I had a few requests for lookups in response to my recent offer to search
some microfilm resources that I had available for a few weeks, and everyone
to whom I sent information responded with thanks. Unfortunately, that's
not always the case, as is evident from a message received from one of the
volunteers listed on the Decatur GenWeb lookup page:
"I am going to have to ask you to remove my name from the lookups list. It
has become a little too much for me, for I now have no time to do research
on my own families, and it has taken me a long time to catch up on
requests. I didn't mind doing them, but for the last batch I sent out, to
over 14 different people, only 2 took the time to write back and thank me
for looking up info for them. On some I spent over 2 hours looking up
stuff. I really hate to do this, but if they can't take time to thank me,
I dont need the hassle."
Before I had time to remove the name from the lookups page, the volunteer
had slept on the issue and reconsidered. But the incident reinforces for
me the need to give appropriate recognition to those who offer lookup
services.
John