Start of FAQ 2.3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Subject: FAQ 2.3 for RFD2: soc.genealogy.* groups > Newsgroups: news.groups > Followup-To: news.groups > This is a companion post to: > Subject: RFD2: soc.genealogy.* groups These questions pertain to the groups proposed in the revised RFD. FAQ 2.3 ==== Q & A on SOC.GENEALOGY.* GROUPS ==== Q How did you select the new groups you proposed? Q How were the names of the ethno-newsgroups chosen? Q Why have soc.genealogy.jewish? Q Why have soc.genealogy.french? Q What are the guidelines for the renaming of fr.rec.genealogie? Q Why have soc.genealogy.german? Q Why have a surname queries group? Q Why have a methods group? Q Why have a computing group? Q If all the other groups pass, what will be left for s.g.misc? Q I would like to see another new soc.genealogy. group. FAQ 2.3 ==== Q & A ON MODERATING GROUPS ==== Q What does "moderated" mean in the Usenet context? Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.surnames be moderated? Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.methods be moderated? Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.jewish be moderated? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ==== Q & A on SOC.GENEALOGY.* GROUPS ==== Q How did you select the new groups you proposed? A The proposed group names were settled upon after several rounds of discussion within the working group. We chose the groups in the proposal either because we felt that they would have sufficient volume to be worth proposing as new groups, or because other groups or mailing lists already existed to make use of the new groups. The s.g.methods group was added during the first discussion period. We felt we needed a balance between one (or a few) groups with much traffic, and more groups, each with less traffic. High readership groups do benefit from serendipity, but high traffic groups are more difficult for readers to keep up with, or follow threads in. Lower volume groups are easier to keep up with, but they can lose synergy if not enough people read or post to them. We are proposing a set of groups which we feel is a good framework for future discussions, and flexible enough to grow in the future. This proposal contains groups for specific ethnological discussions, a moderated group for discussions of methods of research, a group for topics related to computerized genealogy, a moderated group for exchanging information on surnames and a general group for topics not covered in any of the other groups. If you like the idea of soc.genealogy.*, but do not like the groups we have suggested, we hope you will at least consider voting for the renaming of soc.roots to soc.genealogy.misc so that the hierarchy base of soc.genealogy will be created. Q How were the names of the ethno-newsgroups chosen? A The proposed names were settled upon after several rounds of discussion within the working group. Our motives for choosing the names were not to limit them to any particular geographic limits and not to limit the discussion within them to only English. The purpose is to include researchers from outside the U.S. into the genealogy discussions and to allow multilingual exchanges of information. The goal is to have a descriptive name that applies to the focus of online genealogical interest. Since there has been a tendency for people to migrate in company with other people of similar ethnic and social background, we wanted to identify ethnic groups and migration waves, and not to confuse that concept with present-day country names. Q Why have soc.genealogy.jewish? A S.g.jewish will be gated to an already existing mailing list with a loyal following. Adding Usenet access to this group will benefit existing JewishGen readers by bringing in additional participants, and will give Usenet access to resources not presently found in soc.roots. Using the existing name, JewishGen, as part of the group name appealed to the proponents and would have made its origins unmistakeable, but in the scheme of giving Usenet groups names, .jewish was preferred by the advisors. Susan King, founder and co-moderator of JewishGen is one of the proponents of this RFD. Q Why have soc.genealogy.french? A S.g.french is for francophones (French speaking) people, and will connect to an existing Fidonet conference and newsgroup, fr.rec.genealogie, with that emphasis. While many posts to the mailing list are in French, the newsgroup charter specifically allows other languages - as long as the topic of the post concerns French-speaking persons or French-language place-names. Denis Beauregard, moderator of that group, and one of the proponents of the RFD, says, "At this time 80% of traffic is from Quebec and the remaining 20% is shared between France, Belgium, USA and Canada out of Quebec." To pick any of those places (Quebec, France, Canada, Belgium, etc.) as a newsgroup name would not exemplify the global nature of such a group and would risk confusion. Therefore, we chose s.g.french to avoid any appearance of such restriction to this group's charter. Q What are the guidelines for the renaming of fr.rec.genealogie? A Since fr.* is not one of the Usenet big seven, the process for that group comes under the fr.* hierarchy guidelines. Q Why have soc.genealogy.german? A The word 'german' in the group name is not designed to indicate citizenship in the modern German nation. While it includes all modern day Germans, it also designates as such all those people from the past who thought of themselves as being of German ethnic stock regardless of nationality or allegiance to a local lord. Examples would be the Hannovarians whose king was also the King of England and the people of the border regions who by custom and language called themselves German despite being ruled by or being part of the nations surrounding the German Empire. Examples of the border problem abound throughout history but examples might be the people who lived in areas which are now in Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Denmark, France or even Russia. Within, and prior to, the Empire of 1871 there were hundreds of small principalities whose lords ruled supreme. All of their subjects should be considered of German ethnic stock rather than as Bavarians, Hessians, Oldenburgers or Prussians as examples. Then there are those who emigrated from German lands to settle elsewhere in the world and who would include the millions of Americans who claim to be of German heritage. For these people discussion is encouraged as it relates to their ancestry, not as such came to be several generations later for their descendants. The group is not named s.g.germanic as such may be readily confused with the various Germanic language groups such as English, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. The name s.g.deutsch was also considered and rejected since there is a Usenet preference for English-language newsgroup names. Q Why have a surname queries group? A Surname queries and general research questions generate different types of responses. Surname queries are typically only of interest to others researching the same families. Responses to these questions are usually sent by private e-mail. Research question and answer threads have a much wider audience and generally lead to longer discussions. Surname queries lend themselves to computer searching. The research questions and miscellaneous topics are more suitable for browsing, and are difficult to search automatically. For those who wish to read every message, having a separate surname group will save no time. However, the standard format used in the surname group will help readers with limited time choose messages of interest. In searching the archived messages, a separate archive of surname questions cuts down on spurious matches. Searching a mixed-topic archive for the surname Hayes is likely to turn up messages discussing modems. A soundex search of ROOTS-L messages for the Zahm surname turns up many more messages that use the word "zone." Surname queries have the same general purpose as classified ads - they are a public forum for people with common interests (not necessarily shared with other users of the forum) to make contact. In a newspaper, classified ads are in a separate section; they are easily found by people who want to buy used cars, but are easily ignored by others who just want to see the national news. In a typical genealogy magazine, surname queries are printed in their own section, separate from research articles. They are available for browsing or can be searched using an index. We hope that Usenet genealogy can be as convenient to use. Q Why have a methods group? A An important feature of the proposed reorganization is to establish focused topic groups to increase the probability of useful information exchanges between participants with common interests; it is expected that additional special interest groups will develop over time, particularly those which focus on research on particular cultural groups. The methods group is intended to counterbalance these subdivisions by providing a forum for discussions of common interest to all genealogical researchers: records and other sources and their use, interpretation, and preservation. We expect that this group will attract participants across national or cultural boundaries and hope that it will produce useful cross-fertilization. To keep the discussion sufficiently on-topic that those who must pay transmission costs to receive this group will be willing to do so, this group will be be lightly moderated. Q Why have a computing group? A Posts on the topic of computers, software, and of Usenet resources are discussions of some tools of genealogists and may be of little interest to some readers, or of interest only occasionally. Other readers are quite interested in all computing topics all the time. Discussions that are appropriate here might not be accepted or appropriate elsewhere, as in Meta-Discussions of expanding Usenet genealogy resources, posts about the Usenet or the s.g.* groups or about other Internet resources. They can also be seen as computing questions. Problems or complaints about genealogy resources, or with the moderation of genealogy groups, are examples of posts which might be expected on occasion and which are generally unwelcome in more general groups, but which should have a place for discussion. Soc.genealogy.methods is proposed as a moderated group. The topics mentioned above seem inappropriate for being in such a group. Q If all the other groups pass, what will be left for s.g.misc? A S.g.misc is unmoderated to ensure a forum for all ideas and topics which are not provided for elsewhere. Discussions will cover any topic which does not fit into one of the other groups. Time- sensitive and/or wide audience announcements and requests will be appropriate here as will questions about which soc.g.* group is appropriate for a given question. Q I would like to see another new soc.genealogy. group. A The framework provided for in the current RFD is open-ended and flexible enough to allow for future s.g.* groups. As the 2nd RFD has been posted for this proposal, any new request for a new group should come in a new RFD. If you feel that there may be sufficient interest in another soc.genealogy.* group, decide on a name and draft a charter. You may want first to post a message to news.groups asking for suggestions for the group charter, or you may want to post your draft first and get feedback. You may want to ask for people to e-mail suggestions to you, and use the level of response to gauge the level of support, or you may want to ask people to send e-mail to you about your proposal so you can conduct an informal poll. Please do not ask people to post any votes until an official RFD has been approved and posted to news.groups. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ==== Q & A ON MODERATING GROUPS ==== Q What does "moderated" mean in the Usenet context? In the Usenet world, moderation was a response to archived groups intended for computer source code being swamped with discussions which obviated the usefulness of the archives. Usenet moderators act as gatekeepers - all messages go to the moderator, who may choose to post them or not. Many moderators do as little filtering as possible, and some rely on software to do most of the filtering for them. The term "moderated" has different usages in the Usenet and Fidonet contexts. In the Fido world, the moderator only acts after a post has been made - if it is off-charter or inappropriate, the moderator can send mail to posters, asking them to not do that again. Since Fido users are often effectively guests of a system operator, the possibility of the moderator asking a sysop to close an user's account is an effective deterrent to inappropriate posting. In the Usenet world, pre-moderation is the standard procedure, and post-moderation is not done. Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.surnames be moderated? A The goal of the moderators of s.g.surnames is to maximize the research value of the messages posted to the group and its archives. This newsgroup will be a forum for queries about specific ancestors in everyday language, with just enough structure to make messages easily retrievable by computer search. The primary requirement is an informative subject line in a standard format. The moderators will publish the format and assist readers in writing posts that follow the guidelines. The first draft of proposed moderation procedures includes the following: ++++ Articles in soc.genealogy.surnames fall into a few basic categories: 1. general surname queries 2. tiny tafels 3. address changes 4. follow-up articles 5. Roots Surname List (RSL) announcements 6. moderators' announcements General surname queries can be written in plain language, freely formatted. The body of the article can include any information about a family that you wish. We recommend including given names, spouses, children, birth, death, and marriage dates and places, if you know them. This will make your article more useful to people who might want to contact you, as well as making it valuable to people who may find your article in searching the surname archives later. Indicating what additional information you are seeking is a good idea. Also include how to contact you: e-mail address, snail-mail address, and phone number, if you like. Each surname query should have a subject line that gives one or more surnames (in all capital letters), at least one place (using an abbreviation from the RSL list of abbreviations), and an indication of time frame. Feel free to include additional information in the subject line, or add extra white space for readability, if your news or mail software allows. Examples: Subject: MILLS NY,USA 1800-1915 Subject: MILLS Samuel D. Williamsburg,Kings Co,NY,USA 1796-1863 Subject: ZAHM/PICARD/STEIS LOT,FRA 1680-1840 Subject: ZAHM LOT,FRA>IN,USA>IL,USA>KS,USA 1650- Subject: ZAHM LOT,FRA > IN,USA > IL,USA > KS,USA 1650- Subject: CLOVER Lincoln,ENG>IL,USA -1860 Subject: LEGGETT anywhere anytime ++++ Using a defined format will help people browsing through the posts on the newsgroup. The subject line will tell at a glance whether the message is likely to be of interest. The subject line format will be even more useful in searching the archives. The listserver software supports searches of the archived messages. It provides a "sounds like" search (similar to soundex) on the subject line (the "sounds like" search does not work for the text of the messages). Because every message includes surname, place, and time frame in a standard format, complex searches can be conducted confidently; in searching for common surnames, a place can also be specified to narrow the selection. Without a consistently-used format, searches could miss desired messages because the writer left out the place, or used a different spelling, or listed a city name without naming the state or country. Readers of s.g.surnames will have several possible methods for reviewing the messages. They can simply read all the messages in the newsgroup or mailing list, receive the daily index of the mailing list and search it for names of interest, or submit regular searches of the new messages in the archives for surnames of interest. Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.methods be moderated? A Soc.genealogy.methods is intended for helpful discussions of research methods, resources, and problems that genealogists have in common. Postings from both experienced and inexperienced participants will be welcomed. The philosophy of moderation is to be light-handed and to offer extra help behind the scenes for new participants, who may be experiencing problems with e-mail addresses or net customs or the like. This assistance will be offered privately, in response to posts which, in the moderator's best judgement, are likely to be objected to by other participants (e.g.personal attacks, questions fully covered in FAQ file, items which were intended to be personal e-mail; incomplete questions; etc). However, the moderators are concerned to avoid acting as censors, so posters may overrule their advice and post anyway, except for outright flames or blatantly commercial ads. Moderators will not alter subject line or body of a post, except possibly for removing excessive quoted material. Moderators will not proofread articles. Q Why and how will soc.genealogy.jewish be moderated? A The JewishGen list to which s.g.jewish will be gated is already moderated and gated to a FidoNet echo. The rules for moderation will not change with the addition of this new group. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ End of FAQ 2.3