From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Fri Aug 11 11:25:26 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k7BHPQjb025308; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:25:26 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k7BHPPB2000428 for ; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:25:25 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k7BEk0FI028591 for ; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:46:00 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k7BEk0qU028590 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:46:00 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k7BEhGFI028507 for ; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:43:16 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k7BHMWPw022975 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:22:32 -0600 X-Envelope-From: viking@rvi.net Fri Aug 11 11:22:32 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k7BHMWjb022966 for ; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:22:32 -0600 Received: from mailfilter4.uci.net (mailfilter4.uci.net [216.104.72.83]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k7BHMRMr031269 for ; Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:22:28 -0600 Received: (qmail 19435 invoked from network); 11 Aug 2006 17:22:15 -0000 Received: from ip-63-135-203-50.uci.net (HELO NEWHAL) (63.135.203.50) by mailfilter4.uci.net with SMTP; 11 Aug 2006 17:22:15 -0000 From: "Kirsten Bowman" To: , Subject: RE: [ROOTS-L] Interesting question Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:22:08 -0700 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0) In-Reply-To: X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 Importance: Normal X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Don: Have you done something lately to really annoy your wife?! Seriously though, I say Good for her for caring enough to ask. Many of our family members would just dread dealing with our records but would never ask the question. Personally I think the best way to handle it is to put a list of instructions with your will or trust papers and then let someone know it's there. I assume you don't have a family member who would like to pick up with your research where you leave off. If that's the case, someone can't simply box up all your materials and take them to a library--they too often don't have the space or staff to deal with them. Our "stuff" usually falls into several categories that you might list in your instructions: (1) Reference books and some software (those databases that we buy on CD, for example) should be gladly accepted by a library or genealogical society. (2) "Working papers"--those loose piles of notes and clues that are invaluable to us--would probably be meaningless to an outsider and might as well be tossed when you're gone. (3) Then there's your "core" work to deal with. I keep my data backed up and have written instructions so that one of my sons can upload the latest version to RootsWeb WorldConnect where someone may find it in the future (my guys couldn't care less about family history but one of their children might--if they ever have any!). If you've produced one of those nice "coffee table" books with charts, maps, pictures, copies of old documents and a family history narrative, that should certainly stay with the family. Even if it goes into the attic for a time, a family member in the future may find it fascinating. If there's no possibility of that happening, then you could check with your local societies and see if they would accept the material--then leave that information with your list of instructions. In my own case, I'm trying to reduce my core history to just a 5-10 page summary for each of 4 major family branches. These are in a binder with copies of historical documents (no family group sheets!) along with instructions on where to find the backup research on WorldConnect. That's a core plan anyway. There are lots of other issues peculiar to each situation, and I'm sure others will have tons of suggestions. Kirsten -----Original Message----- From: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com [mailto:roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Magfree@aol.com Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 8:00 PM To: ROOTS-M@rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] Interesting question My wife asked my an interesting question. What should she do with all my genealogy info. (FTM files, papers, etc.) if something happened to me? Don