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eLearning Series: Geneology
My Family Tree is Important to Me
( 50 articles in this series )
Geneology
Research: Internet Message Boards
The increasing popularity of the internet
has offered many new chances for people to exchange information
from all over the world. Message boards are one way
this information is exchanged in everything from sports to
medicine. However,
it can also be a way you can increase your genealogy research.
They allow you to communicate freely with people from all over
in a public forum so that you can have the maximum number of
people possible looking at the information you are requesting.
This is a great way for you to be able to make contact with
others that are interested in genealogy like you.
First of all, if you are going to post on a message board
for any reason you should understand the consequences
of what you post. Remember that information on a message board, no
matter what kind, is essentially public. What you print there
can be read by anyone and can be quoted then to anyone. So
make sure that everything you write in any message you are
going to post only has information in it that you are comfortable
having anyone read or share with anyone else. In addition,
keep in mind that with most message boards, the post is permanent
once you hit the submit button. So you want to make sure you
have no embarrassing typos or information you think you might
regret. It is always going and worth your while to add that
extra few minutes so you can review the message before you
hit submit.
So once you know you want to post to a genealogy message board
for information exchange, you need to make sure your
posts are effective. It is important not to make your posts long
and bogged down with a ton of information. When it comes to
a message board post, more is less and less is more. Make sure
what your post is detailed and concise rather than rambling
and general. With a more specific and concise message you are
more likely to get specific and helpful responses from others.
If you are general with your post you will either get no responses
or a ton of responses that may or may not have anything to
do with the information you are after. If you are looking for
a specific family member in your post, make sure you put in
full names, birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates. Put
down specific locations that you may have and even the names
of parents or children. The more of this you have, the more
likely you are to get actual meaningful information.
It may seem either obvious or silly, but good
grammar and spelling are going to be important. People are much more likely
to respond to a post that seems to have been put up by someone
who is serious. In addition, if you use good grammar and punctuation,
you are less likely to be misunderstood. You always want information
to be precise and that is just one way to make sure that your
information is indeed clear. Also, check for typos before you
hit submit. Again, a typo, a misplaced comma, or just bad spelling
can cause a real problem with your post if you are not careful.
So just take a little extra time to make sure you are saying
what you want to say.
Lastly, make sure you always
write how you would want to be written to, which is sort of the golden rule of message boards
no matter what the topic is. Make sure you always check your
post regularly for replies. If someone does reply to you, acknowledge
them in a timely fashion. If you don’t have time to write back
in detail right away at least drop them an email “thank you”
to acknowledge receipt of their information. Courtesy is generally
appreciated very much in any message board environment.
If you enjoy genealogy, then you probably already know that
the internet is an invaluable resource. However, you can also
use the internet to get in touch with people who may be sources
for you as well. A good genealogy message board is a great
way to get in touch with people that may be able to help you
find information you are missing or to simply form a support
system. Just make sure you are courteous and concise with your
information and polite to your fellow message board members
so that you will have a positive experience with genealogical
message boards. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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