Extract from
RootsWeb Review, Vol. 5, No. 40, 2 October 2002
1b. Making the Most of Mailing Lists. Once you subscribe to any RootsWeb
Mailing List you will begin receiving all messages that are posted to
it. Lurking -- a geek term meaning reading messages without taking
part in the discussion -- is recommended until you get a feel for how
the Mailing List is managed. Each list has its own rules or guidelines
set by the list administrator within the bounds of the RootsWeb AUP
(Acceptable Use Policy) and an atmosphere resulting from the interests
of the list members and administrator. Any special rules will usually be
explained by the administrator in the Welcome message that you receive
immediately after joining and in revolving taglines added to the list
messages or via periodic administrative notices.
Most RootsWeb Mailing Lists are publicly archived in both a threaded/
browseable and a searchable format. Browse through the threaded list
archive to discover what discussions have taken place recently.
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/
If you join a Mailing List in an attempt to get an answer to a specific
question or to learn about a particular ancestor, it would be wise to
check the searchable list archive first to determine whether the
question has been answered in the past or whether your ancestor has
previously been discussed.
http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl
Once you have done this homework, you are ready to type up an e-mail
message and post a query. Plan it with the subject matter of the Mailing
List in mind -- always mention how your query pertains to the subject of
the list whether that be a surname, geographic area, or a genealogical
research topic.
Your query should include what you already know. Remember to specify
what information you seek. Always include the name of the individual or
family of interest, along with some dates or at least some sort of time
frame, and the location where the individual(s) lived or where certain
events took place. Be as concise as possible, but include all pertinent
information. Keep in mind that Mailing Lists have subscribers around the
world -- don't assume that everything is U.S.-connected or that others
will understand your abbreviations. Leave no doubt, spell it out.
Review the text of your query, then enter a meaningful description
in the subject field of your e-mail message. Good examples:
--"James Jones and Sarah Jackson, seek marriage record ca 1885"
--"Need 1880 census lookup for John Barton"
--"Bradshaw surname in Brisbane"
When your message text and subject are complete, address your e-mail to
the Mailing List address (regardless of whether you are subscribed in
list or digest mode) and send it. For instance, if you are sending the
message to the SMITH surname list, address your message to
SMITH-L(a)rootsweb.com
If, instead of writing a new query, you wish to reply to a message that
has been posted by another list member -- select either the REPLY or
REPLY ALL option before creating the text of your response. Pay close
attention to which address(es) are displayed in the SEND TO box of your
e-mail. Some Mailing Lists are set by the administrator to reply to the
sender only, while others are set to reply to the entire list.
If a Mailing List is set to reply to the sender hitting REPLY will send
the response *only* to the poster, while hitting REPLY ALL will send a
copy of your reply to both the poster and the entire list.
However, if the Mailing List is set to reply to the list, hitting REPLY
will send the response the list. If an administrator has a list set to
reply to the list, and an individual list member has his e-mail program
set to include a specific REPLY TO address, SmartList (RootsWeb Mailing
List software) will not override that setting and, in that instance,
hitting REPLY will send your reply only to the individual. That's why it
is important to be certain that the address(es) to which you wish to
send the message are the ones displayed in the SEND TO box of your
outgoing e-mail -- before hitting SEND.
When replying to a previous list message or digest copy/quote only the
short pertinent part(s) of the message to which you are replying. Never
quote an entire message in your reply. Be sure that your e-mail
application is not set to automatically copy and send back an entire
message or digest. If you are replying in a thread and the subject
changes, don't forget to change the subject line. Also, if you are
replying to a digest message, remember to change the subject to reflect
the actual message you are addressing instead of leaving the digest
number as the subject.
1c. Quick Tips from RootsWeb Review Readers: Avoiding Frustration
Thanks to: Chris Hannan channan(a)bigpond.com
The frustration experienced when doing searches on family surnames that
relate to other subjects can be minimised by placing the family surname
followed by the word family in quotation marks, e.g. "Day family" or
"White family." Doing a search in this way filters out many unwanted
variations. I also recommend using the Dogpile search engine as it does
a search on many search engines, not just the one.
[Editor's Note: Learn more about meta-search engines and discover other
Web search techniques at:
http://cyndislist.com/search.htm ]