Mailing Lists

FAMILYSEARCH-L@Rootsweb

Page Directory

FamilySearch-L Home Page
Subscribing
Unsubscribing
List Archives
FamilySearch-L Surname Board
List Guide Lines
Family History Library Restricted Records Look-up
Finding a Local FHC
Quick link to FamilySearch.org
Jan Hart's FamilySearch Help Pages
Finding Help with Batch Numbers
Cyndi's List
The Refrigerator Door
Rootsweb Search for Surnames or use the Social Security Death index
Contact the List Owner

E-Mail Lists

E-Mail Lists are a great way to share what you have found and get information from others. Of course you all ready know this because you are more than likely a member of FamilySearch-L. There are thousands of e-mail lists that all deal with finding your Family History and below are the different types and where you can go to find more information about them

Surname Lists

Surname lists are dedicated to research and discussion of information about a specific surname or the same line with different spellings. For example the KNAPP-L @rootsweb.com not only discusses information about Knapp's, but they discuss Knop, Knak, and Knopp, because they are all different spelling of the same line. When you are checking out a Surname list it is good to read the purpose of the list and make sure they are discussing threads that will be to your advantage and help you with your search. It is also good to just hang out at these lists because there are others are looking for the same information you are, and you never know when they will find something you are looking for too.

Locality Lists

These are lists that deal with information about a specific place. They can either be very localized like the county lists at the USGenweb Project, or very general like Gen-Canada. When you are looking for information about local archives, language translations, or any information about a locality this is a great place to hang out. You will find that the others subscribed to the list are all either trying to find out about the place or they are local to the area. Either way this can save you a lot of time and expense by guiding your research efforts.

General Lists

General list do just what the name says, they discuss topics of general interest. FamilySearch-L is a general discussion list about using the Internet. There are hundreds of others they all vary, but you can usually tell what the list is for by their names. There is ShipsList-L, Newbies-L, and My personal favorite Blacksheep-L. They all are there to discuss topics that are not locality or surname specific. These lists can help you learn your software, organize your research, and even help you write letters, or publish your findings.

How do you find a Mailing list?

Outside of hearing from others about good lists, there are some very good places to get a list of what is out there.

One of the best places to look is kept by John Fuller. He has been maintaining a list for years. He will index list from all sites and he does a great job of writing a little about why the list is and how you can subscribe. You can get to John's list through this link.
There is of course the birthplace of the Genealogical E-mail List Rootsweb. Rootsweb is the host of our list, and 14,000 others. You can go directly to their mail list index through this link

Mail List Manners

There are some things that are important to observe about any e-mail list, here are some of the basic ones.

When you subscribe a new list it is better to read the list at least one week to find out where the topic threads are going.
If the list has an archive read it when you first subscribe. Knowing what has been discussed in the past will make you a better list member.
Stay on topic. If you don't know about a posting, ask the list owner privately.
Contribute, once you have done the stuff listed above. 100's of lists die every year due to lack of discussion, a healthy list is a busy list, do your part as a member.
Never attack another list member, disagree with their statements if you must, but never in a direct letter. This is called "Flaming", I think it has to do with adding wood to a fire, and more lists have committed suEcide this way than any other way.
And one last thing, the list Owner is just that he "Owns the List". They will have guidelines to follow, follow them. They will ask the list subscribers to do some things, do them. If you anger the list owner you can be removed permanently from the list, so never think you have a right to look under the Lone Rangers mask, you will loose and you won't be invited back.