“Computer savvy” people seem far ahead of the rest of us. So far I have managed to live without text messaging or electronic blackberries, although the non-electronic kind of blackberry seems determined to take over my yard. When it came to genealogy chat channels, I felt indifferent to them. It seemed too much work to choose the channel and to set it up. The first time I tried, several years ago, it was a daunting experience. As soon as I "walked into the room," everyone online stopped to say HI to me, and they stopped to say HI every time someone new came in, and this really slowed down the conversation.  I couldn't figure out who all these people were, and what they had been chatting about, nor did I discern the point at which it would be appropriate to ask my question.  I ducked out of there pronto.  I would feel much more comfortable bringing a plate of cookies to the Humble House.  If I walked in the door and ONE or TWO people were present, as opposed to the library being FULL TO BURSTING, I would feel much more comfortable about chatting.  Plus I would know if I had brought enough cookies.

               It took me a little perseverance, a demonstration, and a real live mentor, in the form of SIGS’ Webmaster Marge REID, to overcome the reluctance. It seems now that I may go back. I don’t think I would have tried if Marge had not demonstrated the activity at the February 2009 SIGS meeting.

               First, an overview. Genealogy chat channels allow a person to present a query to a group of genealogists and receive some useful strategies and possibly new information. It means that extra sets of eyeballs are looking at the problem. It is also a marvelous way for those who are housebound to reach out to other genealogists. <>

               Our hosts for the February SIGS meeting were members of the Clark County Genealogical Society in Vancouver. They have a regular weekly chat on Thursdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m., accessible from their web site, and did a Wednesday night session just for SIGS. Marge had her laptop computer hooked into the digital projector. We could see the messages from the participants projected onto the screen, shaded in gray and white bars. Whenever Marge typed a message, we could see her compose it in a space at the bottom of her computer screen. When she sent the message, it appeared in a white strip at the top of the screen; when a new message appeared, the previous message was shaded gray. The way the screen looks and behaves is determined by the Java Applet that the chat “owner” uses. Some read “up” and some read “down.” Some require that a screen button, such as “SEND,” be clicked to enter text. Some use the keyboard’s “ENTER” key. Thus, if someone enters while a live chat is in progress, he will need to read the screen to find the current messages. Most adults will find it simple to negotiate. <>

                 Several genealogical problems were being worked simultaneously. Since about 6 or 7 people were in the channel, it was necessary to get into the habit of noticing who was doing the talking. Many chat channels display the “handles” of the people who are participating, and can even give each participant a personal name color. Pat BAUER, known as “PatB,” who is the CCGS web manager, was there, along with Nancy Elder PETERSON.

               Nancy said: “I almost always ask a newcomer, ‘What are you researching this evening?’ That gives them an opening if we are discussing other research. You can type in a query any time, and someone will answer!” Nancy posted a photo of herself, too.

               Jim CORCORAN of SIGS had submitted a query ahead of time to the CCGS via email. Jim was looking for naturalization records for his Irish ancestors, specifically Timothy CORCORAN who had settled in Clatsop County, OR. Jim was hoping the homestead record would have some naturalization information. The CCGS members went to work, at first finding items that pertained to the family but not what Jim was looking for. They found a land patent record. Joy of CCGS suggested going to the Clatsop County GIS site to see a satellite photo. Joy also found a probate record at the Oregon State Archives. A gravestone photo for Timothy CORCORAN Jr. was posted. As they looked up these people in multiple databases, we saw other queries being discussed. Someone came back with a CORCORAN naturalization record from New York City. Eventually the attention focused on a Daniel CORCORAN who was naturalized in Clackamas County, OR.

             Dave SALZMAN of SIGS, who was present at the meeting, asked for some help finding an immigration record for his ancestor Henry SALSMAN who came from Germany ca. 1840 to Pennsylvania. Joy soon found Henry SALSMAN in a naturalization records index, and managed both to post the url and a large image of the entry.  Marge REID said: “Joy, you should see the BIG GRIN on Dave’s face!”

              All too soon, the CCGS chat was over. I (your Sounder editor) came back on February 19, having previously submitted a query about my Louise KOERTH, the subject of an article from the last issue. From the chat of that evening, I found some interesting information about Milwaukee, WI, city directories. The entries that were posted led me to conclude that the Louise KURTH who died in Milwaukee in 1893 is probably not the person I am looking for. Shucks. But at least they saved me the fifteen dollars I would have spent in ordering the record from the State Historical Society.

               The next morning, I participated in the Island Register chat that Marge invited me to. There were just three of us, Marge and me and the man Marge calls “my buddy,” officially J. H. LYNCH, who goes by the handle of “Wye.” Why? I had a lot of fun in that chat. We talked about genealogy and about “other things.”

                While chatting, I try to stay focused. Following the thread of the chatting, I feel as if I am receiving close personal attention. This is the nice illusion of online chat—the people replying may in fact be getting a cup of coffee, or, I hope, consulting other databases for me. A lot of the log may read like non sequiturs, and that is because of the number of people chatting and the multiplicity of topics. Also, in the time it takes to compose a reply, someone else may have posted something that supersedes it. Fewer people in the chat group at one time not only make the postings easier to follow, but also make the illusion closer to reality—you really ARE getting close personal attention.

               I discovered that this “old” computer IS fast enough to chat with. Pat BAUER of CCGS wrote: “a person doesn't have to be on DSL - just anything that can connect to Internet is fine. Some people with a MAC have a problem hooking up but we try to help them. Nancy is a confirmed MAC user and she's great about giving hints.”

                Pat had some comments regarding privacy:

          “We have the "private message" feature that can be used for exchanging e-mail or snail mail addresses which works nicely. If something is posted that we feel shouldn't be there, I remove it from the transcript before I post it. This past week Joy found some info on a living person and thought it should be removed, which I did. Before removing it, I sent a copy to the person requesting info on the family so it wouldn't be lost. He wanted to be able to contact some descendants of the people he was researching. If something is found on Internet, it's already out there for the world to see! If someone posts something that they think I should remove, all they have to do is write another note that tells me to REMOVE that item. I can do a search with WordPerfect and find that word and then remove it along with the previous posting. Works great!”

              “We don't worry about "social diseases" with our GenChat program. We don't have it set up to grab your information. I can set it so I receive your e-mail addresses but I felt it wasn't necessary. Our visitors are there to discover (maybe) new ways of finding their elusive ancestors that are possibly buried under that proverbial "rock" with mine! I've only been in one other genealogical chat room and that one was hard to use so I gave up after a couple of times. Ours is so simple to use and I enjoy the fact that we can post occasional photos which the "chatters" can view. Only the URL for those photos shows up in the transcripts. In order for a photo to show, it must be already posted on a web page. Incidentally, on the CCGS page where you enter GenChat, I have a lot of the photos of our current and past visitors. Joy and Steve were both shy about a current photo so they are both shown as youngsters. I'm leaving all the photos there, even the one of Rosanne SIMMONS, a regular with us until her sudden death in 2005.”

The following discussion, in which more information may be found, is taken from Marge REID’s handout at the February SIGS meeting.

Genealogy Chat Channels ---- Featuring an Online Visit to the Clark County Genealogical Society's "Gen Chat"

               There are two general types of chat events—one kind is “scheduled”; the other is “open.” A “scheduled chat” has a TOPIC. It’s “organized.” The Moderator or Host or person in charge of the chat has a plan—perhaps it’s a particular topic like “Using State Land Records.” There may even be “guest experts” in the channel, who have important information to share with everyone. Now, imagine the chaos in such a scheduled chat if everyone is “talking” at the same time!

            When I’m in a scheduled chat, I remember what it was like in Sister Mary Clement’s sixth-grade classroom. We sat there and listened to Sister, and if I had a question or a comment, I’d raise my hand and wait for her to call on me. If a visitor came into our classroom, I’d wait quietly for Sister to give the whole class the ‘go-ahead’ to greet the newcomer—can you imagine the noise if all 45 of us had individually greeted each and every visitor? Sister Mary Clement would NOT have been pleased (and THAT, in 1950, usually involved a RULER).

         Same thing in a scheduled chat room—only instead of raising my hand if I have a question or a comment, I type a question mark—and only that. Then, when I’m “called on,” I can type in my question. When a new chatter enters the channel, the Moderator handles the greeting, and the newcomer is expected “to quietly take a seat in the back of the classroom.” Again, imagine the chaos in a scheduled chat channel if every newcomer was greeted with “Hi, MissMarge,” “WB (welcome back), MM,” “MARGIE-POO” (I just HATE that!), “MissMarge! LTNS” (long time no see)—well, you get the idea. In a scheduled chat, it’s best to let the Moderator do the greeting!

            Many times, a scheduled chat will be opened for a general discussion. This does not mean a “free-for-all,” though….there are still ways to make the conversation more organized.

          For instance, if I want to converse with a person in the channel during this “open” time, it’s helpful if I add the person’s name BEFORE I start to “talk.” It can be hard to tell who is saying what to WHOM, so if I want to ask Miss Linda a question, or to comment on what she has just said, I’d type in:

                      Linda – GOOD point! But what about checking first at the Archives?

               Linda’s reply to me—which may be a few “conversation lines” away from my original question—might look like this:

                     MissMarge – I DID check there, but they don’t have those records!

             By typing in the name of the person you’re talking to FIRST, you BOTH have a better chance of keeping track of the “thread” or conversation, and so do the other people in the channel. Of course, if there are only TWO people in the channel, you won’t need to do this, but it’s still a good thing to get used to doing.

              Of course, not all channels observe the same guidelines, and there are a lot of other “points of etiquette” that you’ll learn the first few times you log into a channel – I’m sure you’ll find that people are VERY helpful and understanding.

Chat Channels, Security and Why Chat?

               When I started to work on this presentation, I headed for Cyndi’s List. I’m NOT happy to tell you that some of the List’s links to chat channels are no longer active. It’s been YEARS since I last visited a chat room on one of the major chat sites, and I don’t feel comfortable about suggesting ANY of the IRC channels I found on Cyndi’s List.

             Java-based chat channels tend to be less frequently visited, and the participants seem to be more serious about research. All three channels discussed tonight have one thing in common – they really welcome new visitors. Yes, it helps if you have decent key-boarding skills, but folks ARE quite patient and understand the occasional tpyo errro.

              If you have concerns about security, read the comments re: security in the discussion of Genealogy Lookup Chat (item 2, below).

Some Chat Channels I suggest for new chat participants—

1. CLARK COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY’S GEN CHAT -  http://www.ccgs-wa.org/p5363.htm

The Gen Chat provided by the Clark County Genealogical Society is unusual. Held once a week at a specific time, the chat features CCGS members who are quite good at chipping away at brick walls. People can post queries on the site (even if the chat isn’t officially happening) OR queries can be posted DURING the chat session.

Gen Chat sessions are logged—you can read replies to other folks’ questions, enlarge your own list of hot URLs, etc. You can read these logs at    http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waccgs/p3424.htm  

If you read the log for January 29th, you’ll notice that a LOT of topics did NOT involve Clark County or even Washington State!

2. GENEALOGY LOOKUP CHATROOM  -  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genealogylookup/chatroom.html

This channel uses a Java-based applet; the Person in Charge (the chat “owner”) requires that all participants be registered, and be subscribed to the chat’s newsletter, which gives schedules, special events, guest hosts, etc. “Hosts” (usually one, but often two) keep order and can remove and/or ban any chatters who violate the room’s standards of behavior. Many participants have subscriptions to major gen services and are happy to do lookups for you.

Monday night, I was in the channel for less than an hour, and during that time, the average number of participants was 7, two of which were “hosts.”   With the permission of the Hosts, I asked the following questions of the folks in the channel:

1. In your opinion, what is the most exciting part of genealogical chat participation?

ADMIN 1: To me, the best part of this chat is the friendships and the caring of the people who come in and help.

CHATTER 1: I like learning about different research techniques and meeting folks who are researching the same family.

CHATTER 2: the best part is meeting with good friends who have the same “sickness.”

CHATTER 3 agreed with CHATTER 2.

CHATTER 2: I’ve learned a lot in this room, especially about documenting EVERYTHING.

CHATTER 1: Be sure to document the DATE when you actually FOUND the information, too.

2. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being "not at all secure" and 5 being "very secure", how would you rate the security of genealogy chat channels?
   

CHATTER 1: 4.5 in this channel, lower in others.

CHATTER 2 agreed with CHATTER 1.

ADMIN 1: This channel has the best security and the greatest people.

3. LOOKING 4 KIN:       http://www.looking4kin.com/chat.html

The few times I’ve been in this channel, the area of expertise of the 3 or 4 participants SEEMED to be “Canadian,” although I have a hunch these folks know a lot about OTHER areas as well. I had some questions re: several members of my Target Family who obtained land in Alberta between the 1910 U.S. Census and the 1920 U. S. Census. The participants were able to point me in the right direction and give me a quick kick to get started. The chatters knew what FREE online resources are available, and even did some checking of those resources for me. Best part of this chat, for ME, was a clarification of what those free online resources can do (and in one or two cases, CAN’T do). Now I have to decide if I want to spend the money to get copies of TWELVE land documents.

To read Marge’s handout in its entirety, follow the link from the Island Register Chat Channel to "Miss Marge's Rules of Chat Manners" at
http://www.islandregister.com/chat.html 

The best thing about chatting online, says Marge REID, “is the opportunity to get ideas from other folks. I've also learned a lot about other sources of information.  Today in a chat channel I was directed to an online FREE data base that may provide information about one of my Problem Ancestors.  I like Strategy Building and it seems as though when in a channel with 5 other chatters, I'll get that many suggestions as to where to go (and what to do when I get there).”