FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
And Myths Dispelled
About the Kaufman Co., TXGenWeb Project site
- Q: Does it cost anything to join the Kaufman County, TX mailing list at RootsWeb?
A: No, you may join as many mailing lists on RootsWeb as you would like without charge.- I sent a message to TXKAUFMA-D-request@rootsweb.com. Why wasn't it sent to the mailing list?
A: The computer at that address handles requests for subscribing or unsubscribing to the mailing list in digest mode; it will not send any messages it receives to the mailing list. To post a message to the mailing list (regardless if you are subscribed in mail mode or digest mode), send it to TXKAUFMA-L@rootsweb.com- Q: I would like to know if someone knows anything about my Kaufman County ancestors?
A: The way to find out is to visit the search page to see if any information on your surnames shows up in any of the search options. Be sure to check to see if anyone else has posted a query or information on your ancestors on the Message board at RootsWeb, post a query of your own to the Kaufman County Message board, check the mailing list archives to see if someone else who posted a message is also researching your familiy, and/or send a message of your own to the Kaufman County mailing list (after subscribing to it first). You may also ask for a look-up.- Q: With the internet, isn't collecting information from websites and information that others give me research?
A: Not necessarily. The person who did the research was the person who made the information available to you. You should give credit to anyone who helped you obtain information, just like you would note which book or other source information was found in This includes look-ups, information others passed on to you via e-mail, information you collected from a website, etc. When someone does a look-up for you, you should give them credit for doing so.- Q: Shouldn't I expect to find the information I need to research my family already on the internet (or this website)?
A: The information doesn't just magically appear although it may seem like that's what happens. Volunteers, including other visitors to the website, put work into gathering the information, typing it up, etc. and then sending it to the Coordinator. The Coordinator then has to further organize, format and upload it. The purpose of this site is to help researchers have a better chance of finding the information they are looking for and to provide a means by which you can conveniently meet others who may have information on your family or perhaps are even related to you. Although, this is a wonderful resource, this does not mean that everything you're looking for is now or will ever be posted on the internet. If you want to get as much information on your family as possible without doing the research, you should consider hiring a professional genealogist.- Q: Aren't all of the USGenWeb county Coordinators professional genealogists who know everything there is to know about everyone who ever lived in that county?
A: No, the knowledge and resources that a Coordinator has varies widely throughout the USGenWeb Project. The USGenWeb Project is a group of volunteers who share the common goal of helping to provide genealogical information on the internet for every county in the United States for free. The level of expertise that each of the volunteers has differs from individual to individual.- Q: Isn't the USGenWeb Project part of RootsWeb.com or Ancestry.com?
A: No, the USGenWeb Project is separate from RootsWeb.com and Ancestry.com. Originally RootsWeb provided free ad-free webspace for the Project. Rootsweb decided to sell out to Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com now provides webspace but adds a banner along the top of each page that resides on their server. That is the extent of what Ancestry.com offers the volunteers of the USGenWeb Project.