Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness --FAQs for future volunteers 



     What can I do as a volunteer?

          The purpose of this site is to help others obtain copies of documents,
          pictures of tombstones, etc., that can not be obtained easily by those
          who do not live in the area of their ancestors.

          Documents could be death records, marriage records, land records,
          wills, baptismal records from churches, cemetery information in the
          form of photos of tombstones, military records, obituaries and the
          list goes on. Of course, all those documents mentioned may or may not
          be available for copying depending on the location.

          As of July 2005, we will no longer accept Acts of Kindness that
          pertain to "One-Named Studies." The purpose of this site is to help
          others obtain copies of documents, pictures of tombstones, and other
          types of secondary/primary sources as proof of lineage. Lookups from a
          book for every reference to a specific surname can be beneficial, but
          the ability to do so would be more productive if posted to one of the
          many genealogical forums (message boards) on the Internet.


     Can I volunteer to do lookups from books, etc.?

          The purpose of this site is to be able to obtain copies of documents
          or any other information (pictures of tombstones, etc.), that can not
          be obtained easily if you do not live in the area. Due to copyright
          issues we discourage lookups from books, however there are RAOGK
          volunteers who do so.  If you have a library of books that you would
          be willing to do lookups in, may we suggest volunteering for the
          "Books We Own" project <http://www.rootsweb.com/~bwo/> or visit
          The USGenWeb Project <http://www.usgenweb.org/> State and County sites
          where you may offer your services.  County Coordinators of The
          USGenWeb Project are always looking volunteers.



     What is expected of a volunteer?

          Ideally, you should reside in the area for which you volunteer, since
          this is a site where volunteers do the legwork for others.

          You are expected to reply to a new request between 48 hours and 2
          weeks of receipt. This response lets them know that you have received
          the request and whether you can honor it or not. Your reply should
          also advise the requester if there will be any reimbursement of costs
          that may occur and a general idea of that total. You need to give them
          a time frame within which you feel you can accomplish their request.
          If you cannot honor the request you need to let them know this as
          well, so they can move on to another volunteer.

          We have a log of all the requests that are made through our site.
          There are staff members that go through these requests on a daily
          basis. Their job is to cull out duplicate requests that are sent to
          more than one volunteer in the same area. In order to give these staff
          members time to find and notify the requesters, along with the
          volunteers involved, we would like for you wo wait 48 hours before
          acknowledging receipt of any request you receive.

          You will be subscribed to a mandatory mailing list. RAOGK-ANNOUNCE is
          our only means of communicating all at once with all of the
          volunteers. This newsletter is sent once a month and contains news of
          site improvements, changes in policy or any other information that you
          may need to be made aware of. Back issues of the RAOGK-ANNOUNCE can be
          seen in the archives <http://www.raogk.org/newsletters/>.

          You will be automatically removed with the first bounce coming back
          that your e-mail bounces as "unknown user" or "is not accepting mail
          from this sender." The ability to receive messages from this site is
          mandatory. If you are using any kind of spam filters, whether on your
          own computer or through your internet provider, you need to specify
          any mail coming from @raogk.org needs to be accepted. If you are an
          AOL user, you need to be able to receive mail from @raogk.org and from
          users other than AOL users.



     What are duplicate requests and how are they handled?

          We have a log of all the requests that are made through our site.
          There are staff members that go through these requests on a daily
          basis. Their job is to cull out duplicate requests that are sent to
          more than one volunteer in the same area. In order to give these staff
          members time to find and notify the requesters, along with the
          volunteers involved, we would like for you to wait 48 hours before
          acknowledging receipt of any request you receive.

          When a duplicate request is detected, a message is sent out to the
          requester with the volunteers involved being copied on the message. If
          you receive one of these duplicate messages, it will contain a message
          for the requester to select which volunteer they want to do the lookup
          and to write the others not to bother.



     Am I allowed reimbursement for expenses incurred?

          You may charge reimbursement only for postage, film, video tapes, cost
          of making copies, and possibly parking fees. No charges may be made
          for your time or mileage.


               Please note: For 5 years we have not allowed volunteers to charge for
               mileage, however due to the increase of fuel prices in recent months,
               for the time being, volunteers will be allowed to charge 50 cents per
               mile.



     How soon will my name appear on the page?

          Your name should appear within three to five days.

          To check your listing, go to the page that lists the States and
          Countries <http://www.raogk.org/listing.htm>, select the state or
          country you volunteered for, and then the county or territory/region.

          If you do not see your name listed within one week please let us know
          <http://www.raogk.org/contact.html. Please read the directions on the
          contact page carefully before contacting us.



     How often should I do these services?

          We recommend only ONCE per month but you may choose to do it as often
          as you like. We believe that a volunteer can spare one day a month to
          aid another researcher.



     What if I get numerous requests?

          We suggest that you keep a waiting list. We have notified requesters
          they may be put on a waiting list and to please be patient. Please
          inform those that are on a waiting list of this fact.

          If you find yourself swamped, you may go on "Temporary Status" for a
          period of time so you can catch up on fulfilling your requests without
          receiving any new ones. Temporary status will remove you from being
          viewable on the website, but maintain your information in our
          database. Temporary status can be used if you go on vacation, become
          ill or having computer problems.

          Temporary status should only be for no less than two weeks and for no
          longer than three (3) months. To go on temporary status you will need
          to go to our <http://www.raogk.org/change.html> Change of Status form
          and select the link for Temporary Status.



     I received a request that isn't very specific. What do I do now?

          Reply to the requestor and ask them to give you more information about
          their ancestor and to state exactly what they want you to lookup. If
          you still receive an unreasonable request contact the staff
          <http://www.raogk.org/contact.html>. Let them know what location the
          request pertains to and state the problem. The staff member who
          handles your area will advise you in the matter.



     The requester is asking for in-depth research. What do I do?

          Some volunteers choose to muddle through them. If you do not choose
          to, simply reply to the requestor and remind them of the RAOGK
          guidelines.

            From the FAQ's for Requester's (<http://www.raogk.org/faq-
            requesters.htm>

               They may request one or two items concerning one or two
               ancestors. They can not ask a volunteer to do anything outside of
               their specified location or to do anything for which they have
               not volunteered.

               Volunteers are only obligated to do one look-up per month. If
               they make more than one request of any one volunteer per month,
               that volunteer may request a fee.  It’s up to the volunteer to
               decide what to charge for this.



     Do I need to report when I complete a lookup?

          No, we do not keep a record of how many lookups you have received and
          completed.



     After I send the requested information what should I do?

          When you have completed the act of kindness, ask the recipient to
          return to the site so they can perform an act of kindness at least
          once in return.  This isn't mandatory, but a nice gesture.



     Is there a way I can let people know I am part of this project?

          Once you have been listed as a volunteer, you may select from 3
          options to add to your signature line:

          NOTE: Please only link to the main page of RAOGK.

          Volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness at
          http://www.raogk.org/

          Volunteer for RAOGK at
          http://www.raogk.org/

          Since our income comes partially from sales made at our two online
          stores:

          Volunteer for RAOGK at http://www.raogk.org/
	  Check out our new Online Stores
          http://www.raogk.org/store or
          http://www.genealogyforyou.com/shop



     How do I change my email address, my act of kindness, or my status on
     the site?

          Go to the change of information page
          <http://www.raogk.org/change.html>, select the proper form and fill in
          the pertinent information.



     Is there a way to communicate with other RAOGK volunteers?

          Once you are a volunteer, you can join our mailing list to visit with
          others who have known the joy of helping others through this project.
          This list is used as a tool to aid you in helping others, to give
          hints and tips of how you have gone about fulfilling requests, and to
          ask any questions you may have. To join the list go to
          <http://lists.raogk.org/mailman/listinfo/raogk-l>. Once subscribed,
          please read and keep your welcome message, as it will tell you how to
          change your method of receiving these messages and also how to
          unsubscribe from them.



     How and where do I sign up?

          When you get to one of the forms for signing up below, please enter
          your name as you would like for it to appear on the site. Please enter
          your e-mail address correctly, double check (we all make typos). If
          you have an alternate address please enter that as well. This
          alternate address is for staff use only in case your posted e-mail
          address is having problems.

          For volunteering in the USA, pick your state from the drop down menu,
          make sure it is highlighted. If you are on a MAC using OS X, you will
          have to contact us <http://www.raogk.org/contact.html> with your
          submission for the time being. Then specify the County you will be
          doing your research.

          For volunteering outside of the USA, you will have to specify country,
          then region or territory, then area of your research.

          The next item to check off or fill in is very important, it is your
          act of kindness (AOK). You need to be as specific as possible as to
          what you can do, only you know your limitations. You also must
          remember that a few people will not know much about the area you are
          located. Many people do not realize that a county/region can be
          hundreds of miles across so if you can only research in a certain area
          of the county or region you must specify this in your act of kindness.

          We ask you to be specific, but we also ask you to keep it as short as
          possible, around 250 characters, or around 50 words.

          After volunteering if you find that you are receiving requests you
          cannot fulfill, or too many requests, your act of kindness may be too
          general in scope. You can change your act of kindness anytime by going
          to our change form <http://www.raogk.org/change.html>.

          To volunteer in the USA fill in this form
          <http://www.raogk.org/cgi/submit.cgi>.

          To volunteer outside of the USA your form is
          <http://www.raogk.org/cgi/submitint.cgi>


     If I have a question not covered by these FAQ's, to whom do I write?

          Please double check to make sure your question has not been answered
          as it may be covered in an answer to another question.

          If your question still has not been answered, please go to our contact
          us page for information <http://www.raogk.org/contact.html>.