Suggestions

IGP I do not see you making any helpful suggestions as to how such a board could be viable. You just pooh pooh any suggestions made without being constructive in any way shape or form.

If I left then that would be no great loss because when I help I am using sources readily available either on free or subscription sites. However I recognise that there are others who have specialist knowledge and sources which are not available on the Internet and as such are a greater asset to the the site, in my opinion, one which GR cannot afford to lose. How embarrassing for GR if Helpers start directing traffic to other sites for the specialist lookups which once was available on it's own site. Surely it is in everyone's best interests to make access to this specialist information as easy as possible.

The Help Clinic debacle was a complete faux pas by GR and one which was admitted to and fairly speedily remedied.

I don't visualise anything as shambolic as that happening.


Off the top of my head, we have about half a dozen members holding specialised records at the moment :

Derbyshire
Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire
Gloucester
Australia
New Zealand
Whitchurch-Cardiff



It would, perhaps, be worthwhile GR 'sticki-ing' them to the top of the Genealogy Chat board for a while to see how it works. If they are popular then, perhaps, a separate board would be useful. A case of trial and error with members being kept informed.


The other members who help out would then be able to guide people looking for help in those places, to that board without all the faffing around looking for where those threads happen to be at the time.


The person holding the records could decide whether they preferred to be pm'd or to reply on the thread.


Not that difficult surely?


Cx

I understand exactly what this thread is about.

I am just waiting for someone to set out in detail how it will work in practice, how it will be managed, without it degenerating into a shambles.

This is what is now needed to make this into a viable proposition, and I am not seeing that at the moment.

I do not think you understand what this thread is about IGP.

It is for people like Derek, Victor, Tony in oz who have access to records that most other people do not have, not general look ups

jax

Remember the ill-fated Help Clinic?

IGP.

I feel your comments re 'jumping ship', 'toys out of pram' and 'losing interest' are unnecessary and unhelpful.


As Susanne has just stated, to have a board where people who hold discs or have specialised local knowledge which they are willing to share with others, would be most helpful.


Members could simply contact GR with details of the specialised information they hold and await their decision.


Why on earth you think it would end up being a clique is beyond me.



Cx

I agree with the coment - Janey has made a good suggestion. It would be most helpful to many people and those who hold discs or have specialised local knowledge could keep their information in one place where it is easily accessible by others.

I don't know why a persons membership should even be a topic for discussion - Data Protectionmand all that. If I was Janey I'd be furious.

I have always appreciated the help given to me but it is so off putting the way some of the helpers talk to people that I'm reluctant to ask for help. I help so many people with their trees but I don't crow about it. i don't even care if I'm thanked or not - my pleasure is the help I'm giving. Not everybody knows what is thread or what is a nudge. Does it really matter if one post to a wrong list. I cringe at times the flipant answers & the arrognace of some members

Does it really matter if the topic has come up again. Many people don't know it was a previous topic.The fact that GR have not responded one way or another is the problem not Janey for bringing up again.

In the years that I have been a member on here I have lost count of the number of members who threatened 'jumping ship' just because something didn't suit them. Toys out of pram often sprung to mind.

Helpers come and go, they loose interest and move on to other things, only for their place to be taken by someone else.

Re stickying posts. Question. Who decides what and what not to Sticky or when to remove them. If you are not careful you end up with a clique and all the illfeeling that brings from those who feel they have been overlooked.

Victor, who has access to Gloucestershire records etc. has been in touch with me. We have had reasonably close contact from when I gave him advice when he first joined GR.

He has made the decision to do more work on the Rootschat site than on here.

He is fed up with constantly nudging his thread up the boards on this site so often.

I know his work has been much appreciated by many members and I notice he has even been thanked on the Success Board recently.


Janey has made a good suggestion. It would be most helpful to many people and those who hold discs or have specialised local knowledge could keep their information in one place where it is easily accessible by others.


Cx

Why would we allow this thread to lapse, it is neither here nor there where Janey is. What she has put up is a damn good suggestion and should stay.

Someone with a different suggestion by all means put up what they like...

i don't think saying: "Not sure where this is going now, not helped by the fact the original poster is no longer a member." is helpful.

A debate on the actual subject would be far more to the point. I think what is put at the beginning is well thought through and some of it may definitely be something that the GR site "team" might want to consider in there next lot of changes.

Persie

Is GR any closer to having a lookup board for those members who offer lookups from specialized sources, whether that be by cd or going to records offices.

If it is going to be awhile off can you not sticky some of the more popular ones to the top on the genealogy chat board. I know of one of these members who is seriously considering jumping ship and going over to rootschat to offer their services there. Can GR really afford to lose members who do lookups?

IGP I misunderstood. When rereading your post I can see what you meant.

However, I don't think starting a duplicate thread would be an answer either because the new thread could also go around and around in circles and so not benefit anyone. Although Janey is not in a position to put it on track if any new ideas in relation to this thread are posted here then maybe it can be debated further.

There is nothing worse than having fragmented information with multiple threads on the same subject.

Whether or not the original poster is still on site is irrelevant, I would have thought.

I see no point in a new thread being started on this subject.

I too thought we weren't suppose to have duplicate threads and I don't see what the status of Janey's membership has to do with the suggestion. If she has decided not to renew her subscription does not mean she is no longer a member of the site only that she holds a free membership. Who knows she may have renewed her subs but too busy in her real life to contribute to the boards

Janey's suggestion should be debated and considered along with everyone elses

I thought we were supposed to avoid starting new threads about the same thing, and that Phil was going to merge threads on the same topic.

If you read Janey's opening post she is not talking about BMD's and census record look up threads, it is the more specialized like parish records that some people have on discs. which cannot be found on the net

The look ups that are being mentioned pigletspal are not the sort people can find themselves.

jax

What is proposed is not a look up board for things that are available on FMP and Ancestry. They are already done, not very surreptitiously on the Finding Ancestors board. This is for lookups of specialist data that is not readily available on line. Such offers might be made by those who live near record offices.

Ken

Good idea, Meercat

Hi Cynthia,
Yes, thats exactly what I mean.
Sometimes people are ill, to many look ups or the wrong family.When it is someone elses thread you appear rude if you point out they have the wrong family.

meercat.