• READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! Valerie

• If you are new to the internet and want information on terminology, privacy issues, copyright issues, email viruses, email hoaxes, netiquette and cookies, please visit Cyndi's List - Using the Internet. This page has it all!

• Mailing Lists! These are groups of people with common interests who send email to a server that then sends it out to everyone on the list. There are lists for surnames, counties and groups! To join the Braxton list, click here. For more information on other mailing lists, go to Rootsweb. Make sure that you follow the instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing to the lists. Also, follow the quidelines and proper netiquette!

• GEN-NEWBIE-L. A mailing list where people who are new to computers and genealogy may interact using a computer's email program. It's like a bouncing ball, with someone asking a question and others suggesting answers, or asking more questions. The list discusses genealogy, family history, computer applications, and a wide variety of other topics with a goal of assisting anyone who wants "community coaching" about the Internet, genealogy, computers, or whatever. To subscribe, send an email to here Put the word "subscribe" in the body of your message. Do Not include any other text in the message!!! David

• Not being too far removed from being an Internet newbie myself, I think I would say that the single most valuable piece of advice I would give to an experienced- genealogy-researcher-but-Internet-newbie is: "Use Bookmarks" [Remember when we started our genealogy library research years ago, and we found a great source which we simply tried to remember as "that little red book on the third shelf" -- but when we went back later to look for it, darned if we could find it again!---Same thing with URLs if we don't bookmark them!!] John

• If you don't want to spend time online reading, then read a book about new projects, this will really help new folks from making mistakes in genealogy and on the net. I recommend Internet for Dummies, and Unpuzzling Your Past, by Ruth Croom. Sandy in FL

Email

• If you subscribe to a genealogy mailing list, then keep your messages related to genealogy...no discussions of politics, religion or any other potentially controversial topic. If someone responds to one of your posts with a rude comment, the best way to react is to DELETE it! Don't let them draw you into a "flame war". It is a waste of time and space! Also, remember the Golden Rule...treat others as you would want to be treated! Lisa

• "Look before you hit the forward button" (i.e. if you don't personally *know* the originator of a sad story asking you to forward the message around the world - don't - or the virus warning etc.) Charlene

• This is about email and cutting and pasting addresses. In letters it is proper...ie better, to use the http:// prefix because that automatically allows people to go to the website. Also, when writing addresses if at all possible copy and paste because most addresses are 'not' spelt the usual way. Lastly, tf you are AOL or use some kind of moniker always, always sign your name. Darilee

• When you join a mailing list on the internet to read it all not just glance at it. The names at the beginning may not be yours that you are looking for but chances are you will be able to hit on that one name that you have not really paid a lot of attention to. You never know when a surname that you are working on will pop up. Gina

• If you get a message that says "Forward to everyone you know", then chances are that it is a hoax. Check out the hoax pages to see if it is listed.(See Cyndi's List above for more info on hoaxes and viruses.) Never send questionable messages on to others! Lisa

• My tip for newbies would to be making sure that your email program is configured properly and that you include your email address in your messages.I get lots of messages from folks that do not have their email "reply to" feature with the correct address, and they don't include their email addy in their message. So I'm stuck, and they are too! I would suggest that they get a good (i.e. experienced) friend to check this for them.Valerie

• Above all, answer your mail, either snail or E-Mail. Kenneth

• Create a "signature line" for all of your email messages that includes your email address. Frustrating when trying to reply to someone who hasn't configured their email correctly and doesn't mention their email address in the body of the message. David

Asking for a Lookup or Help from another Researcher

• Always say please and thank you! :) Lisa

• When posting to genealogy mailing lists you should generally use one of the three formats for your subject line. These tend to generate more responses than a generic subject line such as "Smith Genealogy"-
  1. For surname queries: SURNAME (in caps), first name, Location(s), year(s) i.e. MCCALLISTER, Joseph, WV, 1780-1850
  2. For lookup queries dealing with a specific location: Location, State, Lookup Needed, Year(s) i.e. Kanawha Co WV, probate lookup needed, 1840-1850 or Kanwha Co WV, 1860 census lookup needed
  3. For lookup queries in a publication: Publication, Lookup needed Germans to America, lookup needed, 1872.

  *Somewhere in the body of that mailing list post, list the specific information you want looked up. I have seen people make posts asking for a lookup in the 1850 VA census, but they didn't mention the people they wanted to find. So I waste time writing back to find out the lookup details. If they had mentioned the details in their post I might have been able to give them the information within a couple of hours after their post.

  *Do not type your message in all capital letters. It is hard to pick out the surnames and people will delete the message without reading it. Do be sure to type the surname in all capital letters. Do not type the first name in capital letters. David

• Please put surnames in all CAPITALS!!! Also, people really "should" put the surname, in CAPITALS, ;-) in the subject line of ALL emails to make it easier for the people on the receiving end. Cindy in Brockton, MA

• When sending e-mail by the link, please tell the recipient what site or page you're on! Many of us handle more than one website, and an e-mail saying "I saw my last name on your page; can you give me any details?" is frustrating for both of us. EVEN if all you say is, "I saw my last name on your Tudor county site," it's a help. Cheryl

Queries

• When sending a query, give the other person enough info to identify your man, and NO MORE. "Do you know anything about the Tudors" isn't enough, but "Do you know anything more about Henry Tudor, whose uncle's wife was a MacGregor, the granddaughter of the Duke of Normandy whose G-G-G-GS is my wife's mother's fourth cousin" uses a lot of words to say the same thing. (g) "Do you know anything about Henry Tudor (b date, d date) who lived in Tudor County in 1873? Was his father William or Henry" at least gives me a place to start looking! "the late Mae Haase of Baton Rouge, Louisiana." via Cheryl

• Doesn't do any good when asking about a person and not to have dates or places! Kenneth

Genealogy

• Over the years many people (relatives, friends) have asked me how to get started in genealogy, and I compiled some notes to send to them. I placed the notes online at: http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/jackson/getting-started.html Dan

• Be sure to note complete source of every item of information you enter and include a direct quote of the info. I made the mistake early on of only noting the source name. Without doubt, you will find conflicting info and with source name & exactly what that source said recorded, you will be able to judge quality of info and/or verify.Sandi

• Keep a pencil and paper handy to write down websites, names, facts, and ideas.

  *Don't be afraid to ask questions and offer information. For me, one of the best learning examples happened when I finally ask the list how to send a file. I got several sets of directions and I received several messages form others who did not know how to send files asking me to forward the instructions.

  *If you join a list read all the messages, even those which at first do not seem to fit. I couldn't count the number of times I have gone back over old messages previously thought unmatched, only to find information that belongs.

  *Buy a box of file folders, label a few with your primary surnames, then label the remainder alphabetically. File the millions of printed messages in these folders and occasionally go back over them. I also mark in red and place in the rear of the folder all those that I have finished. This prevents me from reviewing information already put into Family Tree maker files. Leslie

• Get a good book on genealogy research and a good atlas. I recommend "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy" by Val D. Greenwood (Genealogical Publishing Co). For an atlas I highly recommend "Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920" by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide (Genealogical Publishing Co). The map guide will help you to determine those constantly changing county boundaries.

  *Make a copy of your gedcom file to a floppy disk at least once a month. I guarantee you (we've all been there) that you will lose your research due to computer gremlins and the only thing that can save you is to have a copy saved on floppy. Another option to this is to periodically upload your gedcom to your web site.

  *Buy separate binders for each family surname. It will help you get organized with the tons of email and documents you accumulate.

  * When leaving the house to do research do not take your originals with you. Take a copy with you in case it gets lost. .

  * When your leave to do research print out a family group sheet with the detailed notes and take that with you. On the family group sheet write down what you want to find out that day, and what information you already know that will help in that day's quest. Be sure to put your name, address, and telephone# in your research folder in case you misplace it.

  *Do NOT leave the house to do research without having specific goals in mind. Going to "find out everything about TACKETT" will cause you to waste a lot of time and you won't accomplish much. It is far better to have a goal such as "Where was William L. TACKETT in 1840?" David

• Add all information on a family whether they are all related to you or not! Also add dates, places of birth, death and burial. Kenneth