Good morning everyone, This has been an interesting discussion, but I believe you need to really think twice about what you are proposing. First of all, are you aware of the USGENWEB Project? This is an all-volunteer effort all over the country to put up county records on the Web and to have active volunteers who will do "look-ups" at no cost. I just took a look at the information on the Tarrant County GENWEB page showing the various repositories and it looks like there are quite a number that you would have to be familiar with. I think it would be very productive to play around in this web site and see what is available and where. Tarrant County has a very active group of volunteers and I think you will be interested in checking out that web site to see what they are offering to do for people. http://www.rootsweb.com/~txtarran/look-ups.htm I do not mean to "preach," but I would like to offer some observations. If you plan to charge, you need to create a niche of records that you will offer to examine. You also need to make sure that you know those records inside and out and can advise people on their uses and also their limitations, and where they can go for further research. What you are proposing goes beyond the volunteer look-ups, I believe, and gets into actual research status. I notice, from the Ft. Worth Public Library web site, that they have a list of professional researchers. It would be valuable to be on this list if you have had a lot of experience using their collections. You really need to have extensive knowledge of either a record category or a collection. It would be a great idea to become a volunteer at the Ft. Worth Public and learn their collections. I understand that the membership fee is waived if you are a volunteer there. If you want to do actual research in the county records, perhaps the Tarrant County Courthouse has a list of researchers available for hire. Since I am not a Texas native, and especially not a Tarrant County native, I am not that familiar with what is available, but I can pass on my personal experiences from 30 years as a professional genealogist. Doing research for hire is not easy! A rule of thumb is that it usually takes 1 hour of report-writing for each 1/2 hour of research and that should be included in your fee. If you do not have at least several years of researching experience in a variety of local records, I would not recommend that you jump into this quite yet. I would go the volunteer route and see if this is really what you want to do!! Good luck with whatever the group decides upon! Mary McCampbell Bell, CLS PS Are any of you planning to attend the FGS Conference in Salt Lake City in September? It looks like a very interesting program! Here's the web site: http://fgs.org/2005conf/FGS-2005.htm. The FGS and NGS annual Conferences are excellent sources for genealogical education. CLS, Certified Lineage Specialist is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. ----- Original Message ----- From: "robert kobs" <rpkobs@msn.com> To: <TX-GSGS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 7:24 PM Subject: Re: I have an idea... > I don't think an hourly rate is a bad idea. I know, that when it comes to > having someone else help me, for a fee....it is great! A trip for > genealogy can run up there in the way of $$. I would have to take off > time from work because I only get paid for time I work (I am not > receiving a paid vacation).....drive time....which is over 11 hours to > Illinois....gas.....lodging.....food........it is SO worth it to pay for a > look up! I have 3 kids and tons of other expenses....I'd rather spend it > on a look up that let to know where...than pay for a trip to do it myself, > for nothing! > > As far as the SS fee..........let me tell you what it was like for me, > y'all. My grandfathers....both of them.......know NOTHING as far as their > grandparents in Italy are concerned. I guess it was just not something > that was asked/or talked about. No one knew anything about the kin in the > old country. I was lucky that my little cute great-grandma Della applied > for SS when she was 78 years old! I sent off my $27 and the printed out > request form and waited..........when I received it, it was fantastic. I > already knew her maiden name....but that was it. When I got that SS > application....I found out the names of both of my GG-grandparents.....I > have a copy of my g-grandma Della's signature. Everyone also thought she > was from Fanano, Italy. She may have grown up there......but she was BORN > in the village of Montes! SO.........in 100 years, when I can afford to > go to Italy.....at least I will know the village in which to start! LOL! > > I think that it will come down to a priority for folks when it comes to > what one is willing to spend on genealogy. I would easily spend that $27 > again..........I was SO thrilled to call up my grandpa and tell him the > names of his maternal grandparents....and the actual name of the village > in which his mother was born!! It may just be a budgeting thing....which > we ALL have to do when it comes to our genie research......especially when > there are a number of other expenses in our lives. We have to do it time > and time again, whether it be saving for a couch, the kids various > expenses....or a genealogical expense. In the long run....a little fee > for a look up is better than spending Lord knows how much $$ for a long > trip to find nothing..................is it something that I could or > would do for every ancestor.......no.....but for some.........YES! > > Just an opinion............. > > Jayna > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Phil Heberer<mailto:pheberer@charter.net> > To: TX-GSGS-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:TX-GSGS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 6:09 PM > Subject: Re: I have an idea... > > > Hi Lisa, > > > > Phil...a flat fee of $25!? I wouldn't pay it. No matter how badly I > > wanted that info. > > I'm still choking on Dennis having to pay $27 for a SS application!! > > It depends. If it was something I desparately wanted to have, $25 would > be > tolerable. Besides, I think it was a way of gaining more members as > well. I > forgot to mention that members got a 50% reduction, and annual > membership is > only $20. The genealogy society has a *wealth* of accumulated local, > county > and state history (way more than the local library!) Several old weekly > newspapers donated their archives to the genealogy society when they > merged > into a single daily paper, and those old newspapers from the late 1800's > are > priceless, IMO! > > > hmmm...Maybe it should be rated by length of time it takes to find the > > information. > > I think an hourly rate would be more reasonable, but I also know even at > $10 > an hour, it doesn't take much to get two and a half hours in! I guess it > would depend on how adept the researcher is. > > > As far as place to put funds...well, it's not like we are going to > start > > doing this this weekend, or if we are even going to consider it as a > > group. > > Yeah, I understood it wasn't something we were going to start tomorrow. > Still, I'm hoping we will have someplace to store some funds soon. > > > Jayna wants me to bring it up at the next meeting. See if anyone > would > > even be willing to volunteer the time... > > I'm thinking it's a win-win situation. Find their stuff...then look > for > > yours! :o) > > It *would* be nice to do some research and get paid for it! Even at > twenty-five cents an hour, I could be a rich man in what I have invested > in > mine so far! LOL! I guess it would depend on what information someone > wanted > looked up. Personally, *I* like copies of obituaries more than death > certificates, but to each their own. I guess I have an advantage there, > since the County Recorder in the county seat where I grew up was a > former > high school classmate of mine. <grin> > > Cheers, > Phil > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx<http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx> > > > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > >