Jan 17-23 2000

From merope@Radix.Net Mon Jan 17 08:54:49 2000

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 08:54:48 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

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Tippecanoe and Tyler too...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Sunday 16 January 2000:

There was no Board-L traffic on this date [hmmm...eerie]

USGW in the News Corner: For those of you who don't get Dick Eastman's

newsletter, there is quite a nice mention this week of a project put

together by TNGenWeb county coordinator Cheryl Adams, who is the CC for

Stewart and Dickson counties. Working with the listowner of the "Danville

Crossing" email list, she arranged an online "homecoming", described by

Eastman as "an event publicized online but held in person in the counties

covered by the mailing list." According to the article there was a lot of

interest in the idea and many people attended the event last June. There

was enough interest that they are planning a second one for Mid-June 2000.

If you are interested in the event, or in the Danville Crossing, you can

contact Cheryl Adams directly at: ace1125@ne.infi.net

Payback Time Corner: Our amis in FranceGenWeb manage something called the

Lafayette Project which is a database of the French soldiers who fought

with the colonies during the American Revolution. They are interested

in obtaining additional information, such as biographies and family

histories, on those soldiers who remained in the United States after the

war. The URL for the Lafayette Project is

http://lafayette.francegenweb.org/ and it is available in French and

English. Please help out and let others know about this interesting

project.

Blacklisted Corner: Looks like another ISP has put Root$web on its "Black

Domain" list and no longer accepts mail from it. Here's a snippet from

the header of a rejected message:

> ERROR MESSAGE:

> >> ----- Transcript of session follows -----

> >> ... while talking to [ISP name deleted].com.:

> >> >>> MAIL From:<THOMPSON-L-request@rootsweb.com>

> >> <<< 550 We do not accept spam

> >> 554 [email address deleted]... Service unavailable

The ISP's helpdesk confirms that RW has been placed on the reject list and

doesn't know if or when they will be removed.

"Think and let think."

---John Wesley

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Tue Jan 18 15:44:41 2000

Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:44:40 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

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Subject: Daily Board Show

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My mama didn't raise no fools...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Tuesday 18 January 2000:

Tim Stowell forwards a message from project founder Jeff Murphy, in which

Jeff says, "I took a look at the current web pages this morning, just to see if

anything had changed. I can't help but notice that in the history of the

project, there is absolutely no mention of my role as creator of the

project. It would be nice if the gang would finally correct this

omission." Tim notes that he's held on to this message "until other

items quieted down a bit so that full attention could be given to this."

[Tim gives us no idea how _long_ he's sat on this message, but its

apparently been long enough for them to come up with the following...]

Joy Fisher notes that "For a bunch of genealogists, who pride themselves

on documenting every little detail, we are doing a #&$@^ poor job of

documenting our own history. I propose we have a historian (either

appointed or elected to document our history." She notes that the project

is only three and a half years old and that some of the worst arguments

have been over various people's recollection of events. She says "It will

only get worse as some of the founders leave, pass on, or lose their

memories."

Ginger Hayes notes that she agrees with Joy and moves that "The USGenWeb

Project Advisory Board create the office of Project Historian. The

Historian will be chosen from among interested volunteers and appointed to

the office by the Advisory Board and the National Coordinator. The duties

of the Historian shall consist of gathering and compiling the history of

The USGenWeb Project, from various resources,and to add to that history

on an ongoing basis. Each new Advisory Board may elect to appoint it's own

Historian. If, for some reason, the Historian neglects to fulfill his or

her appointed duties the Advisory Board and the National Coordiantor [sic]

may choose a new Historian as needed."

Joe Zsedeny seconds the motion and suggests an amendment that "the

historian will create a history page the whereabouts of which will be

added to the USGenWeb front page index."

At The Pleasure of The Court Corner. What a wonderful idea! An appointed

Historian who serves at the pleasure of the Board. Now just how objective

would you think such a person can be? Given such a position, and the

Board's ability to discharge them at will for "neglecting to fulfill his

or her appointed duties" I can see the "history" of the USGW project

changing each time the Board does or each time the Board's position on an

issue does.

To be fair, though, the Board is in an interesting position with this one.

If they actually appoint someone who is acceptable to 2/3 of them, then

there will be accusations of a cover-up or a whitewash. _Anything__

written by someone acceptable to 2/3 of the Board is going to be rejected

out of hand by a substantial number of volunteers. But if the Board

should appoint someone who might be acceptable to the "loyal opposition",

then they run the risk of a less than flattering portrayal of themselves

and the project. And if they make a good faith effort to appoint someone

who is objective or middle of the road, then they may have to deal with a

true objective history of this project, and let's face it, there is no way

to pretty up the history of this project. If you just hit the high

points, then you miss all the rich history and drama of the project, and

if you include the rich history and drama, you scare off the newbies. They

might to do better to give up on the idea of a Court Historian and appoint

a Court Jester instead.

Changing of the Guard Corner: We hear that UTGenWeb has a new SC, Doug

Neibaur, and from his bio it looks like he only recently became a Utah CC

[he's been active in IDGW for some time]. We wish him well, although we

will miss the interesting and controversial contributions of his

predecessor to the SC list.

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."

---Winston Churchill

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Wed Jan 19 14:32:32 2000

Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 14:32:31 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Tastes great, less filling...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Wednesday 19 January 2000:

[The logo discussion seems to have jumpstarted itself <g>]

Teri Pettit replies to Ginger Cisewski's post from last week, noting that

she prefers Ginger's second solution to the issue [allowing other projects

to use the official logo] "as long as it is clear from the context in

which the logo appears that it does not identify the page as part of The

USGenWeb Project." She gives some ideas on that what would make it clear:

text that says the page is not part of USGW; using an approved modified

version of the logo that identifies the relationship of the site to USGW

[like Jen Godwin's versions] and adding "Visit USGenWeb, which would make

it clear that one is not currently at a USGW site; having sites place the

USGW logo on the bottom of a page. Teri notes that "The confusion we want

to avoid is some visitor to a "look-alike" county or state page thinking

they are at a USGenWeb page when they aren't"; she suggests disallowing

the full-sized logo anywhere in the top 4 inches or so of a page unless it

is an official project page. She also notes that this policy "would allow

the way in which the logo formerly appeared on The Migration Page and the

USGenNet home page."

Teri forwards to the Board a message she's also sent to the CC-L list,

touching more on the issue of "sponsorship vs. hosting" that's been

discussed on that list. She agrees that the logo and link on RW's pages as

currently presented are misleading, but she believes that the

"sponsorship" designation is more appropriate than "hosted by", since

"relatively few companies give unlimited free space with no ads required

to USGenWeb pages, while charging the public at large for no-banner-ad

pages. The gift of free no-ads web space is significant enough that I

would think any company or organization providing such would qualify under

the usual meaning of "sponsor."" She also notes that most other projects

lumped with USGW on the RW cluster pages are managed directly by RW staff

and with the current wording, "it certainly sounds like every project

on that row is fully housed on Rootsweb." She suggests that the cluster

pages should either label the link "UsGenWeb Archives" or "USGenWeb

National pages" or the header should be changed to ""Major Projects Hosted

or Partially Hosted by RootsWeb."

Tim Stowell asks Ginger if she will agree to Joe's modification of her

amendment to appoint a historian and opens discussion on it, designating

it Motion 00-1.

Ginger indicates that she will accept Joe's modification to her amendment.

Magical History Tour Corner: In honor of the Board's new found interest

in project history, we've uploaded a new chapter in the History of the

USGW Project. Its a little number we like to call "National Coordinator

Blues". Do enjoy!

http://www.radix.net/~merope/history/chapter4.htm

"History repeats itself, and that's one of the things that's wrong with

history."

---Clarence Darrow

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Thu Jan 20 14:15:00 2000

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 14:14:58 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Call me crazy...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Thursday 20 January 2000:

There is no Board-L traffic on this date, thus far.

Untimely Demise Corner: Although we hope this is premature, it appears

that the American Local History Network is more or less defunct. We have

received a message indicating that members of the recently formed

nonprofit corporation have had a serious falling out with each other,

resulting in the dissolution of the corporation and a request to remove

ALHN from the Rootsquest server.

Today's quote is from a reader:

"BUT the reality of this just hit me, are we really, finally, forever done

with the down right evil, no matter what is said attitude, from the

nameless, sexless, only goal is to promote my server and screw the

CC's/researchers/USGW, useless piece of donkey dung according to it's

CC's, Utah one????"

---Susan Tortorelli, ILGW SC, discussing one of her colleagues on

STATE-COORD-L, 19 Jan 2000

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Fri Jan 21 09:17:45 2000

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 09:17:44 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>

Subject: Daily Board Show

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The jig is up!...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Friday 21 January 2000:

Noting that "the issue of Lookups and Copyright is continually

resurfacing", Tim Stowell posts a message sent to a project list by former

it. They are asked particularly to decide whether, "1. The National pages

need to be updated in reference to this note 2. The pages need to be

updated regarding the latest copyright act 3. State Coordinators need to

remind volunteers of these issues". [John's originally message is very

detailed, you can view a copy of it at:

http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/textindices/G/GALINA+1996+383395919+F

You can also see the USGW copyright page at:

http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/copyright.html]

Down But Not Out Corner: ALHN has a new temporary home page at:

http://members.xoom.com/jweaver300/alhn/index.htm

"All virtue is summed up in dealing justly."

---Aristotle

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

---------

From merope@Radix.Net Sun Jan 23 08:02:57 2000

Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 08:02:56 -0500 (EST)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Now cracks a noble heart....its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Friday 21 January 2000:

Ginger Cisewski forwards a letter from a project member regarding

the copyright issue, noting "There are some very valid points made here

and IMO, a discussion by the Advisory Board is long overdue on this

topic." [The constituent correspondence is long and contains a very

interesting discussion of why the "copyright" issue keeps coming up in

regards to the Archives. It was originally posted to the CC list and

forwarded to all the Board members and has provoked a long series of

postings that are not occurring on Board-L; I have requested permission

to forward it and related correspondence here as well.]

Joe Zsedeny responds to the constituent with a long defense of the

Archives and Root$web. He notes first that he agrees with her on the

issue of the USGW copyright page: "If we ain't gonna or can't sue em

best we not threaten em. So I would agree with her that the page be

simplified along the lines she suggests." He then states he will not be

so kind on her other points, but he feels "she is more uninformed than

malicious". He thinks the comments about the Archives are more of a

vendetta and says he'd like to see the alleged complaints from people

about where their information is stored. He resents complaints from people

who don't know "the amount of democracy employed in making those

decisions", and describes the Archives decision-making process and how it

involves all the file managers. He then describes how large the Archives

project is expected to grow [terabytes, once the Census scans are done],

and how difficult it is for many genealogists to consider hiring lawyers

on limited income. He then says, "If you want to get even with RW for

some reason swamp them with marriage/birth/death, census records,

histories and other gems of genealogical data all of which they have

promised to house for us with FREE access to all." He excuses RW for

"going commercial", saying "we have pushed them into it with a mass of

data files." Finally, he says "think this problem through before making

comments that denigrate this effort, this gift, this expensive gift

really to the genealogical community many of whom are your grandfolks

who are going online and loving the data just as most of us love putting

it there. The folks who conceived the idea of an archives for the Project

and those who agreed to house it should be more praised than criticized."

The Board receives a nice thank you note from project member John Schunk

thanking them for making Board-L accessible to the project members. [A

sentiment that the DBS heartily seconds!]

Saturday 22 January 2000:

Pam Reid, responding to Tim's repost of John Rigdon's 1996 message, says

she'll "take care of this" ASAP.

Tim Stowell asks if there's any further discussion on Motion 00-1, to

appoint a historian.

Rich Howland notes that although he likes the idea and thinks the

Project does need a historian, he does have a few questions. He thinks

that the motion should include "a plan to setup duties of and

responsibilities of historian. Now while no one on this board could

possible be opinionated, how do we insure that our history a balanced

work. It will never make everyone happy. But is there away to tell a

unbiased history." [No one on this Board opinionated? That's a laugh.]

Interesting Experiment Corner: Did you know that if you write to all 17

Board members and _specifically_ ask for the courtesy of a response,

exactly four Board members will bother to respond? [not counting the 2 who

bounce my mail] Now, _that's_ service!

"Rise above principle and do what's right.

---Joseph Heller

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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