General Chat

I have been asked to repost my posting on the Help Clinic board to allow members to comment

I am so incensed at the public disrespect of an elderly lady desperately searching for her mother ( in her own words " before I pop my clogs" )

Surley she is the perfect example of whom we all should be helping -

so here is the posting

I am a nobody - a numpty - I dont matter - I am a fee paying member of Genes Reunited who apparently - if you believe the publicity
"has grown to become one of the UK’s largest family history websites. It marked a revolution in genealogy by combining historical records with social-networking. Members build their family tree by posting it on the site and investigating which ancestors they share with other members. We currently have over 10 million members worldwide and over 650 million names listed on the site."

If any one cares to see how a successful site works -
Just take a look at
EDIT
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/trying_to_find/macleod/thread/1133150

It has 32 pages - and the author is a 76 ( in 2009 ) year old lady - deperately searching for her mother -- I ask you to read it please

Now compare the Help Clinics response to this same lady yesterday -

Evelyn ( now 77 years old -- 77 years mind you ) ends up apologising - for asking for asking for help -

It is disgraceful ---

Even me - a nobody can see - that this narrow approach to "Breaking Down Brick Walls" is doomed

Irene Palmer

She's lovely Evelyn. I think it is the same lady that is looking for a poem on General. I've nudged that in case anyone can help as well.

I can't help feeling that GR have gone about this the wrong way. Since GR started the best thing about it has been the help given freely by members all working together. Now they appear (I don't say they actually have) to have created an elite group which seems to sideline the members who didn't want to offer their services. This in no way reflects on the people who have volunteered but it sort of smacks of when we had monitors and/or prefects at school, showing stars like wearing badges!!!

and I think peoples manners need addressing ..poor lady just ..like us all asked for help

I couldn't add this on 'Help' ...it's over 50 characters :(( most of my posts are lol

"Message to GR, the strength of helpers on the GR boards lies in their cummulative breadth of knowledge .

I have in the past been given great help by some of those who are now 'advisors' on here (clinic) , they are great researchers with good working knowledge of searching census' etc, but they are not able to 'know everything', No-one is! It is often just an individual's knowledge of an area, or specific experience of searching that provides an answer, often an 'off the wall' possibility.

Please reconsider the way this board works, if those who have some knowledge of a specific topic ( for eg Ireland) cannot add to a thread the query will go un-answered through no fault of the advisors. I know a pm could be sent to the poster but that will not help anyone in the future who may have a similar query.

Surely the more people who can answer a query the better the chance of it being 'solved'. "

Can't help with Evelyn's query sadly.

I have to say though Kemp that similar threads on the various boards are often being answered that way, sometimes quite rudely (& not by the starry volunteers).

I also think that some of the starry volunteers are getting a hard time just because they have a star next to their name.

RR....
Yesterday I asked these very questions about how people could be sure we are getting help on Help Clinic .....
Now I thought
1 if answeres didnt come quick people would repost on records ect
2. if the Advisors couldnt help would they say so
3 when the advisors could go no further would they tell the person
4 what if someone "outside" the Help clinic knows the answer pms would be sent and only rightly ....but this would result in lots of them and no one knowing if an answer had been found

but I was told off

to have a go like that at a 77 year old woman like that is shocking
i hope it doesn't put her off


i think star wars has begin

maybe the people with stars are letting it go to their heads

I've seen a query there that I know there are people who would have , if not the answer, then at least a few leads...even if that is just advice on 'phrases to put in google' so to speak.

These are not things that can be found on FMP /census/ 'ordinary' records...but may be found elsewhere.

I said as much Rose,

What if someone ,me you,him her,,knew some answers ,it ends up in sending messages by pm.and the way the sily system works unless you are checking your own incomming emal you are not aware you have a gr message and when you do come on and open it,,,,,,,it takes aday for the white envelope to dissapear,,,

this clinic is such a daft idea,as its getting the same response as the other boards,,,,,,,and the brick walls are those thats not been concluded on them.now being posted in the silly closet of a clinic board..!!

srs
i got your jemima }}}}}}}}..pm you.
--------------------------------------------------

if its not on WWW then it wont be found for love nor money,,dont matter if youre getting a wad of cash or not,

Rose - what did you think of my suggestions for your plea for help?

btw AW is still in.

Hello Kay :)

Many thanks. I've just sent you a pm back asking where you found her. Have tried entering the revised name but cannot find anyone with tof the right age on Scotlandspeople. Couldn't find the other name you gave at all on Scotlandspeople.

Many thanks

Edit: Sorry I must have cross posted- have sent you another pm.

As far as I am concerned my gripe is with the system - not the advisors - and most of all the response to an old lady

If the thread number was not known then it could be argued that her age was not known -

But her thread number was " used in evidence against her " so to speak

surely it should ahve been read thru·

Irene

HI Joy, I have just been looking at her :)) I haven't been able to find Harriet 'Yenom' anywhere else, no matching birth, so I'm thinking she is a definite possibility...right POB and living in a likely area, I wonder where she went after that though! lol

Thankyou very much for the lead :))

xx

We all know when you hit a brickwall ..we all HOPE that one day it will be broken down and some one somewhere some how finds that link .......so I guess it we dont ask we dont want therefore we dont get ....

And as we all know the WWW is updated offen enough for prehaps something to find that link ..

I think if feel we have left it a sensible amount of time we should feel we can ask again

There was a search made on roots last year,feel so sorry for folk who are desperate to find famliy

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,405993.0.html

I wish Evelyn the best of luck
Mau

Why not have an IRELAND board on, as some people have people born here, especially soldiers whose wives and maybe some children were born here, maybe married here but they themselves were born in U,K, and went back to the United Kingdom.
It too would make it much easier to look through for rellies. People here might even be able to get certs for them.
Just a thought.

I was one of 10 people who were sent emails last week and asked if we wished to become Official Advisors in a new Help Clinic they were planning

The only basis for selection was that we
....... had been a member for at least 1 year
....... had helped on Records Board
....... had a tree containing at least 100 names
....... had no record of abuse


so far as I know, NONE of those 10 agreed to do it.

I did exchange several emails with someone called Estelle at GR, trying to find out what it was all about.

In the process, she kept increasing the offers to me ........ at first, upgrade to Platinum and a gift a Christmas; then free sub to fmp; then free credits on Scotlands People



The response to my question as to whether I could use other sites in my answers was almost the end ........... it was no, only those 3 sites could be used.


Knowing that most breaking down of brick walls is due to finding information on sites (both free and paid) other than the 3, I knew I would not be able to do much ......... and was afraid of what it was portending.


The final crunch was actually being told that this Help Clinic was their response to attempt to redress a problem that had been identified on the survey they did last spring ......... many members had said that there was never any acknowledgement by GR of the help given by members to members. The fact that help was available was advertised, but the impression was that it was by GR staff


So, this clinic and the Official Advisors were to provide this acknowledgement


Unfortunately, they have gone about it in completely the wrong way!


I don't feel acknowledged .................. I feel as though there has been a wedge driven between those who volunteered their services through the stickies on Tips and Records, and those who did not


And there were only ever going to be 10 .......... TEN .............. Official Advisors



From what I was told in my exchanges, there never seemed to have been any check on how accurate my help and advice had been.



sylvia