compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber
February 2011
February 2011
"Dear Ms.? Mr.? Mrs? Jblow@heavenknowswhere.com,
It was lovely to receive another extensive e-mail from you with data on your family. I was especially delighted that you shared pictures of your great grandparents which were nicely identified.
I would love to catalog all your information in my collection. I am sure future generations will enjoy reading your stories about your family. Sadly I do not have proper source information to create a citation before filing your material without some reference points about you, the author.
It is certainly understandable that you are concerned about privacy issues. However in this day and age not only do physical telephone books carry your name and telephone but any number of on-line databases and maps track where we reside.
Let me assure you that when your descendants read your genealogical material they are not going to recognize your coded email address. The average person now has three and sometimes more e-mail addresses at any given time.
While I realize I am from an older generation, business classes still teach the elements of a good letter. E-mail is, after all, a letter. While the e-mail format generates a date, subject and each parties e-mail it is still up to us to use the elements of a good letter.
Understand I am not nosey nor a stalker, I am a genealogist who likes to be able to not only learn about your ancestors but to be able to archive and share the documented evidence for future generations.
It would be so nice to be able to address you by your proper name in our next correspondence. I worry that if you change service I will be unable to contact you to share newly discovered genealogical gems in the future.
You took a lot of time and effort to write to me and I wish to sincerely thank you for that. Please take credit, where credit is due for what you have written. I promise to give you credit as well.
Yours in Genealogy,
Teresa Martin Klaiber
Rush, Boyd County, KY 41168
It was lovely to receive another extensive e-mail from you with data on your family. I was especially delighted that you shared pictures of your great grandparents which were nicely identified.
I would love to catalog all your information in my collection. I am sure future generations will enjoy reading your stories about your family. Sadly I do not have proper source information to create a citation before filing your material without some reference points about you, the author.
It is certainly understandable that you are concerned about privacy issues. However in this day and age not only do physical telephone books carry your name and telephone but any number of on-line databases and maps track where we reside.
Let me assure you that when your descendants read your genealogical material they are not going to recognize your coded email address. The average person now has three and sometimes more e-mail addresses at any given time.
While I realize I am from an older generation, business classes still teach the elements of a good letter. E-mail is, after all, a letter. While the e-mail format generates a date, subject and each parties e-mail it is still up to us to use the elements of a good letter.
Understand I am not nosey nor a stalker, I am a genealogist who likes to be able to not only learn about your ancestors but to be able to archive and share the documented evidence for future generations.
It would be so nice to be able to address you by your proper name in our next correspondence. I worry that if you change service I will be unable to contact you to share newly discovered genealogical gems in the future.
You took a lot of time and effort to write to me and I wish to sincerely thank you for that. Please take credit, where credit is due for what you have written. I promise to give you credit as well.
Yours in Genealogy,
Teresa Martin Klaiber
Rush, Boyd County, KY 41168
