Genealogy Chat

Oh Frank....


you say the nicest things.....



now and then....


Doh to you too :)))

Cynthia darling,

No change there then.

Dohh :))

Amazing how we all pay to join up and help others who pay to join up and help others..........................

I think that GR's method of advertising, and what it says here on the site, leads many people to believe that there is a paid staff just waiting to answer any and all questions, immediately.

Combine this with the fast results shown on various TV shows .............. half-an-hour and everything is sorted out back to Henry the Eighth!! .. with very little indication of just how difficult it can be.



AND the life that many people lead today where they want instantaneous results and answers


................ and you have a whole group of people who can't believe that they should spend time searching for something that someone else can answer.



Don't get me wrong

.................... I love helping people, but not so much when it is a matter of simply clicking on freebmd, entering the name and it is the only one to come up. That is so simple ......... yet can be so exciting to find!



sylvia

Have to add that I was guilty of most of the above when I first used the boards - even though I had been a member for years - I only pootled about adding names I knew onto my tree - doh!


Didn't realise it was all manned by volunteers - actually never thought about who supplied the answers - doh!


At the beginning I once took the info and ran - doh!


Thought that if I didn't get a reply on one board, then I would post on another because I assumed they were all separately 'manned' - doh!


Didn't know what a thread was - let alone how to find one - and used to scroll madly up and down looking for the message I had posted - doh!


Had no real idea about how to go about asking for info as I was only dipping my toe in the proberbial water and floundering - doh!


Had never heard of freembd, IGI etc..never mind about searching on them - doh!


Looking back, I feel like the original numpty which is why I empathise with newbies ( but not the rude ones!)


I have learned so much from the more experienced folk on here and can now do a lot for myself but I never forget how much I struggled at first.


Cx.

Whilst it is always good to direct someone new to Freebmd so they can look for the info themselves, I do nevertheless often post the info i have found there for them , especially if it is obvious that it is a very 'newbie' who may not realise that sometimes 'less is more' when filling in search details...may not have thought that names were often spelled differently , or indeed how to use the area search to best advantage...

All things you learn from experience , but sometimes it is just that piece of info that someone has found for you that gives the encouragement to then go and look at it for yourself and go further. :))

PS and even experienced searchers sometimes like a lift when they are stuck finding a mistranscription lol.
Two heads are sometimes needed :)

Some members post duplicate threads on a regular basis even though they have returned to the thread and have acknowledged the response.

They must also see that members have said no duplicates but they ignore this advice

I guess the only thing to do is to ignore any threads these members post (we all know who they are) until they get the message

Having said that if a member is posting on a name board they might not realise it also comes up on TTF.

They might then post a request for each individual and so we get duplicates

I almost always spend some time posting where i have found information, giving the website, and how to navigate within that site if necessary

then I post the information


Or I say you can find the information on, eg, www.freebmd.org.uk, "which is a FREE site so you can use it"


Can't count the number of times that another helper then comes along and posts the requested information


which leads to a thank you to them, usually no acknowledgement of my posting


and follow-up requests that could be found on that site.




duplicate threads drive me crazy!

Someone told me the other day that they thought that GR had made such major changes last year that it meant that one had to post on each board as the helpers were now separated out and only looked on one board, not all of them.



sylvia

Many of us here learn as they go along so all you have to do is ask.

With regard to getting lists of information with no idea of how to find it yourself.............

I've answered requests for births which have taken the following path.
Looking for Joe Bloggs from Scotland in 1920s
Further enquiries reveal the search to be for JB's birth, so I then post an index of births of JB 1915 -1930 pointing out that these are from Scotlands People with details of certificates being available on site after payment of £6.00 etc.

Now Scotlands People is very user friendly with certificates available online up to certain dates and indexes up to modern day......put in the name and date and hey presto, if it's in the records it will show up.

Next up, no thank you but a new post requesting someone look up said certificate for parents details which of course brought up more instructions as to purchasing access to the certificate on SP.
Then after receiving details from some kind soul who spent their credits having a look, another new post requesting details of parents births and marriage.............................

There's helping and there's helping.

It is also against the board guidelines "....Don't submit the same – or similar – material more than once......"

so if someone does it on a regular basis they risk getting a suspension.

Frustating isnt it it when you try to help only to find that the info has already been posted on another thread.
It does irritate to think you have wasted time that could have helped others!!

So often a request is answered by confusing lists of info with no indication of how to find it for yourself

I have just added my comments to someone's 3rd thread on a family from Newcastle/Ireland. In the 1st thread someone suggested getting the Newcastle birth cert of a younger child to find out the mother's maiden name.

Then the second thread was started when she'd received the cert, resulting in some duplication of response.

I gave her info on a marriage in Newcastle (which was expected to be in Ireland); this was not acknowledged but she then started a

third thread asking for the wife's mother's name!! All three threads have now disappeared but I expect she'll start a 4th thread, resulting in yet more duplication of efforts unless people recognise the name (McGuiness).

I'm not having a go at people who are unsure about how to use the boards, I just think that thank you (or thanx if you're short of time) is good manners!

Must go now, for some 'me' time!!!