List Members, As List Manager, I will try to answer the questions and concerns. Please respond privately to [email protected] - this response is not intended to start a discussion on this topic. The list is for genealogy and not discussion of list management. Marge Howe asked "What happened to the original Windham County E-mail list?" Helga Andrews agrees and asks, "When and why did it happen and what can we do??" Ruthie Anderson agrees, as does Ruth Barton and Phil Alling. (Original posts are below.) As to the question of what has happened to the original Windham County E-mail list is that it is still here and has one hundred and sixty list members, yes, 160. It is a wonderful group of folks who have responded many times to the queries of folks, and who responded within days to help transcribe over one thousand pages of text for the Vermont Historical Gazeteer Transcription, an ongoing project for the Windham Co., VT GenWeb. Of the 160 folks on this list there are folks who are beginners and those who are old hands at emails; there are some who have never sent in a query, for one reason or another; there are those who want everything to come here whether it is a post to the Message Board or a query sent to the VTWINDHA-L. We all seek one thing in common, clues to the history of our ancestors. Clues coming from differnt sources to one email list can be helpful. The list responses are set respond to list, you are able to over-ride this by hitting "reply to all" and removing the list address, however, someone on the list who may have a connection will miss a possible clue that may spur further information being exchanged. As to the question of "when and why" since Sun, 2 Apr 2000, the list has received posts from the GenConnect site which became the Ancestry Message Boards earlier this year, the folks at RootsWeb and Ancestry listened to the site Managers and List Managers and have now included a hyperlink in case you find something of interest, it will take you directly to the post and show any threads to the post. There are 1355 posts on the site, a combination of the old GenConnect and Ancestry Boards. A Message Board is for posting a one time query, an email list is for the discussion in more detail of a line or connection. In the Year 2000, the Genconnect had 67 posts to our list out of a total database of 815 records. In the Year 2001, the Genconnect & Message Board had 138 posts to our list out of a total database of 533 records so far this year. As to the question of "what can we do" my suggestion is that folks on the list could send in a query and see if someone else connects. That is, use the list, and not wait for information to fall into one's lap. To get the most bang for your post do it on the Message Board and the query is defaulted to the list. Posting on the Board bumps you up into larger search engines and makes your post easier to find - on the board and in the list archives! Unsubbing and using only the Message Boards would not enhance making a connection, I am sorry to see this suggestion as I have worked hard to build up the list from the 40 members that were on the list when I became the List Manager. Many of you are here because you received an invitation telling you of our list. As to the comment of not knowing about the websites, they are attached to messages as taglines - which follow... Message Board Windham County Vermont <http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec? htx=board&r=rw&p=localities.northam.usa.states.vermont.counties.windham> Subscribe, Unsubscribe, & Search Windham Co., VT-L http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/VT/windham.html List Manager's address [email protected] Vermont Historical Gazeteer Transcription ~ http://www.rootsweb.com/~vtwindha/VT_Gazetteer_V5_Towns_of_Windham.htm USGenWeb Windham Co. http://www.rootsweb.com/~vtwindha/ Please respond privately, thank you for your cooperation, Sue Downhill, List Manager VTWINDHA-L [email protected] ===================================== ===================================== From: Marge Howe <[email protected]> Hi: What happened to the original Windham County E-mail list? This seems to have changed to just a repeat of what is posted as queries on the Windham web query site. Since this has happened, I rarely see an actual E-mail list question come through. And am I the only one who has noticed that by "gatewaying" the web list through here, you often get a message that is actually just a quick answer to something someone has written to answer a posting but if you have not looked at that posting, you have no idea what they are talking about? If so, I suggest we un-sub from this and just use the web site. It also bothers me that with it being used this way, many of my friends find it confusing to sort out who the messages are coming from and where they are coming from and also to sort through the address stuff and find a person's private E-mail if you care to answer privately. I think what I am saying is, this list is no longer what it once was and I am not happy with it. And yes, I do know if I don't like it un-sub but I liked being able to look at the messages and queries that were in my E-mail without having to go to the web. Just one person's opinion. Marge Howe ================= From: [email protected] Marge, I quite agree with you. When and why did it happen and what can we do??Helga Andrews ================= From: "Ruthie Anderson" <[email protected]> I agree "What happened to the original Windham County E-mail list? " Ruthie ================= From: Ruth Barton <[email protected]> Marge, I agree with you. For one thing, I virtually never go to websites so would miss all the messages. In fact, I didn't even know Windham Co had a website. They just take too long to find and look for stuff. Thanks, Ruth ================= From: "palling" <[email protected]> I agree also. Phil Alling =================