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Suggestions for Query Posts in Genealogy Forums
By Avery Parker
After having hosted forums for North Carolina Genealogy Queries and South Carolina Genealogy Queries, as well as years of visiting Family History Query forums on the web, I've found that many people could use a few helpful suggestions to make their Queries more visible, and useful. The choice of a forum to place a query is probably a good first step. If the board has seperate rooms for each county and your query is about someone that you are certain of the county they came from, it will help if you do place it in that place. If however, your ancestor traveled through several counties or the county was unkown, then look for a statewide forum. After you choose the appropriate forum for your post you need to focus on a good title. The title of your post is going to be key to other people spotting and participating. You might not want to be as vague as "Joe Smith" for your title, or "Smith Family". You would probably want to provide a bit more information - "Joe Smith b. 1789 md. Nancy Jones" for instance is a way to get more detail into the title. Another example would be "Frank Smith family - late 1790s" Certainly there have been countless Frank Smith families, but narrowing it to a time frame or including a spouse, or township name can help to narrow it down. Use the content of your query post to reinforce what you have started in the title and give more information. Try for more in the content than simply "looking for information". Tell everything that you know about the person you've posted a query for. Restate the information from the title and provide as much detail as you have. I know it's the same age old genealogy quandary of needing to know information to get information, but I'm sure you at least know something about either a parent or child of the individual you're searching for, so include that information in your post. Newer forums give the ability to "Tag" posts. This is a way of assigning the keywords you (or other forum users) think are most important to the forum discussion. So, to use our above example. Frank Smith would be a good tag or Smith or Smith Family, even "late 1790's" or 1790s could be good tags. Frank probably wouldn't be a great tag unless this forum was ONLY about people with the last name Smith. If you structure your query posts the right way you'll be surprised at the kind of response you get. Be certain to check back in the forums for any responses to your queries as not all forums mail you when you have an answer. That much said, as a final though it is a good idea to leave a good way for response. Either having your email address on file with the forum, or checking back frequently are good ways to make sure you'll see the answers to the queries you've posted. |
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May, 2012
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