This month's newsletter contains: * Gentle Reminders * Tip & Tricks * A New Project -- Deadline * Duplication Notice * Seeking . . . * Current Stats GENTLE REMINDERS At the end of every newsletter there are important links that you should have bookmarked. These links are to: Volunteer's FAQ page: http://www.raogk.org/faq-vols.htm Contacting us: http://www.raogk.org/contact.html Changing of status: http://www.raogk.org/change.html -- (change your "act of kindness"; e-mail address change or removal) You may also want to bookmark the FAQ's for Requesters (http://www.raogk.org/faq-requesters.htm). Although most everything that is covered in the Volunteer's FAQ's if a requester goes a little 'overboard' in their request, or gets upset because you have asked for reimbursement, you can always send them to the FAQ that pertains to the problem the requester is having for an attitude adjustment . TIPS & TRICKS Volunteer submitted "Tips & Tricks." If you have a tip or trick you'd like to share, please send them to polls@raogk.org, otherwise they will be ignored. Beth McDonald Norway Beth's tip is for a small computer program. It is a windows-based program, however it also has a Linux version which probably could be used by those using Mac's OS X system. The program is called !Treepad(TM) it is an organizer, PIM, Database, Word-Processor all wrapped up into a small program. I downloaded it, looked around in it but have not used it yet, but it sure looks handy. http://www.treepad.com Beth's comments: This will look like free advertising for TREEPAD. OK, I'm not associated, just pleased. The freebie is good, the paid version better. One sets up main 'nodes' (folders) and child 'nodes' underneath. A new RAOGK request gets copied into a new child node in Treepad with a title such as "RA-StavangerLarssen-Aug05", "RA- 1879Shipwreck-Aug05" or sometimes the requestor's name, if it makes an impression on me. RA stands for RAOGK. I also have RW and GF etc. for people I help on those forums (RootsWeb, GenForum). All correspondence from and to the requestor goes chronologically at the top of the page, followed by a row of ######. Beneath that dividing line I paste the letters again and there I rearrange the info in the order which makes sense to me, noting my ideas and questions. There I paste in what I find on Norwegian census, birth and marriage info from familysearch.org etc. I also note what suggestions/URLs I've sent, so as not to send them several times. That includes the suggestion that everyone should volunteer on RAOGK! Below yet another dividing line of \\\\\\\\\\ I note what I've searched for and *not* found. I've found this system better than keeping people in my e-mail program. It's so easy to make quick notes. In the Treepad freebie you can't format text. After I finally paid for it, I can use different size fonts, highlight in color etc. When one "case" reminds me of another, I can usually find the old one quickly. I have even put distant cousins in touch with each other after asking both if it's ok. (And when one person asked me a second time to translate a poem from Norwegian to English, I was able to verify for myself that I'd already translated it for the very same requestor years earlier!) A NEW PROJECT -- DEADLINE The below project appeared in last month's newsletter. September 30th is the last day I will accept any contributions. Our "free for all" mailing list, RAOGK-Chat (http://lists.raogk.org/mailman/listinfo/raogk-chat), has been used at times to pass on favorite recipes. So many, in fact, that the idea to produce a Recipe Book from the "Kitchens of RAOGK Volunteers" came into being. This would be a good medium to pass on favorite recipes and also bring in funds for the website. The book would be sold through our RAOGK shop (http://www.raogk.org/store). Having said that, here are the "rules" to contribute: 1. Permission to reprint anything you send to me: recipe, name, your county and state (Region, Country if out of USA). If sending a little story (please make it short and to the point) regarding this recipe, permission to reprint that as well. 2. I should be able to accept most file formats *ACCEPT* .pdf (acrobat reader files). I don't have the capability to edit those files, just create them. 3. To save me the headache of trying to figure out what type of recipe you have sent, could you please categorize it. For example (but not limited to): Meats Desserts Drinks Salads Will accept any suggestions as to how to layout this book. PLEASE NOTE -- Mail any files along with a note of permission to reprint to recipes@raogk.org (this address accepts attachments w/o a problem, all other addresses are susceptible to being caught in a spam filter). Don't forget to put your permission to reprint when you send your file. DUPLICATION NOTICE If the same or similar requests are sent by the same person to more than one volunteer in the same area, at or near the same time, these are considered duplicate requests. Each day, staff members go through the requests made for the previous day looking for duplicates. Staff members notify the requester when a duplicate is found and the volunteers are copied in that notice. The volunteers need do nothing unless or until they are renotified by the requester that their services are needed. Now if you have your requester hat on, and send a duplicate out, you will still get this message as you are not exempt from following the rules. SEEKING. . . Corporate sponsorship. If anyone knows of a corporation who may want to sponsor our site, please let advise. Thank you. If you would like to contribute to the 'cause,' you may do so by going to http://www.raogk.org/support.html Don't forget to shop at either of our online stores: RAOGK SHOP-- http://www.raogk.org/store Genealogy For You Gifts -- http://www.genealogyforyou.com/shop Many new items have been added. More clothing for kids ! CURRENT STATS Last month: 4565 This month: 4536 New: 87 Left: 65 Staff removals*: 48 August Requests (through August 30, 2005): 7,115 USA volunteers received: 6,303 NON-USA volunteers received: 812 *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. Kudos for June: 116 (http://www.raogk.org/thanks/) The STAFF thanks you for volunteering and until next month. . . . . . . THE STAFF Bridgett, Michele, Bill, Madlyn, Anja, Terri, Nancy, Bobbi and Doc, the Tech Guru