Have You Tried Mailing Lists?
What's the one thing that genealogists need besides records to search through?  They need other genealogists.  We need other genealogists partly because they understand our obsession and don't look at us as though we have gone totally nuts.  But we also need those other genealogists for their knowledge. Whether it be their knowledge of a particular family line or their knowledge of a locality, they can help to save you time and frustration.  Of course you know where to find them.  And one of the best places is on mailing lists.

Mailing lists offer you the opportunity to not only talk with other genealogists, but to also converse with those that share a very specific interest just as you do.  Generally mailing lists are broken down into one of the following focuses:

  • Surname
  •  Locality
  • Ethnic
  • Historical Period
  • Computer Interest
Finding those mailing lists is not as difficult as you may think. The best place to start is RootsWeb  where there are over 6000 mailing lists on all aspects of genealogy.    You will find that the various mailing lists are broken down alphabetically (for surnames), by state, or country or subject matter to make them easier to locate and subscribe to.

Subscribing to such mailing lists is usually done by sending an e-mail to a specific address (supplied in the list of mailing lists) that includes only the word "subscribe" (no quote marks) in the body of the message.  You don't want to have any other words the subject field or in the body of the message.  If you use a signature file, be sure to turn it off when subscribing to a mailing list.

Once you have subscribed you will begin to receive messages. It is a good idea to read them for a few days before posting. This way you can get the feel for the mailing lists and what they hope to see in a message.

So find some other genealogists that share your interests by joining some mailing lists.

Rhonda R. McClure
FAMILY TREE FINDERS
Monday - 5 July 1999

If you know someone who is interested in genealogy, please forward this entire message to them!