Message-Id: <[email protected]>
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From: [email protected] (BARBARA ROCKETT)
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 13:34:51, -0500
To: [email protected]
Subject: Look at this...
INTERNET INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY: The following most
welcome announcement was made on May 15, 1997 by Dr. Brian
Leverich ([email protected]), Co-moderator,
soc.genealogy.methods/GENMID-L, RootsWeb Genealogical Data
Cooperative (https://sites.rootsweb.com/). Your editors think this
is a grand idea and have already signed on.
* * *
Based on interest expressed by many folks, RootsWeb would like to
sponsor the creation of a nonprofit Internet International
Genealogical Society with the following mission:
-- To assist in the creation and maintenance of genealogical
resources on the internet, by funding selected projects using
resources obtained through grants, bequests, and large donations.
-- To represent the interests of genealogists using the internet,
both by providing counsel to organizations providing services on
the internet and by lobbying organizations and agencies who make
decisions which affect internet genealogists.
-- To promote the development of standards, protocols, and
software for the distribution of genealogical information over
the internet.
-- To provide a common social organization for genealogists
using the internet, regardless of their specific interests.
We don't have any deep thoughts on the form of organization, but
we do feel strongly that:
-- Membership in the society should be free, and as a goal we
should try to enroll virtually all 100,000+ internet genealogists
as members.
-- The focus of the society should be broad and embrace the
Usenet Newsgroups, the mailing lists both large and small,
independent websites, websites operating in collaboration (like
USGenWeb), major projects (like the Roots Surname List and the
USGenWeb Archives), and all other internet genealogical
activities.
-- The society should definitely be international, and we should
try to keep American genealogists from overwhelming the rest of
the community by sheer numbers.
-- The organization should be internet-like, in the sense that it
should be completely open, flexible, informal, and
nonhierarchical. Work will get done by teams who choose to
address specific issues.
-- The society should work in collaboration with and support of
existing genealogical societies, rather than competing with them.
After the society is established, RootsWeb will look to the
society for recommendations concerning our development program.
As the society matures, it may make sense to transfer RootsWeb's
assets from RootsWeb (which is nominally a for-profit business)
to the society and transfer RootsWeb's membership to the society
as a new dues-paying class of members.
If you have interest and would like to help in the organization
of the Internet International Genealogical Society, we've set up
a mailing list at RootsWeb. To subscribe, send the following
e-mail:
To: [email protected]
Subject:
subscribe
That's e-mail to [email protected] containing
the one-word message "subscribe". Note that "subscribe" must be
lower case, and you must have no signature or other text
following the word.
While anyone is welcome to join the discussion, we now especially
need folks who can help us with setting up a IIGS website,
getting the organization running, and handling the details of
registering us as a nonprofit.
I hope you'll have time to participate -- I think this will be a
lot of fun, and I think we can do a lot to make the resources
available to internet genealogists grow even faster than they
have over the past decade.