Hi Suzanne,
I've noticed your recent postings to MONTANA-L, MTYELLOW-L, MTCARBON-L,
MTMUSSEL-L et al. One posting was in regard to WWI Draft records in
Dawson Co., and another for burials in Custer Co. As listowner for the
last three lists, I wanted to relay the Rootsweb, GenConnect and my
policies concerning all of the county lists and boards which are owned by
MTGenWeb Project volunteers. These lists are for discussion of
"county-specific" ancestry by researchers working on their XXcounty
genealogy. Most will concern basic ancestry or county questions and their
responses. I ask that no postings be made to the lists unless they
specifically refer to that particular county.
Secondly, you are always welcome to post URL's for county-specific data
... i.e. if you had just added a Yellowstone Co. deed index to your
archives, you may certainly post that fact to the list, along with the
exact URL of the data listed. It isn't acceptable on any of our county-L
Rootsweb lists in MTGenWeb, however, to post any or all of the actual data
or index on the mailing list, or to "advertise" a particular site or group,
solicit volunteers, etc.
The MONTANA-L list is a different matter. It is maintained by the Montana
State Genealogical Society. I cannot speak to their preferences as to
postings, but I myself have been asked to not post material that is not
pertinent to research here in Montana. I'm sure that people who subscribe
to the list would be interested learning about the URL for any newly
archived material, however!
Suzanne, I am not sure I fully understand the GenExchange purpose since the
USGenWeb Archives has been doing essentially the identical thing since
1996. I guess I'm a bit surprised that someone felt a need for yet another
genealogical data bank. <G> That said, however, you of course have every
right to be doing what you are doing. I also believe that the more data
that gets online, the better for researchers.... and that's what MTGenWeb
is all about..... free online data for researchers. I assume that you
feel the same way.
It is with that in mind that I am hoping for a spirit of cooperation
between our groups so that the data we place online is unique and avoids
duplication, thus providing the best service to all concerned. Please
feel free to look over our copyrighted archive material at any time so that
you are aware of what is there and what is not yet online.
Thanks for the work you are doing for the cause of free genealogy research
in Montana!
Corky
Corky Knebel
MtGenWeb Project State Coordinator
http://www.imt.net/~corkykn/montana.html