The world isn't black and white. We can do "this" with those people in that place - and "that" with those people in that place. Our cyberhighway has lots of road signs up. Surname, locality, topic lists abound on Rootsweb - and that's not counting other places like GenForum - or any of the "groups" out there at yahoogroups or MSN or Google. Then, there are all the social networking communities. 5) Ok - not to worry - I'll wrap this up now - ending with some ideas and urls. (Then, I'll stop being "off topic" and get back to Erie County, NY genealogy!! a) NYERIE list at Rootsweb - for Erie Co, NY genealogy - no need to elaborate. :) b) If you're looking to meet up with others about "the old days" - life stories - memories - history - in ANY locality - in ANY timeframe - then I found four Rootsweb lists that could work. All - like this list - are "public lists" - so open to search engines, etc. For genealogy, we probably want that as it might help with a "cousin connection". For personal or family life stories, memories, local history and the like .. we may or may not. The Rootsweb options I found are: ----- NOSTALGIA - more recent posts in the Rootweb Archives are back in Jan of 2007. Not real active. ---- BACKTOTHEPAST - still active - with high of 341 msgs/month back in March 06. Now running at 10 to 35 or so msgs per month. ---- HOMESPUN - still active. Was running in the few hundred/month range, then hit 1781/month recently - so may be changing as we speak to high volume ---- MEMORY-LANE - still active. Very high volume. Posts per month for Nov, Dec, Jan were 2077, 2163 and 2759 respectively c) At the risk of "promoting" something I'm involved with - I'll tell you about a yahoogroup I joined in 2004. Got involved, then moderated - and now have owned for awhile. It's a mix of genealogy, heritage scrapbooking, writing/journaling, preservation of family treasures, local history, oral history, organizing, family recipes, and such. Could find talk of where to find records to search - how to make a family history slideshow - what questions to ask a grandparent while recording - the history of a country or small town or of daily living inventions - how to use timelines or scanners or safely preserve that heritage quilt. It's a private membership vs public group so people can more freely share "life memories" or talk of how to get gr-aunt so-and-so to allow access to her box of photos or papers. Small group of 220+ members right now. You can find it at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Preserving_Our_Heritage d) Speaking of yahoogroups, I'll end by adding a few stars to Cynthia's post about her BuffaloHistory yahoogroup. If you want to immerse yourself in "all things Buffalo"? And, find others who love to do the same? Go for it! Lots of memories. Lots of topics. So, if you're passionate about the locality and want a mix of all sorts of topics - in lively fashion? Head to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BuffaloHistory Pretty enthusiastic crowd there. :) Ok - thats it. Back to Erie County genealogy again. Deb On Feb 18, 2008 6:43 AM, Cynthia Van Ness <[email protected]> wrote: > Instead of trying to stretch a Buffalo genealogy list to be all > Buffalo things to all Buffalo people, may I humbly suggest that > people who want to talk about non-genealogy matters simply go > where these things are already on topic, and, I might add, > wildly popular? > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BuffaloHistory/ > > > --- Linda Schmidt <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The point is not if someone enjoys a post or not. I have > > enjoyed some of the posts, but the point is this is a list on genealogy,<< > > > > At the risk of adding more 'clutter' to this mail list - > > I want to offer an idea from another list that I belong to.

Dick Rose: I sent you a message requesting your assistance with this on February 8, and I have no record of a reply. Again, respectfully, aren't you the sheriff in town? This is like vigilante list administration. Mak (besides, everyone knows Beef on Weck was not Buffalo's great contribution to world culture, chicken wings are. :-) On Feb 19, 2008 4:41 AM, D S <[email protected]> wrote: > This is "off topic" since it's about how/where it's appropriate to > talk of non-Buffalo non-"strictly" genealogy topics. Didn't chime in > during earlier discussion so I've given a heads-up here - will give > some thoughts in general - then some online options - then clear out > of Dodge on the topic! :) > > 1) To me, "contextual history" is important for "putting flesh on the > bones" of our ancestors - and on ourselves for that matter, for those > who come after us. Certainly "on topic" for our heritage interests in > general. > > 2) The question is - where is it appropriate to meet up with others > of like mind and do that. It comes up now and again on most lists and > in most groups. That's why there are list/group FAQs and on/off topic > guidelines - and we make decisions about which we want to join. It's > also why other groups come along - to widen our options - and keep > each one "on topic" for what it is. Someone already pointed to the > Niagara Co genealogy list vs the "folks" one. Both are valid. Both > are now "on topic" for their stated purposes. > > 3) There's always a "bit" of wiggle room - or likely better said - > some personal judgement - when "local history" or "locality culture" > is the topic. Probably talking "in general" might be off topic for a > genealogy list - but tied to an ancestor and needing help/resources to > find more research sources would be "on topic". Talking very loosely > here. :) Talk of candy stores in Buffalo "in general" vs talking of > the store one's gr-grandfather owned and looking for business license > info, pictures, etc for example. Certainly the 2nd one is ok for a > genealogy list - locality specific occupation/business. The 1st is > likely better on a general locality list or group. > > 4) Luckily, we have lots of options! The world isn't black and > white. We can do "this" with those people in that place - and "that" > with those people in that place. Our cyberhighway has lots of road > signs up. Surname, locality, topic lists abound on Rootsweb - and > that's not counting other places like GenForum - or any of the > "groups" out there at yahoogroups or MSN or Google. Then, there are > all the social networking communities. > > 5) Ok - not to worry - I'll wrap this up now - ending with some ideas > and urls. (Then, I'll stop being "off topic" and get back to Erie > County, NY genealogy!! > > a) NYERIE list at Rootsweb - for Erie Co, NY genealogy - no need to > elaborate. :) > b) If you're looking to meet up with others about "the old days" - > life stories - memories - history - in ANY locality - in ANY timeframe > - then I found four Rootsweb lists that could work. All - like this > list - are "public lists" - so open to search engines, etc. For > genealogy, we probably want that as it might help with a "cousin > connection". For personal or family life stories, memories, local > history and the like .. we may or may not. The Rootsweb options I > found are: > ----- NOSTALGIA - more recent posts in the Rootweb Archives are back > in Jan of 2007. Not real active. > ---- BACKTOTHEPAST - still active - with high of 341 msgs/month back > in March 06. Now running at 10 to 35 or so msgs per month. > ---- HOMESPUN - still active. Was running in the few hundred/month > range, then hit 1781/month recently - so may be changing as we speak > to high volume > ---- MEMORY-LANE - still active. Very high volume. Posts per month > for Nov, Dec, Jan were 2077, 2163 and 2759 respectively > c) At the risk of "promoting" something I'm involved with - I'll tell > you about a yahoogroup I joined in 2004. Got involved, then moderated > - and now have owned for awhile. It's a mix of genealogy, heritage > scrapbooking, writing/journaling, preservation of family treasures, > local history, oral history, organizing, family recipes, and such. > Could find talk of where to find records to search - how to make a > family history slideshow - what questions to ask a grandparent while > recording - the history of a country or small town or of daily living > inventions - how to use timelines or scanners or safely preserve that > heritage quilt. It's a private membership vs public group so people > can more freely share "life memories" or talk of how to get gr-aunt > so-and-so to allow access to her box of photos or papers. Small group > of 220+ members right now. You can find it at: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Preserving_Our_Heritage > d) Speaking of yahoogroups, I'll end by adding a few stars to > Cynthia's post about her BuffaloHistory yahoogroup. If you want to > immerse yourself in "all things Buffalo"? And, find others who love > to do the same? Go for it! Lots of memories. Lots of topics. So, > if you're passionate about the locality and want a mix of all sorts of > topics - in lively fashion? Head to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BuffaloHistory Pretty enthusiastic > crowd there. :) > > Ok - thats it. Back to Erie County genealogy again. > > Deb > > On Feb 18, 2008 6:43 AM, Cynthia Van Ness <[email protected]> wrote: > > Instead of trying to stretch a Buffalo genealogy list to be all > > Buffalo things to all Buffalo people, may I humbly suggest that > > people who want to talk about non-genealogy matters simply go > > where these things are already on topic, and, I might add, > > wildly popular? > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BuffaloHistory/ > > > > > > --- Linda Schmidt <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > The point is not if someone enjoys a post or not. I have > > > enjoyed some of the posts, but the point is this is a list on > genealogy,<< > > > > > > At the risk of adding more 'clutter' to this mail list - > > > I want to offer an idea from another list that I belong to. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > -- +1(310) 856-9885 skype: mcintire.allen