CURRENT STATS

Last month: 4604
This month: 4556

New: 103
Left: 93
*Staff removals: 24

*Staff removals are those folks whose e-mail address has been reported
bouncing and confirmed or volunteers who, over the course of trying many
times, did not respond back to requesters or staff. Staff also removed
34 volunteers from the site due to returns (user/host unknown and Not
Accepting Mail from this sender) when the October newsletter was sent
out.

Kudos for October: 56 (http://www.raogk.org/guestbook/)


Most of the time this newsletter covers information that we have
been asked about repeatedly over the course of the month. If you feel
that you are hearing repeats of the same thing over and over again
it is because we are getting messages during the past month that
has been covered in past newsletters. Besides the two FAQ areas
posted on the site, this is the only way we can communicate with all
of our volunteers. So please bear with us with our repeated items.


TEMPORARY STATUS

Everyone has a time in their life where conditions are such that
volunteering for a few weeks or months is not possible. For such
times we have a condition called "temporary status." This means that
your listing remains in the database, however, not viewable to the
public. This status can only be for *no longer* than 3 months. If
you need to be away from the site for longer than that, you really
do need to completely remove yourself from the site.

To place yourself on temporary status, or if you are already on
temporary status and want to become active again, you need to go to
http://www.raogk.org/change.html and select the link that pertains
to temporary status.

If you need to be removed from the site entirely, you still need to
go to the above link and select the link to be removed.


RESPONDING TO REQUESTS

This topic seems to be discussed in all newsletters. It can't
be stressed enough that when you receive a request you *must* let
the requester know that you have received the request, whether you
can honor the request and how long it will take you to do so.

When we receive complaints that a volunteer has not responded, we
do not take the complaint at face value and instantly remove a
volunteer for this reason. We, in turn, write to the volunteer to
find out if there has been some problem that has prevented them
from responding to the requester. However, our success rate of
getting a volunteer to respond back to us is not very good either.
A question frequently asked is if a person has no intentions of
doing lookups, why do they sign up? To this question, we have no
answers.

With the new system in place we are running into another bit of a
problem. The requesters having typos in their e-mail address, with
no way for the volunteers to contact them. This is all the more
reason to respond to the request FIRST, then do the lookups. If
you spend hours on doing the research on the request and then
send the information back to the requester, only to find a bounce
message in return, look at the time you wasted and I am sure the
frustration level is raised as well (I know mine would be). Be
sure to save all correspondence received, so if we should receive
a complaint stating you have not responded back, and if we receive
a complaint, when we contact you regarding this you can prove you
tried.

SO WHAT IS TOO MUCH?

There has been discussion on the optional mailing list for RAOGK
volunteers (http://lists.raogk.org/mailman/listinfo/raogk-l) recently
on the subject of requesters asking for lookups on many individuals
within one request, or on a follow-up request mailed shortly after
the first was received. The volunteer's expressed many different
opinions on this subject, and the topic was enlightening at best.

The position of the staff at RAOGK regarding this subject is simple:
it is all up to the volunteer what is too much to ask for. Only the
volunteer knows what their limitations are when doing lookups. The
site has provided a guideline for requesters to read first before
even being able to reach a page to connect to volunteers
(http://www.raogk.org/faq-requesters.htm). From the volume of
visitors recorded per day/month the majority of visitors seem to read
and heed these guidelines. However, like every place else on the
internet and elsewhere, there are a few people who seem to think the
"rules" do not apply to them. If you haven't read this page, my
advice is to go read it yourself. Acquaint yourself with what we
have listed on this page, as it was put there for you to refer
requesters to if you need to gently remind them of these guidelines.

If you feel you have received a request that is too much, you are
probably correct, stick with your gut feelings, you'll always be
correct in doing so. You can respond back indicating that you can not
do the request for whatever reason you choose to give. You could write
the requester back indicating that you can only do a partial lookup
for them (for whatever reason you choose to give), asking which person
the requester really needs the information on most. All of these are
credible responses per staff, but *DO* respond back.

Now in a situation where someone has sent in a second request within
a 30 day time frame (again this is all up to you), you are well within
your rights to tell them you will be glad to do the lookup for them (if
you choose to do so that is) but this second request you will have to
charge them a professional fee. Remember only the first request coming
through RAOGK within a 30 day time frame is covered by the reimbursement
policy (copying fees, mailing, etc.). Again, whether you choose to do
the added lookup, whether to charge professional fees or not, is all
up to you. The guideline page is there to use as a backup for whatever
decision you make.

I can't stress enough, though, that all decisions on whether you honor
a request sent to you is all up to you. You know your limitations. All
we feel that you really *MUST* do is respond back to the requester
whether you will be able to honor that request. If you can honor the
request, please respond back to the requester prior to doing your
lookups.

THE NEWBIES WILL LAND

This will be the last newsletter prior to the holidays coming up. We
hope each and everyone of you receive information so one of your brick
walls can come tumbling down. But this season brings on brand new
computer users and brand new genealogy researchers. All I ask of you
folks if you should receive a request from an obvious "newbie," to
remember that you were in their shoes at one time, be gentle with
your responses <grin>.


THANK YOU

Some of you may not hear this enough from the people you have helped,
but the staff at RAOGK want to take this time to thank all of you
for being such a great group of people. I have always stated that
genealogists are the best group of people, ever.

Happy Holidays to all !!

THE STAFF
Bridgett, Michele, Val, Bill, Madlyn, Anja, Terri
and Doc, the Tech Guru