GENBRIT-L Archives
Archiver > GENBRIT > 2003-03 > 1047968032
From: Penny <>
Subject: Re: NEW British-Genealogy.com BRITISH MAILING LISTS AND WEB SITE
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 17:13:52 +1100
References: <8So+3QE0fkc+EA3i@neep.demon.co.uk> <3E7683D7.7010805@rmit.edu.au> <bEeXSVop5pd+EArb@neep.demon.co.uk>
Rod Neep wrote:
> In article <>, Penny <>
> writes
>
>> Rod,
>>
>> I think what you've done with the Archive CD Books project is great. I
>> think the support of water projects in Kenya is great. I'm really not
>> so sure about all these new mailing lists. I suppose you've already
>> invested so much work that you wouldn't reconsider but I just thought
>> I'd let you know my concerns. Perhaps you could consider them when
>> making future improvements.
>>
>> 1. You have duplicated existing mailing lists. This forces a choice to
>> subscribe to both or one or the other. Neither choice is attractive in
>> my opinion.
>
>
> Hi Penny,
>
> Rootsweb have many *duplicates* of English county mailing lists, in a
> totally disorganised fashion. For example, four for Cornwall, two
> identical for Yorkshire, several for Durham, and so on. When the English
> mailing lists were first started by *us*, many years ago, it was simple,
> but since Ancestry took over Rootsweb, and *our* mailing lists, they
> claimed them as their own, and started all the silly list duplication,
> weird list names and so on. It became an unclassified mess.
>
> The British-Genealogy site http://www.british-genealogy.com has *one*
> mailing list for each county, and they are organised totally logically,
> without duplication. There are none for pseudo counties, none for the
> post 1974 administrative areas. Just plain straightforward counties. No
> confusion. And only one county mailing list where everybody posts their
> messages. It is a simplified system.
I agree that the Rootsweb mailing lists are not named or organised in a
systematic way. I've often thought that some should be reorganised and
consolidated. Perhaps someone who knows more about the Rootsweb system
could advise whether this is possible and if so, how to do it.
I'm not sure that invention of an effective duplication of the system
helps. I think it makes it worse, particularly when you factor in all
those online bulletin boards sponsored by various companies such as
those at Genforum http://genforum.genealogy.com/ and Ancestry
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/board/an/localities.britisles
>
>> 2. Have you considered the newsgroups gatewayed to mailing lists? As a
>> newsgroup reader I am not sure whether your lists will significantly
>> reduce use of those gatewayed newsgroups/mailing lists but if this
>> happens, those who prefer to access via newsgroups will be left out in
>> the cold.
>
>
> Sorry... but no. I won't be going in that direction. Newsgroups are a
> bit of a minefield, as can be illustrated by this one sometimes ;-)
Aren't you making an assumption that everyone wants to get their
information in their mailbox? Lots of people are concerned about getting
too much mail.
>
>> 3. You have set up a system which requires passwords. I personally
>> have 7 passwords at work, 5 associated with financial institutions as
>> well as a collection of 3 or 4 PIN numbers. I really do not need
>> another password. The Rootsweb system allowing
>> subscription/unsubscrition via email worked very well for me
>> particularly since it is possible to do this via links on the web
>> pages. I'd consider subscribing if I could do it without having yet
>> another password.
>
>
> Yes.... by having a password no-one can maliciously unsubscribe you, or
> subscribe you to mailing lists to which you don't want to belong.
> Furthermore, it allows the setting of personal preferences by yourself.
I've never heard of someone being subscribed or unsubscried to a
Rootsweb list by another person. How often does this happen? Perhaps
another way could be considered. Subscription to the FTMTECH-L list
involves a checking system that seems to work well without using passwords.
>
>> 4. You seem to be blocking access to archives to those who aren't
>> subscribed. I just don't have the time or mailbox space to subscribe
>> to all the mailing lists that interest me. Instead, when I have time I
>> often dip in to the Rootsweb archives to either browse recent postings
>> or to search. I also tend to visit the archive to assess the volume of
>> traffic before subscribing. I think it would be a shame to make this
>> impossible for your mailing list casual visitors.
>
>
> That is a good point, and I do appreciate what you say. But it is always
> an awkward point, and difficult to give perfect answers either way.
> Traditionally it has always been like that for most mailing lists. But
> the list admin of each list on British-Genealogy.com can select to have
> the archives private to subscribers or open to everyone. I really don't
> mind either way.
I don't understand this. In my experience, it has always been possible
to access all the archives of the Rootsweb mailing lists.
>
> Regards
> Rod
>
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