--part1_ca.1e05c2e.25ddf93e_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part1_ca.1e05c2e.25ddf93e_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: <RootsWeb-Review-request@rootsweb.com> Received: from rly-yb03.mx.aol.com (rly-yb03.mail.aol.com [172.18.146.3]) by air-yb03.mail.aol.com (v67_b1.24) with ESMTP; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:39:19 -0500 Received: from lists3.rootsweb.com (lists3.rootsweb.com [206.169.84.39]) by rly-yb03.mx.aol.com (v67_b1.24) with ESMTP; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:38:43 -0500 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists3.rootsweb.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id FAA23720; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 05:23:31 -0800 Resent-Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:07:33 -0800 Message-ID: <000901bf793f$d3994100$15b6ffd1@oemcomputer> Old-To: <rootsweb-review@rootsweb.com> Subject: RootsWeb Review, Vol. 3, No. 7 Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:09:21 -0500 Organization: Prodigy Internet MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Resent-Message-ID: <zBRf7B.A.kTH.FS-q4@lists3.rootsweb.com> To: RootsWeb-Review@rootsweb.com Resent-From: RootsWeb-Review@rootsweb.com X-Mailing-List: <RootsWeb-Review@rootsweb.com> archive/latest/62 X-Loop: RootsWeb-Review@rootsweb.com Precedence: list Resent-Sender: RootsWeb-Review-request@rootsweb.com From: Julie Case <Julie_Case@rootsweb.com> ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 7, 16 February 2000, Circulation: 397,286+ (c) 1998-2000 RootsWeb.com, Inc. <http://www.rootsweb.com/> RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com> RootsWeb HelpDesk: <http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/> Advertising: <rrti@rootsweb.com> Media Contact: <stwalsh@rootsweb.com> DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options (check or credit card), e-mail <info@rootsweb.com> or visit <http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html>. Mailing address: RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please write your e-mail address on all correspondence and checks.) * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE: o Forbes Magazine Names RootsWeb among 33 "Best of the Web" o WorldConnect o RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees: African American, Native American, Jewish, Melungeon, Unique Peoples o RootsWeb's U.S. Presidential Pages o Generations -- Find Your Roots Internet Talk Show o Photos from GenTech Conference o Connecting through RootsWeb o Comments on "Someone Might Steal My Research" o New Genealogy Mailing Lists o New Genealogy Web Pages o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives Project o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy, Back Issues, How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe * * * * * RootsWeb Named a Forbes Favorite! Leading Publication Surveys Thousands of Sites, Calls RootsWeb One of the "Best of the Best" NEW YORK -- Forbes, the country's leading financial magazine, this week named RootsWeb <http://www.rootsweb.com/> to its elite list of the 33 very best sites on the Internet. For its Spring 2000 guide, Forbes.com: Best of the Web, Forbes examined more than 5,000 top Web sites in order to "cut through the clutter" and identify the best. Forbes applied five criteria in picking its favored sites: design, navigation, content, speed and customization. Bonus points were added for features that made sites easier to use and more fun. Of the sites examined, 260 were picked as "stellar selections," with 33 chosen a Forbes Favorite, or "best of the best." Scoring highly in all categories, RootsWeb was among the 33 -- named the very best site for genealogy. This puts RootsWeb in good company with such popular sites as ESPN.com, Yahoo Finance, and Monster.com. Forbes said of RootsWeb, "This homey ad-free site offers basic tutorials on Exploring the Social Security Death Index and Tracing Your Immigrant Ancestors. Other nifty features include: the RootsWeb Surname list, which contains genealogical research and contact links for more than 600,000 names; and the Roots-L Library, with helpful articles on topics like how to tell if someone's trying to sell you a fake history of your family." Forbes commended RootsWeb's Social Security Death Index, saying it "worked more effectively than others' sites did." RootsWeb Chairman Brian Leverich expressed satisfaction at the release of Forbes' list. "It is quite an honor to be recognized this way by one of the country's most prominent publications," Leverich said, adding, "It is reflective of the fan mail we get from all kinds of people who have discovered us. And it's a tribute to the good work of a whole lot of folks who are dedicated to genealogy and to making RootsWeb the best." RootsWeb is the Internet's oldest and largest genealogy and family research site, dedicated to the free exchange of information on the Internet. It sponsors the largest volunteer genealogy projects on the Web, including: the USGenWeb Project, WorldGenWeb, the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, and many other national and international volunteer organizations. RootsWeb has had some fun recently with its "Notable Kin" and "Royal and Noble Lineages" projects. For example, RootsWeb has published research showing former President Jimmy Carter and the late King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, to be sixth cousins. RootsWeb's most recent statistics show more than 50 million page views, one million unique users, more than 11,000 Web sites hosted, 145,000 message boards, and 150 million e-mail messages sent on 18,000 mailing lists. RootsWeb Review and Missing Links are the largest-circulation genealogy publications in the world, each with about 400,000 subscribers. RootsWeb also hosts other interactive communities, including arts and humanities, entertainment, education, health, pets, collectibles, sports, travel, and science and technology. * * * WORLDCONNECT <http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/> There are nearly 20 million names to search in the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project GEDCOM database. Have you checked it lately for your ancestors? If you have any questions, please post them to the WorldConnect Project Suggestion Board <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/gedcom>. * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES. Lesson 25: African American, Native American, Jewish, Melungeon, Unique Peoples (Louisiana Redbones, Redbones, Americans of Natirah Ancestry, Tri-racials, Black Indians of the Upper South, Jackson Whites, Black Dutch or Plattdeutsch, Black Irish, Doukhobors) <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson25.htm> In addition to brief, interactive online genealogy lessons, you will find links to relevant resources at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet. Index to lessons: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/> * * * ROOTSWEB'S PRESIDENTIAL AHNENTAFELS now include the first nine U.S. presidents -- George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison -- and the 39th, Jimmy Carter. Coming next -- Abraham Lincoln. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/presidents/> * * * * * GENERATIONS(R) -- FIND YOUR ROOTS INTERNET TALK SHOW. Join SierraHome's Elon Gasper and special guests on Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (U.S.A.), for "Find Your Roots," the only genealogy Webcast that lets participants interact via chat, video, graphics, and more. Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG gives the "RootsWeb Report" each week on "Find Your Roots." <http://www.sierra.com/sierrahome/familytree/community/webcast/> In order to join the show you need: 1. A computer with a sound board and speakers. 2. A Web browser (e.g., Netscape, Microsoft Explorer, AOL). 3. RealPlayer 7 (downloadable from SierraHome's URL above) 4. A pioneering spirit and sense of adventure. TIME ZONE CONVERSIONS Web sites: <http://www.timezoneconverter.com/> <http://sandbox.xerox.com/stewart/tzconvert.cgi> <http://www.worldtimezone.com/> * * * PHOTOS FROM GENTECH. If you weren't able to attend the recent GenTech Conference but would like to feel as if you were there, take a peek at the snapshots of pre-conference preparations in San Diego, the RootsWeb, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG), and International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG) booths, and the RootsWeb and head tables at the banquet. Additional photos will be posted over the next few weeks at <http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/gentech/> **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** The March/April issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE features an article on "Researching Your Irish Roots" by renowned genealogist Angus Baxter. Other articles include "10 Best Local Library Resources," "Organizing Your Family Records," "How to Choose the Right Genealogy Software," "Why Film Research May Still be Your Best Choice," "Websites Worth Surfing" and many others. Top genealogy writers have this to say about FAMILY CHRONICLE: Ruby Coleman--"The quality of articles allows not only beginners but the seasoned trained genealogist to learn more about the various aspects of genealogical research"; Dear MYRTLE--". . . this is a must have magazine"; Carllene Marek--" FAMILY CHRONICLE is one of the very best genealogical magazines available today." Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting <http://www.familychronicle.com/> Obtain a trial copy of February/March HISTORY MAGAZINE with articles "Life and Death on the Oregon Trail," "The 1820's," "The Impact of Refrigeration," "The History of Horse Drawn Carriages," "History of the Midwives Role In Birth," "The Grand Review to celebrate the end of the Civil War," "History Notes -- Tobacco, the Sewing Machine, Ice Cream, the Toothbrush," and many others. Top columnists have this to say about HISTORY MAGAZINE. Betty Kirkland--" You shouldn't miss a single issue of this delightful publication"; Aulena Scearce Gibson--" This interesting and high-quality magazine will appeal to those who are curious about the everyday lives of their ancestors"; Regina Hines--"Articles are written in a style that appeals to the average person rather than the historical scholar". Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting <http://www.history-magazine.com/> Save $5 on Family Chronicle Collection, a reprint of articles from the six sold-out year-one issues by calling 1-888-326-2476. Offer good until 29 February 2000. Mention RootsWeb. **END PAID ADVERTISEMENT** CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. I knew I had a branch of my family (CALLANAN) who had emigrated in the 1850s from County Tipperary, Ireland to Buffalo, New York. Someone had passed on to me a tree with names and dates but I had no contact with any of them and had no stories or pictures. I joined the Erie County, New York mailing list. I lurked for a while and then the list administrator asked for a roll call. I sent in details of the first two generations. No response. Then last week I was having a problem posting to some other RootsWeb lists so I decided to send a test. I wrote to the Erie County list with the subject heading "Ignore this test posting" in order to cause as little annoyance as possible. One list member of course opened it and courteously replied to say it had posted fine (that of course I knew already as it had returned to me). I sent him a one-liner to thank him for his trouble. This obviously jogged his memory and he remembered my earlier roll call posting. He mailed back to say that the man who lived opposite him in the street had a son who married a Callanan. From the first names he gave me I realized this was a cousin. He forwarded my e-mail to her and I am now in touch with a third cousin once removed! List administrators are always emphasizing the importance of an informative subject heading. To get results I have found the most effective heading of all is, "Ignore this test posting!" Richard Callanan <RichardCallanan@compuserve.com> London, England Because of the McCracken County, Kentucky Web, I have found my father's family. It has taken me about 10 years. I have made numerous phone calls and written many e-mails to RootsWeb before, but I thought "one more letter and maybe something will happen." Well, I talked to my Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Rex in Kentucky this weekend. It was the first time I have talked to my aunt in 30 years. Thank you for this genealogy Web site. I now have found many new aunts and cousins I thought I would never be hearing from or seeing ever again. Bev Johnson Myers <BMyers4711@aol.com> * * * * * COMMENTS ON "SOMEONE MIGHT STEAL MY RESEARCH" by Ray Hawkins, Sydney, Australia <hawkil@ozemail.com.au> Not long after I started in genealogy, I too had this morbid fear that "Someone Might Steal My Research." Having progressed beyond that attitude, I can now look back and question what motivated that attitude in me. Here are some random thoughts: (a) I have invested countless hours in undertaking the research, the results of which I consider to be MINE. (b) I have similarly invested lots of money in the research, especially in buying certificates to prove my tree; but also in overseas trips to visit ancestor areas, etc. (c) Because of (a) and (b) above, I felt a proprietorship in the results of my researches, and I wanted to be acknowledged as the "finder" of this information, by publishing my results -- but I was nowhere near being at publishing stage yet. (d) I had a layman's imperfect understanding of copyright law, and thought that if someone else published the same details that I had, then I would not be able to publish my own book on the family history. I now know that my own work, grounded in my own research and with source references cited, will not interfere with anyone else's copyright. (e) In a similar way I misunderstood what plagiarism was; confusing it with copyright. I now know that plagiarism is merely passing off someone else's work as your own. (Of course this may very well result in breaching someone else's copyright as well.) It would be interesting to know if we all go through this, perhaps even for the most fleeting moment; in the same way that it is now generally accepted that we go through the various stages of grieving over any loss or change in our lives. My hope is that this might help us to be a little less judgmental of others who quite legitimately have, and then share these feelings with us. P. S. Perhaps I am defending these people also out of a sense of guilt -- because I haven't yet uploaded my own GEDCOMs! [Editors' Note: There's no time like the present!] **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** None of us are really dummies, but many of us feel like that when we get online. GENEALOGY ON