Hello list members.... (This started out as a "short note", but it soon became clear that a short note would not be enough. I appologize for the lenghth of this message) There's been a recent thread of messages concerning what does , and what dosn't fit within the scope of genealogy and/or Family history, and what should or shouldn't be included in messages to our list. The actual intended purpose of this list is, as with most mailing lists on rootsweb, would be more Family History, rather that the literal, scientific meaning of genealogy. According to Websters, it give these definitions of Genealogy: "1 : an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms 2 : regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor or older form : PEDIGREE 3 : the study of family pedigrees" The original use of genealogy, was not as a hobby, but more as a way of recording "cold hard facts", that would be used for legal (finding heirs, for inheritance, birth parents, etc.) social (classes, clans, royalty), and later, medical purposes. Family history could be described as the study of persons, places, and events. My files here at home are full of personal notes, either from my own memory, or from stories of others, as they help to form a picture of what life was like for my ancestors, what kind of person they were, what type of hardships they may have endured, who their friends were, etc. Most of these notes would not fit into the literal discription of genealogy, but are most definately a part of "family history". I have chosen not to share a lot of this information on the list, unless a.) the event would pertain to, or include a number of other persons, who I could name, and whose family members would find it useful. or b.) the event was a major one that would effect the history of the Mon Valley, or the persons living there. With all that said, we must remember that not everyone has the same idea of what is important, and what isn't. We must also remember that these messages are all being archived, and 20 years from now, someone could be searching for information on our list that is important to them,! (buisnesses opening and closing, persons involved in an event, etc.) So, you see, this "debate" is not black and white. There are many grey areas. It all depends on your point of view. My point of view is that if the info might help someone else understand the life and times of their ancestors, it should be included. (Remember that businesses, organizations, clubs and churches are made up of people, so statements as to the when's and where's of these, even if not containing actual names should be considered acceptable). Messages stating your personal views, beliefs or opinions (political, social, religious) are best kept in private email, and not on the list. Please use you best judgement when posting messages, and if your not sure something should be posted, ask yourelf "could this someone else?" If the answer is Yes, send it. (If it is a response to someone elses post, and you're not sure if it belongs on the list, send it in a private email to that person). And when reading messages, if something seems insignificant, or worthless to you, ask yourself the same question. Again, sorry for my longwindedness. Thanks, Mike Donaldson ([email protected]) Allenport, PA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.my-ged.com/donldson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Listowner of: Monongahela River Valley of Penna Rootsweb mailing list: [email protected] - Mail mode [email protected] - Digest mode