My experience was just the opposite. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the very early days of research-by-computer. As Rootsweb developed its free message boards, allowing easy access to others researching the same surnames, I was able to contact many cousins, some quite close, whose existence I had never even suspected. Some of them had extensive family records, and a few had also done years of research. Almost all members of these boards were happy to exchange information for mutual benefit, including living persons and any documentation they had. (Identity theft and the copywriting of individual research with an eye to publication had not yet arisen as barriers.) Since I started out with so very little information about either of my parents families, I accepted all genealogies with gratitude. I knew there would be errors and discrepancies, but I also knew that I was obtaining names and dates not available to me from any other source -- so it was up to me to search for the documentation and reconcile the differences. I extended my family records by many generations, thanks in great part to these on-line cousins. In my husband's and my families I now have only two surnames I have not traced at least to the immigrant ancestor. Unexpected bonuses were meeting some of these cousins in person and attending a couple of family reunions. My daughter and I now cherish friendships with relatives we otherwise would never have met. I think we all knew that the "free" aspect of internet research (both in monetary cost and freedom of exchange) was too good to last. Sadly enough, I did foresee that the extent of information we once exchanged directly and easily would be greatly curtailed and controlled when commercial interests entered the picture. So, on the one hand, commercial sites have enabled me to add much documentation to my records; on the other hand, without the information gleaned from those on-line cousins, I would have had very little to document. Virginia ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miracles are rare. The only one I've experienced in 30 years was receiving a bible transcription by email from someone researching the surname but unfamiliar with the names on the page, and finding three generations of my family detailed, middle names,dates of births, marriages and deaths of the oldest - the last entry being the birth of my great grandmother. I think my good luck was spent in that one event.