Afternoon, folks.;-)
My objective for this message is to examine the goals of two separate
entities - the USGW Project and RootsWeb - apart from one another.
I believe while some of the goals of these organizations may be similar,
others are not. Indeed, some of the goals may conflict - and certainly
that will be a matter of opinion, and opinions may differ.
I think this is a fair approach.
"Dr. Brian Leverich" wrote:
One of the things about life is you either keep improving or you
become a corpse standing on your feet.
That's true for RootsWeb, and it's equally true for USGenWeb. Since
USGenWeb was founded, many other organizations have sprung up that
partially or wholly attempt to clone USGenWeb's content: ALHN,
GenExchange, Broderbund's GenForum, Ancestry, Randall Haight's
genweb.net, ...
If USGenWeb is going to stay the premier geographically-oriented
genealogy project, one of the things it's going to need to do is
continuously improve the range and quality of services it provides
to the genealogical community.
I have the following questions and comments concerning Brian's statement:
Did USGW *ever* intend to "compete" with commercial OR
non-commercial online sources of data?
Did USGW ever set the goal of being "the
premier geographically-oriented genealogy project"?
I don't think those are USGW's goals.
I think they *may* be the goals FOR USGW as perceived by Brian, and
possibly even by *some* USGW volunteers and even some board members.
But I don't think those are, or ever were, the *USGW Project's* goals.
I think Brian's statement assumes or declares they are USGW's goals..
I do not think it his place to state what USGW's goals
are, or to decide what those goals *ought* to be.
Certainly, Brian is welcome to his opinion about what USGW's goals
*should* be.
But USGW decides its own goals.
To date, I believe our goal is to be the best source WE can be of a free
online exchange of genealogical information.
I believe the project is striving for it's own "personal best."
Great big difference in our project if that has changed to a goal of
being THE best among various different *types* of online services -
especially if we're saying our goal is to compete with commercial
services and similar noncommercial ones such as ALHN. I must point out
it is my view ALHN and USGW compliment one another, with the focus of
ALHN being much broader.
As I'm sure we all know, genealogy is merely a *specific* part of the
much broader subject known as "history."
I have always thought USGW's goal was to provide the best free online
source of genealogical research assistance our volunteers could offer,
and that in doing so we indeed are an *alternative* to other types of
data online, such as commerical services and other projects which
certainly offer some data of interest to those who use USGW.
But I have NEVER understood us to be attempting to "compete." I
understood our goal was to *be* and to complement.
If we have a goal to "compete" with online commercial services, and to
compete with complementary services such as ALHN, I think it is only
fair we *state* this explicity HERE and now - so that EVERYone
associated with, or making use of this project *knows* this immediately.
While it is quite true, USGW may be viewed by some commercial
enterprises as offering services which "compete" with theirs, the
reverse need NOT be true, and I submit it has not been to this point.
I believe we need to decide.
What are we?
And who decides what we are?
I believe it is important to separate the goals of the USGW project and
be VERY clear as to what those goals are and NOT to confuse USGW goals
with RootsWeb's goals. *Some* of those goals may be the same. Not *all*
of those goals necessarily are.
We *need* to be clear on which goals
differ, and especially on how those goals could conflict with one another.
Sandy