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The GEN-NYS-L Mailing List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
by Marc Nozell <nozell@rootsweb.com>
v1.03 Copyright (c) 1996, Marc Nozell <nozell@rootsweb.com>
This is the The GEN-NYS-L Mailing List Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) and should answer most of your questions about the ``Genealogy
in New York State'' mailing list. If you have additional questions
that are not addressed, then please send me mail at
nozell@rootsweb.com
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents:
1. What is the purpose of GEN-NYS-L?
2. Subscriptions to the list
2.1. How much does it cost to join the list?
2.2. How do I subscribe?
2.3. How do I unsubscribe?
2.4. Can I subscribe in a Digest mode?
2.5. What is the difference between Digest mode and the normal?
Is there any difference between the GEN-NYS-L and
GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST lists?
2.6. I'm currently subscribed, how do I convert to digest mode?
3. Who is the list owner? What does he get paid for this
position?
4. Using the GEN-NYS-L mailing list
4.1. How do I post to the list?
4.2. Where can I read the old GEN-NYS-L messages?
4.3. How do I send a query?
4.4. When should I reply to the entire mailing list and when
should I reply to just the individual?
4.5. What can/should I send to the list?
4.6. How do I get the more recent version of the FAQ?
4.6.1. Via the Web
4.6.2. Via email
4.7. How do I search the email archives?
5. Surfing the web
5.1. Where is the offical GEN-NYS-L web page?
5.2. Are there any other NY genealogy related web pages?
5.3. How can I find out what newspapers are available on
microfilm at the New York State Library?
6. Are there other mailing lists I can join?
______________________________________________________________________
1. What is the purpose of GEN-NYS-L?
The purpose of the GEN-NYS-L mailing list is to band together those
who research in New York State, so that we can share experiences,
examine sources, give advice, make suggestions that others may find
the information they are seeking.
2. Subscriptions to the list
2.1. How much does it cost to join the list?
Like most mailing lists on the internet, joining and participating in
GEN-NYS-L is free. However, I would like to suggest, buy no means
require, that you consider joining the RootsWeb Genealogy Data
Cooperative which runs the machines that host the GEN-NYS-L mailing
list. You will find the Supporter and Sponsor levels are very
reasonable and provide some added benefits. For more information, see
the web page:
2.2. How do I subscribe?
This mailing list is managed by the SmartList software which is
different than other mailing lists managed by Majordomo or LISTSERV.
To subscribe, send mail to GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com and put just
the one word SUBSCRIBE in the body of message.
Every mail client is different, but your message should look something
like this:
______________________________________________________________________
To: GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject:
SUBSCRIBE
______________________________________________________________________
Be sure not to put anything after that one word. If your mailer
automatically includes a ``signature'', be sure to turn it off before
you send the message.
If you find you can't handle the number of messages sent by the list,
you may want to consider switching to the Digest version of the list.
2.3. How do I unsubscribe?
This mailing list is managed by the SmartList software which is
different than other mailing lists managed by Majordomo or LISTSERV.
To unsubscribe, send mail to GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com and put
just the one word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of message.
Every mail client is different, but your message should look something
like this:
______________________________________________________________________
To: GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject:
UNSUBSCRIBE
______________________________________________________________________
Be sure not to put anything after that one word. If your mailer
automatically includes a ``signature'', be sure to turn it off before
you send the message.
2.4. Can I subscribe in a Digest mode?
If you are currently subscribed to the non-digest version of the list,
first unsubscribe then subscribe to the digest version.
To unsubscribe, send mail to GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST-request@rootsweb.com and
put just the one word SUBSCRIBE in the body of message.
Every mail client is different, but your message should look something
like this:
______________________________________________________________________
To: GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST-request@rootsweb.com
Subject:
SUBSCRIBE
______________________________________________________________________
Be sure not to put anything after that one word. If your mailer
automatically includes a ``signature'', be sure to turn it off before
you send the message.
2.5. What is the difference between Digest mode and the normal? Is
there any difference between the GEN-NYS-L and
GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST lists?
While they are technically different mailing lists, both GEN-NYS-L and
GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST are the same in terms of the messages they contain.
The only difference is the way they are distributed to you.
If you subscribe to GEN-NYS-L, for every message someone sends to the
group, you get a message.
However, if you subscribe to GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST, a number of messages
are bundled up and put into one digest message before it is sent to
you. Some people prefer this way because it cuts down on the number
of messages they get in their inbox.
It really just comes down to a matter of personal preference -- just
pick one.
2.6. I'm currently subscribed, how do I convert to digest mode?
If you are currently subscribed to the non-digest version of the list,
first unsubscribe from GEN-NYS-L and then subscribe to the digest
version (GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST).
3. Who is the list owner? What does he get paid for this position?
Marc Nozell is the list owner for GEN-NYS-L and GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST.
Send him mail if you have completely read this FAQ and still have
problems. His preferred email address is: nozell@rootsweb.com, but
nozell@wildcat.mv.com or nozell@zko.dec.com will also work.
Do I get paid for this? Ha! Like most other mailing list owners, I
support GEN-NYS-L and associated web page on my own time with my own
money. I do it because I'm working on tracing my New York ancestors,
it is a way to make the internet a better and more useful place, and I
enjoy doing it (usually ;-)
4. Using the GEN-NYS-L mailing list
4.1. How do I post to the list?
Mail sent to GEN-NYS-L@rootsweb.com is delivered to all the
subscribers on the GEN-NYS-L and GEN-NYS-L-DIGEST lists.
4.2. Where can I read the old GEN-NYS-L messages?
Use a web browser to open the location:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l.html
And follow the links to the archives. The mailing list owner tries to
update the archives towards the beginning of each month. If you don't
see last month's archives, pester the list owner.
4.3. How do I send a query?
Send mail to GEN-NYS-L@rootsweb.com, make sure you have a reasonable
subject line (e.g. ``Claudius SMITH, Orange Co'') and provide enough
information that someone can be of help. Be sure to include your
return email address and your real name. Some mailers don't properly
display a return email address, so this is very important. Also
including your real name is just a nice thing to do. No one likes
chatting with someone known only as ``SAMJ46198@AOL.COM'' or
``71234.987@compuserve.com''
4.4. When should I reply to the entire mailing list and when should
I reply to just the individual?
There are no hard and fast rules, but generally speaking, if you think
your reply would be of help to someone else on the list, then post it
to the entire list. Otherwise, just send it to the original person.
If you pose a question and get quite a lot of feedback, you may want
to send a message to the list with a summary of the information.
4.5. What can/should I send to the list?
Anything that is related to genealogy *and* New York State is fair
game. NOTE: Short one-time commercial messages advertising services
or products are allowed if they are of particular interest to the
group. But please, no email spamming.
o Don't post large messages.
o Don't post binary files (ie: MS Word files, zip files, etc)
o Don't post flames (please use person-to-person mail for personal
attacks :-)
o Don't post copy-written material unless you own the copyright or
the copyright allows for redistribution.
4.6. How do I get the more recent version of the FAQ?
There are two ways go get the latest copy.
4.6.1. Via the Web
Visit the URL:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l/FAQ
This FAQ is also available in other formats.
o Simple ASCII text -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-
l/FAQ/GEN-NYS-L.txt
o Postscript -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l/FAQ/GEN-
NYS-L.ps
o RTF (suitable for importing into various word processors) --
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l/FAQ/GEN-NYS-L.rtf and
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l/FAQ/GEN-NYS-L-0.rtf
4.6.2. Via email
Send a mail message to GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com that has a
subject line of archive and in the body of the message are just the
words ``get GEN-NYS-L.FAQ''.
Every mail client is different, but your message should look something
like this:
______________________________________________________________________
To: GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject: archive
get GEN-NYS-L.FAQ
______________________________________________________________________
Remember that case is important.
In a few minutes you will get a copy of the FAQ and confirmation of
the request.
4.7.
How do I search the email archives?
All the email messages that have been posted to GEN-NYS-L since its
transition to rootsweb.com (August 1996) are available for review by
email. It is also possible to automatically request a copy of the
latest and greatest version of the GEN-NYS-L.FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions)
Every mail client is different, but your message should look something
like this:
______________________________________________________________________
To: GEN-NYS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject: archive
ls latest/*
egrep ^Subject: latest/*
egrep http latest/*
get latest/750
______________________________________________________________________
Okay, so what does that all mean?
The ``ls'' command will return a directory listing of all the old
messages in the latest/ subdirectory where is where all the old email
message are kept. The file names are pretty uninteresting, they are
simply numbers that correspond to the the order that they arrived.
The first egrep line means ``search all the files in the latest
directory for the lines that start with the string Subject:'' You can
then request (``get latest/123'') those files that look interesting.
The second egrep line searches all the old messages for the string
``http'' so it should list all the files that contain references to
web sites.
The get command means send you the file 750 in the subdirectory
latest/. It happens to be a posting of mine about how to use the RSL.
5. Surfing the web
5.1. Where is the offical GEN-NYS-L web page?
The URL for the web page is:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nozell/gen-nys-l.html
Some GEN-NYS-L ``old timers'' or people using web search engines may
also be familiar with the old URL
(http://www.mv.com/ipusers/wildcat/gen-nys-l.html), while this
currently is identical to what is on www.rootsweb.com, it will
eventually go away.
5.2. Are there any other NY genealogy related web pages?
The USGenWeb project has a New York State web page:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygenweb/
In additional to providing original information, it contains a number
of pointer to other NY research web sites. I urge everyone to take a
look at this execellent page and consider contributing time, informa-
tion or expertise.
Kim Harris Myers <estral@vivanet.com> is the coordinator for NYS
Genealogy Web page.
5.3. How can I find out what newspapers are available on microfilm at
the New York State Library?
A list of the Early American Newspaper Collection (one file for each
of 21 states) may be found at
gopher://unix2.nysed.gov:70/00/nyslpubs/ea.newspaper.coll/
A separate list for the microfilm collected by the New York State
Newspaper Project (one file for each county) may be found at
gopher://unix2.nysed.gov:70/00/nyslpubs/nys.newspaper/
6. Are there other mailing lists I can join?
There are a number of mailing lists on the internet and a fair number
of them are genealogy related. The best place to find other genealogy
related lists is Vicki Lindsay's web page:
http://www.eskimo.com/~chance/
The original genealogy mailing list, ROOTS-L, is also run on
rootsweb.com. Take a look at the rootsweb web page for more
information: