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>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000117075724.16471C-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: O
X-Status:
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$web on its "Black
Domain" list and no longer accepts mail from it. Here's a snippet from
the header of a rejected message:
> ERROR MESSAGE:
> >> ----- Transcript of session follows -----
> >> ... while talking to [ISP name deleted].com.:
> >> >>> MAIL From:<THOMPSON-L-request@rootsweb.com>
> >> <<< 550 We do not accept spam
> >> 554 [email address deleted]... Service unavailable
The ISP's helpdesk confirms that RW has been placed on the reject list and
doesn't know if or when they will be removed.
"Think and let think."
---John Wesley
This has been your Daily Board Show.
-Teresa Lindquist
merope@radix.net
---------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
From merope@Radix.Net Tue Jan 18 15:44:41 2000
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:44:40 -0500 (EST)
From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>
To: Daily Board Show <usgw_all@listbot.com>
Subject: Daily Board Show
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000118055845.19445B-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: O
X-Status:
My mama didn't raise no fools...its Your Daily Board Show!
*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!
Tuesday 18 January 2000:
Tim Stowell forwards a message from project founder Jeff Murphy, in which
Jeff says, "I took a look at the current web pages this morning, just to see if
anything had changed. I can't help but notice that in the history of the
project, there is absolutely no mention of my role as creator of the
project. It would be nice if the gang would finally correct this
omission." Tim notes that he's held on to this message "until other
items quieted down a bit so that full attention could be given to this."
[Tim gives us no idea how _long_ he's sat on this message, but its
apparently been long enough for them to come up with the following...]
Joy Fisher notes that "For a bunch of genealogists, who pride themselves
on documenting every little detail, we are doing a #&$@^ 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
-----------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
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
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000119061956.25341A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO
X-Status:
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
-----------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved
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
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000120074551.11485A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO
X-Status:
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
----------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
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
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000121084329.4470A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO
X-Status:
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
NC John Rigdon in 1996 regarding copyright and asks the Board to review
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
---------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.
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
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.1000122080608.3906A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO
X-Status:
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
-------------
Daily Board Show, (c) 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved.