Filename: learning
 
ROOTS-L can be of great help to you in your research, but
misunderstanding the functions and communication styles of this group can
irritate very large numbers of people.
 
Please read this article before contributing items to the group.
This file is reposted periodically; it is also available from the
archives of this group as:  GENEALOG file:  LEARNING
 
Contributing items to this discussion group is is a form of electronic
publication: within a few hours of submission, your item will have been
distributed to thousands of systems throughout the world and perhaps 10,000
people will have read it. About 1400 people, those who subscribe to ROOTS-L,
will have received your item in their personal mailbox; an unknown number wiil
have read it on the thousands of systems which receive the soc.roots newsgroup.
In addition, your contribution is added to the archives of this group, publicly
accessible files which can be searched and read by anyone who wishes to do so.
Someday your descendents may read what you had to say.
 
 
Please Do:
 
* Read contributions for a while before trying to compose and send your own.
 
* Obtain a personal e-mail address and learn how to use e-mail before
contributing an item. People who want to respond to your article will typically
contact you directly through e-mail, unless they believe that their response is
of such general interest that it should be posted to the group.
 
* End each article you send with information on how to contact you, by e-mail
*and* by regular mail. (Some people who read this group may not have e-mail
access. Also, one address may change, but the other may still work.) This
"signature" should be brief and simple; avoid lists of surnames, because
they give false "hits" whenever someone searches the archives of
articles on ROOTS-L.
 
* If you wish to respond to a posted item, it is often more appropriate to
e-mail your response directly to the poster. (It is certainly far more
economical to send an item to one person than to 10,000! Many participants in
this forum do not see the costs of transmission, except as taxpayers; but those
that particpate through a commercial service may be charged for every character
of data that is sent to them.)  If you think your response will be of interest
to many others, then send it to the group, but provide enough context that your
contribution makes sense to those who may not have seen the item you are
responding to.
 
* Use the subject line to describe your topic briefly and accurately. (Many
people depend on this to determine whether or not to read an item.)
 
* Discover how to preview an item before posting it. (This depends on the
software on your system, so you will have to ask someone there or read the
documentation for the software you use.) Previewing your posting gives you a
final opportunity to notice errors and either fix them or cancel the posting.
 
* Be very cautious about using shortcuts such as "reply" (for ROOTS-L
subscribers). The software may not do what
you expect. Such shortcuts may result in: incorrect subject lines; full
repetition of the entire article to which you are responding; items distributed
to everyone on the group instead of the one person you intended to reach.
 
* If your topic is a query of the type that will fit into the Roots Surname List
format or the Roots Location List format, it should be added to these ROOTS-L
databases; this is probably far more effective than sending the query to the
discussion group. For information on how to submit information to the Roots
Surname List, send e-mail to LISTSERV@mail.eworld.com with the message
GET FAMILY README.  For information about the Roots Location List,
contact Suzanne Badenhop, AHCSBB@UKCC.UKY.EDU.
 
* Remember that the topic of discussion in this group is genealogy. This can
touch many other areas of discourse, but if your post is unrelated to family
history, it does not belong here.
 
* Consider how many, many items are distributed through this group. Good
articles are more likely to inspire useful responses than poor ones are. People
who read soc.roots/ROOTS-L have many other demands on their time and attention;
most are involved as hobbyists. There are some very helpful people here and
several volunteer time and effort to managing the group and maintaining its
archives, but no one is paid to do this. No one has any *obligation* to read
your post or send you information. The style of your post is an important factor
in whether they will do so or not.
 
Suggestions on electronic style:
 
* Content:
- Be courteous.
 
- Be complete. Provide enough context. If you're asking about a research puzzle,
explain what you have tried already. If your topic is software, explain what
kind of system you are using. Give your research families some context: dates,
places, etc.
 
- If your post is a query, consider *not* posting: instead submit it to the
Roots Surname List database, a set of files in the ROOTS-L archives. For
information send mail to karen@rand.org. There is also a Locations database, to
help you find others searching in the same place and time frame.
 
- Be resourceful. Don't ask questions that you could easily resolve yourself by
opening a standard reference book, such as a dictionary or atlas.
 
- Use a specific and accurate subject line.
 
- Be brief, and clear, and interesting, if possible.
 
- Remember that what appears on the first screen of your article probably
determines whether someone reads the second screen -- or skips to the next
article.
 
- Electronic text does not convey the nuances which demonstrate a humorous
intention; other typographical techniques may be used: a sideways "smiley"
face :-) or a <grin>.
 
- It is not useful to ask the group how your local system and its software
works. This is something you have to investigate locally. Ask your local system
manager or user consultants; or read the manuals.
 
* Form:
- Lines of text should be shorter than 80 characters. (Longer lines can result
in truncation, or very awkward line breaks: difficult or impossible to read.)
 
- Text paragraphs should be singlespaced and separated by a blank line.
 
- Text should consist of mixed case characters. All caps is difficult to read
and is perceived as an electronic form of shouting. All caps *is* preferred for
surnames -- this makes it very easy to scan for surnames of interest. Word
emphasis is normally shown by enclosing the word in special characters, such as
* shown above or _ shown below.
 
- Never repeat the _entire_ post to which you are responding. A few well-chosen
lines should suffice. Multiple *levels* of requoting from previous articles are
hard to read and probably indicate a discussion which should be moved into
e-mail or dropped entirely.
 
- Avoid sending a sequence of similarly worded items at the same time. (Your
audience will get bored and start skipping your articles instead of reading
them.)
 
- Always reread your article before sending it. Ask yourself: if you weren't the
author, what would you think of the article? Would you read the entire item?
Would you respond?
 
- If you realize, after posting, that your post has errors or omissions severe
enough and important enough to require a correction, redo the entire post. (If
you try to send just the corrections, it will make little sense; there is no
easy way for readers to connect the two articles.)
 
- If your e-mail to someone bounces, do *not* post the entire bounced message to
the group. Just post a brief note, asking that person to contact you, if
possible, with a good address.
 
/end of message/