WELDING LINKS: "SHIP ME ALL THOSE PASSENGERS . . ."
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, myravg@prodigy.net
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/
It's been another exciting week in the past lane on the Internet,
but I don't think I can take many more like this.
For years I have enjoyed helping online genealogists, sharing
knowledge and experience I have acquired through the years as
well as using my vast library of reference material to find
answers or clues. I have always tried to be patient and remember
that I once was a "newbie." I do not know if we can blame
technology, but I think people are ruder online, or perhaps I am
turning into a curmudgeon. However, I can not imagine a novice
genealogist walking up to me and yelling:
"HOW DO I RESEARCH MY LAST NAME. I DO NOT
UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE E-MAIL
ME AND EXPLAIN IT!!"
Typing in all caps (unless you have a visual problem) is
considered yelling in e-mail -- and it is rude. Throwing in 20
bangers (exclamation points) tells me the inquirer is not only
rude, but also impatient and probably would be ungrateful for
genealogical material I have. Making demands of me when asking
for a favor doesn't set too well either.
I'm not sure how to respond to the request claiming that I put
something on the Internet about the ships that brought people to
the States and asking me to e-mail these to him. First, I didn't
post anything anywhere about this subject and second, even if I
had a clue to what he was talking about, does he want me to
e-mail him the ships, the passengers, or the "something"? As
co-editor of two popular e-zines (MISSING LINKS and ROOTSWEB
REVIEW) that go to a total of about 300,000 subscribers, I can
assure you that I receive many strange, and often interesting,
requests. However, more and more of these requests require
psychic powers. I've been searching for a mind-reading course at
Virtual U. Perhaps that will do the trick.
"Send me all you have on the VANDERPOOL line," a newfound cousin
requested recently. I don't think so. I can't afford the freight
to ship it to her, and she didn't offer to pay for it C.O.D.
Besides my three private secretaries are on vacation and I don't
have time to find everything in my files. In a quarter-of-a-
century, a person can collect a lot of information on a family
that has been in America 345 years. I don't mind sharing, but
unreasonable requests turn me off.
I saw a few more that I don't think I will respond to either.
They include:
-- "I have been working for two months on my ancestors and have
them back to Noah. When will the Flood records be online?"
-- "Would you send me the JPGs of our family crest -- the one
scratched on the walls in that cave in southern France?"
-- "I have a 125,786-word 9th-century manuscript about my Viking
ancestors. However, it is in Norse. Where can I get it
translated -- instantly and for free?"
-- "Send me everything you have on that line -- I want to include
it on my Web site."
If you are not getting answers to your demands for genealogical
information, try making reasonable, well-thought-out requests.
Take a little time to educate yourself in methodology. You will
be surprised at the difference it will make. Some of us
curmudgeons have virtual trunks of treasures to share -- if you
know the magic words.
* * * * *
Written by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG. myravg@prodigy.net , http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/.
Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool
Gormley, CG, Missing Links: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists,
Vol. 4, No. 15, 9 April 1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web
page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm.
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