Using Genealogy Mailing Lists

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Where do you come from?
Mailing Lists

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CENSUSES
CIVIL BMD
RECORDS
About 1840
PARISH
RECORDS
GENES REUNITED
GENUKI , FHS, GOONS, ETC
GOOGLE, ROOTSWEB and OTHER LISTS
Ancestry.co.uk
Findmypast
The Genealogist
etc
FreeBMD
Ancestry.co.uk
Findmypast
The Genealogist
Local BMD
sites
Family Search
FreeREG

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A system to raise a question?

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A system to get an answer?

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A system to have a
conversation?

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Mailing Lists
• You express an interest in a surname,
geography, profession, etc by
registering for a specific Mailing List
• You can enter a query for other
members of the List to respond or
comment
• You receive (email) entries of new
entries on the List from other members

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Mailing Lists
• You can browse the archive contents of
your subscribed Mailing Lists.
• Using your email box, the most
common Mailing List organisations are
Rootsweb and Yahoo Groups
• Facebook has a similar facility but puts
entries to your Facebook page not your
email.

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Using Mailing Lists to further
your research
It's like having your own virtual research
community. An easy way to network with
other genealogists to share distant
ancestors, get answers to questions,
request lookups and swap research
stories. Genealogy mailing lists are free,
fun and are often one of the best online
possibilities for filling in some of the blanks
in your family tree.

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Do they work?
• But instead of being posted to the Internet,
mailing list messages come directly to
your email box
• Because they arrive daily in subscriber
mailboxes, mailing lists better promote
"real-time discussion," with faster
responses than you'll generally receive
with a message board post.

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Do they work?
Also, because individuals have to
subscribe to post or receive messages,
mailing lists generally encourage "serious"
researchers and more in-depth
discussions and exchange of data. Thus,
a genealogy mailing list can often be an
excellent way to locate fellow researchers
or data that correspond with your subjects
or areas of interest.

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How Mailing Lists Work
Once you find a relevant genealogy
mailing list, you can usually join by
sending an email that automatically adds
you to a list of subscribers. Most
genealogy mailing lists also offer two
subscription modes:

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List or Mail Mode
You'll receive each message posted to the
mailing list individually, as they are sent.
These can sometimes be hard to
distinguish from your regular email.

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Digest Mode
You'll receive periodic emails with several
mailing list messages bundled together.
Each digest email will usually include a
table of contents at the top with links to
each of the individual email messages
listed further down in the email. Digest
mode is a great way to reduce clutter in
your inbox, but it can sometimes be harder
to follow the thread of a conversation.

19. Genealogy
Joining a List
The instructions for joining a particular list should
be posted on the Web page which introduces
the mailing list, but usually it is just a matter of
sending an email to the administration address
with the word subscribe in the subject line.
These emails are usually processed by a
computer, so there is no need to include
anything else. You will then receive a welcome
letter, usually within a few hours. Be sure to
save this email as it will contain important
information concerning list rules and -- this is
very important -- how to unsubscribe.

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Can Lists help?
Literally tens of thousands of genealogy
mailing lists are available, covering just
about every conceivable topic. If you're
new to genealogy mailing lists, they
function much like genealogy forums and
message boards, with posts, queries, and
responses by researchers.

21. Genealogy
Location, Location
If you've traced your ancestors to a
specific locality, then there is most likely a
mailing list to help you in your quest for
location-specific clues. Consider
subscribing to a genealogy mailing list that
covers the county (e.g. Somerset for me),
town or parish of the family line which is
giving you the most trouble.

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Location, Location
Once you've joined, you'll find your fellow
list-members a great resource when
you're stuck for ideas for where to look
next. Location-specific lists are also a
good place to find researchers who have
access to books or records that would
help you in your search.

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Need a Helping hand?
Whether you are new to genealogy, or feel
like you've been researching your family
tree for most of your life, there are mailing
lists geared toward helping people find
answers to questions and exchange tips
and ideas. There are plenty of mailing lists
geared toward helping genealogists
improve their research skills.

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What's Your Interest?
Genealogists have set up mailing lists on
just about every topic imaginable. There
are mailing lists for specific record types
[census, military, immigration]; for specific
places [Ellis Island, Somerset Coalfields,
Black Country, ] and for a wide variety of
special interests [witch hunting, railway
workers, mariners].

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Tip!
If the mailing list you're interested in has
archives online, this can give you an idea
of how busy the list will be. Some receive
only a few messages per month, while
others average over 100 new messages
each day.

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Are there a lot of
mailing Lists?
Thousands of genealogy mailing lists are
available. From the over 28,000 mailing
lists hosted by RootsWeb, to individual
mailing lists sponsored by genealogical
societies, genealogy software publishers,
etc.,

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Getting to know your List
Genealogy mailing lists are similar to a
community or neighbourhood in that they
reflect the personalities of their
subscribers. Some lists are friendly with a
number of off-topic "chatty" posts, while
others are strictly run with no off-topic
discussion allowed. When you first join a
mailing list, it is best to "lurk" for a few
days.

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Getting to know your List
Read the messages from others and get
the feel for the list's community and rules
before posting your first message. After a
week or so, however, it's time to introduce
yourself. Let the list members know who
you are and what research problem you
are tackling that is related to the topic of
the mailing list.

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Rules for Success
• Format your questions in an efficient
and effective manner.
Keep the message as brief as possible,
while still providing all pertinent
information (being too vague will
discourage responses as well as waste
the time of list members who suggest
things that you've already tried).

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Rules for Success
• Be specific in your subject line.
People just don't have time to open and
respond to emails titled "need help." Be
sure to include the primary topic of your
query in the subject line of your email -
whether it be a surname, place, or time
period.

32. Genealogy
Rules for Success
• Be courteous.
The mantra "you only get one chance to
make a first impression" holds true on the
Internet as well as in person. Be polite in
all postings, use good grammar and
punctuation and don't type messages in all
capital letters (this is the equivalent of
shouting at the reader).

33. Genealogy
Query Tips
• Include surnames in CAPITAL LETTERS
in the Subject line and the first time you
use it in the query.
• Be specific. People do not often respond
to queries such as "Send me all
information about the POWELL family"
• Check online sources for answers to
general research questions before posting
to a list. Genealogists love to help those
who help themselves.

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Query Tips
• Try to stay away from too using too many
abbreviations unless your space is limited.
Many researchers may not recognize the
abbreviations you are using.
• Try to use an email address you will be
sticking with. There are thousands of
queries on the Internet with no way to
reach the posters because the email
address is invalid.

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Network your Names
Unless you are researching a very
unusual surname, there is probably a
mailing list with your name on it. Surname
lists are a great way to connect with other
genealogists who are researching the
same name to share family connections,
ask questions and swap tips and
resources. I subscribe to mailing lists
which deal with FOX, NICHOLSON
surnames, as well as several others

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51. Genealogy
Where do you come from?