I really have to step in and say something here in support of Linda and the Archives. I don't know what is being said on the lists now, as I unsubscribed from all the general USGenWeb lists a while back. I got tired of all the rumors and back stabbing that went on there, and found that I was much happier just working with the Archives and my own county pages without that hassle. I've been a CC for VA since 1996 when I adopted Rockingham & Orange Counties. I also joined forces on the Archives Project very early on. I have never understood why some CCs feel there is a competition between the county pages and the Archives. When I transcribe data for my counties I put it both on my web pages and in the archives. Figure I'll reach the most people that way. And that's the name of the game. I thought that's why all of us were in this project, to get good information out there on the internet that would be free to all researchers. I don't really care where they access it - I'd just like for them to find it easliy. Now, to Linda. I've been working with Linda all this time too, and I've never seen any move on her part to try to "take over" anything. Protect, yes - take over - no. As a co-file manager for the Virginia part of the Archives, I have never attempted to take anything from anyone's county pages, and I never will. If, as a CC you want to offer that data, fine. But I'm certainly not going to steal it. I think the Archives is a good idea for permanent storage of the data - and for the ease of using the search engines. But it's totally the decision of the CC and of the contributors to the CC's web site as to whether or not they place the data in the Archives. You might be surprised how many people stumble onto the archives without realizing there are web sites for the counties they are researching in. It seems to me that everyone should know about the USGenWeb and all the county sites <g> but they don't. I get a lot of e-mail from the archives pages asking questions about a particular county, and I always direct them to your county pages. The web pages in the Archives are simply tables of content for the files there - nothing more, nothing less. I apologize for the length of this message, but I felt strongly that someone needs to put the record straight. We have a good group of people working on the VAGenWeb, and we have little or no problems compared with some of the states. I know that those of you who have been with the project a long time and have seen what I have seen are not concerned about any rumors floating around about Linda and/or the Archives. They've come and gone for years now. But I'm sure we have some newer members who are probably wondering just what they've gotten themselves into after the resignation letter. I'm sorry too that Dodie believed all that she heard without sticking around long enough to learn the truth. I hope that those of you who are new here will take the time to get to know all of us, and I think if you do you'll find we all have the researcher's best interest at heart. Sincerely. Harriet Welch