Rather than respond directly, the following I have discovered, sums up the way lists work. It's important that we keep open minds, get balanced viewpoints and be tolerant of others, if we are to become stronger as a genealogical community. If I or you help one to become stronger, then we all become stronger when he helps us. Jim H ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 2:53 AM Subject: [NYCAYUGA] CNYGS Lookups > Dear List, > As the List Administrator for the NYCayuga mailing list, I have been reading all the comments about the appropriateness of Mr. Hartigan's posts, and would like to share my thoughts and my reasons for not intervening to block him from posting to the list, and then request that, as Mr. Secaur has suggested, we lay this topic to rest and get on with the business of helping each other with our family research. > First, I do not see his offers to search for a local repository of Tree Talks for out-of-towners as a "commercial" enterprise. Rootsweb and the local Genweb sites have relied on "people helping people" since their inception, and this is a prime example of someone doing just that. Many people subscribe to a local mailing list as their first step in their search of a new region, and anyone who is willing to offer their assistance is an asset. The Central NY Genealogical Society may be an organization well known to most of us who live locally, but the person who lives in Oregon, has just discovered his connection to Central NY, and subscribed to the list for the first time, would no doubt deeply appreciate someone telling him about CNYGS. And offering to find out what library or Family History Center in his local area might have copies of Tree Talks for him to research in could be seen as a big help. > I realize that for those of us who are long-time list members, it can get annoying to see the same post time and again, but, as has been suggested, it is a simple matter to delete it if you recognize Mr. Hartigan's name and don't care to read his messages. Some of the newer subscribers may be seeing it for the first time and welcome the assistance. > My guess is that many people have no idea the volume of people who subscribe to the list, post their queries, wait to see if there is any response, and then unsubscribe within a relatively short time. As list manager, I get copies of all the subscribe/unsubscribe requests, and I can assure you that there are many many people who will be reading a message from Mr. Hartigan for the first time the next time that he responds to someone's query. I have had people do the same for me when I put out feelers as to how and where to proceed in researching a new area of the country, and I welcome every shred of assistance I can get. > As list administrator, as well as adminstrator for the Cayuga County Rootsweb BB, I have virtually hundreds of e-mails come across my computer for review each week. I know that Mr. Secaur will be helping people by looking up cemetery entries from online sources, saving someone the time of searching themselves. I know that Mr. Hecht will be posting messages about new pictures that he has scanned and added for us to enjoy. If the topics aren't of interest to me, I know that I can delete them quickly, but I certainly welcome their contributions, and know that some other list member will appreciate their efforts. > I apologize for this being a long-winded message, but I again, respectfully ask that we end this topic and get on with the much more pleasant task of searching for our twigs and branches. If anyone feels the need to pursue this issue further, please do it to me personally and let's keep the list free of personal disagreements and focused on the genealogy we all want to enjoy. > Regards,Kathleen DeckerNYCayuga List Administrator > > > ==== NYCAYUGA Mailing List ==== > Have you visited the NYGenWeb project home page lately? > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygenweb > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >