Carping

[suttontrust]

  I'm complaining again - nothing new there.  And I'm not carping about anyone on Rootschat.  But I find now that when I contact someone who reckons to have genealogical information, they always assume that they're talking to a complete novice and give me a lecture on how to use sources etc.  That might have been appropriate once, but there are more and more of us who have some experience and knowledge.  And we feel patronised.  Okay, I'm grateful for the information if I get it, but we all ought to be a bit more careful about the assumptions we make.

[philipsearching]

Hallo, Suttontrust

If a contact starts off with wrong assumptions it can be difficult to correct them without causing friction.  Obviously it would be better all round to get things off to a good start.  Maybe when you contact someone you could begin by briefly giving your  credentials - how much research you have already done and where the gap is.  This would show that you know what you are doing.

I admit this advice is a case of "do as I say, not as I do" - I am guilty of making assumptions both as seeker and provider and I am still learning from my (many!) mistakes.

Good luck
Philip

[wheeldon]

I know what you mean Suttontrust as I think sometimes I am  guilty of this.  I mean no offense as I'm just trying to be helpfull and I do try and put some feelers out first.

If someone hadn't pointed out the now obvious to me, such as LDS, I would have been forever in the dark - I thought he was trying to convert me at first 

I know you aren't commenting on RC but I do think the star system can be very mis-leading - I earnt mine from asking hundreds of questions, not by giving hundreds of people advice 

[kerryb]

This is something which bugs me a little too from a different slant. 

I put my surname interests on my local family history society website which I was thought was because I was looking but I have had 3 emails from people who obviously think I am expert with all the information on those surnames.  Some of the questions I get asked   It's like the stars, just because I put a certain surname on the website doesn't mean I have loads of info on it, just like yes I have over 3000 stars but I'm not an expert. 

I asked a daft question only this week that I didn't know but an expert would!

Kerry

Kerry