----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Pierce <twp(a)rootsweb.com>
To: <listowners-announce(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 1999 11:19 PM
Subject: pre-announcement: Surname Resources at RootsWeb
Hi, listowners --
This is an early announcement of an upcoming service that's likely to
be of interest to our listowners.
One of the requests we get most often from RootsWebbers is for better
navigation tools. RootsWeb provides a dizzying assortment of
surname-oriented research resources, so much that it can be
overwhelming to even the experienced user. Folks are constantly
asking us if there's some way to unify the Websites, mailing lists,
RSL entries, and GenConnect boards together in a single resource.
We're extremely proud to let you know that now they can. We've
created 5,000 new "Surname Resources," a new way to navigate
RootsWeb's surname offerings. These are *not* yet public -- We'll be
announcing them in the 26 May edition of the RootsWeb Review -- but we
wanted to give our list and GenConnect board administrators a first
chance to look at the new Resources.
What *is* a Surname Resource? Although these new resources are
still under construction, they are operational. Stop by
http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/
and feel free to explore.
These Surname Resources cover the 5,000 most common surnames from the
RootsWeb Surname List. Many of them are completely new -- we created
more than 3,000 new mailing lists just for this project. (We may even
do the next 5,000-15,000 most common surnames!) The new lists and GC
Boards are presently administered by a few (extremely busy!) RootsWeb
staff members, but eventually we'll take volunteers to adopt them.
We're still working out the details, but we will definitely give
preference to folks who already administer existing mailing lists and
surname boards for the same names. When we're ready to take that
step, we'll announce it here.
So look around, have fun, and let us know what you think!
--
Regards,
Tim Pierce
RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative
system obfuscator and hack-of-all-trades