The response to the Unclaimed Persons project has been extraordinary. In the first two days of being an active group on Facebook, group members have solved two cases that had been sitting unsolved for years. If you'd like to participate, you can check out the Unclaimed Person's group for more information. We post our new cases on the Discussion Board in Facebook, where volunteers are free to collaborate with one another as they research these mysteries.
To make sure the process flows as smoothly as possible, our group members have helped us brainstorm a few guidelines for working with the project:
1. We'll create a separate discussion board topic for each case, titled with the case number and the name of the deceased. Please post all research findings here and not as comments on the case-related photos or The Wall. Hopefully, this will help us avoid duplicating efforts.
2. If you'd like to email Megan or other Unclaimed Persons administrators about a case, please use the email address at unclaimedpersons@rootstelevision.com This will help us make sure your questions and/or tips don't get buried in our inboxes.
3. Please do not post contact details and other private information about living persons, such as likely next of kin, in the public forum. Once you have those details, email them to unclaimedpersons@rootstelevision.com
4. Please do NOT contact coroner's offices directly, unless it's specified in a case that they have requested this. We're not trying to be control freaks here, but several coroner's offices have requested that we act as a point of contact and forward them the compiled information. We want to make sure that we don't overwhelm them with our enthusiasm!
5. NEVER contact possible relatives. Instead, provide the information to the relevant coroner's office via this Facebook site and/or unclaimedpersons@rootstelevision.com
All researchers are welcome. Even if you're new to genealogy, this might be a perfect place for you to see top researchers at work and learn a few tips and tricks.
Og from RootsTelevision.com
Comments (1)
The Unclaimed Persons group at Facebook.com is great. May I suggest a similar undertaking for lost ancestors? My grandfather went missing in the 1920s. I know where he was born, married, and lived, his parents, his spouse, and his children. What I don't know is where he died and is buried, and all my efforts to determine this have been unrewarded. How great it would be if other genealogists would like to tackle this mystery, similar to how they are now solving the mysteries of the unclaimed persons.
I am sure there are many other persons with lost ancestors who also would welcome the help of anyone who wanted to work on their family mystery. This would be a great service that RootsTelevision.com could promote and organize.
Thanks.
Posted by Bev | June 12, 2008 7:36 PM
Posted on June 12, 2008 19:36