"researching anybody who has ever lived in a particular place"
For the life of me, I can't see what's wrong with that. Why can't someone focus on a place rather than a family? People have different interests, for goodness sake.
We are not saying there is anything wrong with there hobby - so are you saying that they should get all their census and other information free of charge by using volunteers time and subscriptions/spare credits to the various genealogy websites. ? Also getting a volume of photos restored or coloured FOC ?
Sandra
I agree with Erato's comments. In this example, I see no harm whatsoever.
Sandra, your concerns should also apply to anyone who requests any lookups, where the information is obtained from pay sites. I don't see the difference between being given information from pay sites for someone researching their own family history, and someone being given information about people within a village from the same sources.
I, too, don't understand the difference between asking for information about a place or a family.
If you subscribe to a pay-site (I subscribe to both FindMyPast and Ancestry), and somebody asks for a look-up, you have a free choice whether to subsidise their hobby or not. If I have the time, and the question seems interesting, I do so. If someone makes multiple requests and I think "buy a subscription", then I don't. We all make individual choices.
Of the other examples of "hobbyists" listed, there seem to be easy answers.
1. Those of you who use other forums, and spot people passing RC research off as their own - call them out, both here and there.
2. If someone wants a whole album of photos restoring, and they don't say thank you - don't do it. There are people (now gone) who I stopped doing restores for, for this reason.
3. If you suspect someone is a professional researcher, saving time and money - report to moderator.
Mike
