Repeated look-up requests - annoying

[MaryA]

I did get a 'thank you' just two words

How disappointing for you Joboy, I'm sure a lot of us have had similar encounters, and I feel grumpy enough to hope that somebody does the same to them one day, although likely they are the sort of people who don't give out their details so easily as to be caught the way us trusting folk do. 

Thankfully also the reverse has happened when a good deal of information is exchanged and people become very good friends even though at a distance - email friends.  I hope we make enough of these to make up for the disappointing ones.

Mary 

[LouiseB31]

(This post will get my card marked, if nothing else does)

I am afraid I feel the odd wave of smugness coming over on this thread.

I was guilty early on of posting a look-up more than once, and then had it pointed out to me in public in a manner that made me feel like a naughty schoolgirl, it might have driven away a  less confident individual.

The main reason for my sin was because I had tried on one board - I cannot remember the detail now but let us imagine it was a county board and someone had suggested that it might go down well on a armed forces board. So I posted it again on one of those.

I had no idea then that some people sit and read every post that comes in, whether it relates to counties they are interested in or not. I presumed as I imagine most new arrivals do, that other members would only look at boards they were interested in and so would miss the post I had placed on other boards.

This is not clear and I havent seen it pointed out anywhere else.

It is also not clear when you first join that look-ups are done by the same group of people on most boards. Again I would have imagined that Fred Bloggs had a cd of Kent he would look at for people on that board and Jane Smith had a book about Cumbria she would look at for that board. And that neither Fred nor Jane would be looking up anything else for anyone else.

It is only after repeated use that one comes to see that the same people look things up all over the country for others.

You really cannot criticise new members for not being pyschic. And it is no good saying it is all in a thread somewhere, because we have learnt through long experience in IT that the best way to learn is to jump right in.


I would like to think that I am sufficiently grateful and thankful when someone helps me, particularly if the information is good and has some relevance to my query. Unfortunately some responders clearly haven't read the query properly or haven't understood and give an answer that is irrelevant or wrong. Mercifully it is only a few, but it does happen. In those cases one doesn't necessarily want to return with profuse thanks as it rather undermines the thanks one genuinely means.

I am afraid that with human nature being like it is and with genealogy reaching out to people from all walks of life, it is not possible to expect that everyone should be either a confident genealogist or a confident IT user.

I would preach a little more tolerance myself

Regards

Louise

[RJ_Paton]

and give an answer that is irrelevant or wrong

Surely (and this is only my personal opinion) it is better to point out the error while thanking the person for their effort rather than leaving them in limbo.

Recently I modified my own reply to an enquiry after I re read the original enquiry and I realised that I had gone off on the wrong track ... this resulted in an abusive PM accusing me of tampering with posts. (the PM was NOT from the original enquirer).
Between that PM and others I have been targetted recently with I seriously considered leaving rootschat.

[MaryA]

Falkyrn, that would be very sad if you did that, anybody who assists is only doing their best

News: Have a go - help somebody with their family history or local history question today - whatever your idea might be, it might just be enough.

This from the top of the pages of Rootschat is quite true but there is certainly no fault if the thread followed is incorrect, it happens all the time and sometimes gives ideas for other avenues to follow.

In that circumstances I would have been inclined to have quoted the private message, in public and proved that your corrections were in fact valid, but then again maybe that's me being bolshie! 

Something to bear in mind is that there are other messageboard forums which are far worse, since the moderators let their authority go to their heads and delete or move posts willy nilly without explanation and with officious "do as I tell you or else" responses when questioned about mysterious happenings.  This explains the arrival of a bunch of newbies who arrived at Rootschat a while ago armed and ready to help where necessary.

Our moderators are good ones and when amending or moving posts seem to do so in a sensible manner, leaving notifications about their actions and in the main people generally are grateful for the replies they get to their queries, at least a far larger percentage are than otherwise.

I've gone off on a tangent yet again, but praise for Rootschat never does go amiss does it?

Mary

[Sisterjane]

Hi all

Falkryn, My advise to you is to ignore those pms, as far as Im concerned your contributions to rootschat is invaluable and your knowledge about computers and how they work ( The technical side ) is probably far superior to whoever is menacing you with silly pms remember they will probably need you before you need them and then.............mmmm.

As far as the repeat postings go as far as Im concerned it is not the newbies who are the worst culprits its rootschatters who have got plenty of experience and enough postings behind them that should know better

Joe

[Gardener]

I think Louise B31 has a good point. If there is a post on, for example, the Worcestershire board, asking for a lookup in the 1851 census, and the family are not there then I might suggest posting on the Staffordshire board. Multi posting for a purpose is fine by me.
Some information is only available on a county basis, eg earlier census, church registers etc.
I wouldn't even look at a request for those outside "my" counties, but for census requests after 1861 I'll have  ago at anything that catches my eye.

Sorry you are a bit fed up Falkyrn. The only time I thought about quitting was after PM from someone who commented on my posting technique. I thought them very rude but decided to ignore them and just carry on as usual. I suppose they might have been trying to be funny.....who can tell.
Anyhow, I post answers if I want to and if I think someone is just posting requests everywhere with no fixed purpose then I just don't answer them

[RJ_Paton]

Thank you for the messages ..... I am thicker skinned than some ..... (or at least I think that's what my wife said) ..... and as I said in my original post revenge is a dish best eaten cold 

However to get back on topic ..... occasional threads like this one while sad in some ways do serve a useful purpose in that it allows the opportunity to air a grievance (no matter how small) and to get it out of your system before it ruins your whole perspective.

Back to the look ups 

[Nicky]

Hear hear, I have read through all that people have posted on this thread and to be honest if you dont get a thank you is it the end of the world?

I have done lots of lookups and I have to say usually get a thank you but if I dont I have never thought.... well no more lookups.

I have done lookups that have been posted more than once... again does it really matter.

On Wednesday my 16 year daughter attended the funeral of her friends father, he died of a massive stroke age 38.Buried the day before his daughters GSCE results.
He had been fit and healthy, leaves a wife, 16 and 10 year old daughter.

Now does a thank you or a repeated lookup seem that important?

Nicky

[Boongie Pam]

<snip>

Our moderators are good ones

<snip>

Shucks 

More of this Pllllllleeeeezzzeee 

<snip>

moving posts seem to do so in a sensible manner, leaving notifications
<snip>

Erm 

You may find a little problem with this at the moment.  More messages maybe moved without notifications because of a wee bug that is being worked on.  We can't leave notifications on some boards.

The massive flattery from MaryA there is fab - I'm sure all the mods agree.

But

[In a Simpsons manner - that's my big butt!]

It isn't the moderators that set this site apart.

It's you guys.

It's all the great Chatters who help and ask the questions.

The wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm on this site is immense.  I hope we all benefit.

It is hard joining a group of people and maybe being a bit new to research, or computing, whatever really.  Not everyone realises what animals you are for helping!  Tireless, dogged, tenacious.  Many of us started with a multiple post or 2, and I can prove it 

Let's help the new people not turn them away.

If you want to direct any of the mods to a post use the "Report to Moderator" link and we'll try to help the newbie.

Anyway, I've tried to keep up with my Pa with 6 pints of Deuchars IPA (posted to make Trystan jealous!) and I'm flaked.

Pam
 

PS: I think all grievances are out there now so let's draw a line (whoops I can feel my cranium swelling, the power the power  )