Saturday, May 12, 2007

SCGS Surname List - open to all

The Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) has invited all researchers to add their family surnames to the SCGS Virtual Surname Wall. This feature will be unveiled at the 38th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, June 8-10 in Burbank, CA.

Paula Hinkel, President of SCGS, posted notes on a number of Rootsweb mailing lists - see it on the San Diego County list here. It has details about the Virtual Surname Wall, the process to submit names, etc. Go to http://www.surveyconsole.com/console/TakeSurvey?id=343277 to submit your names.

This is a very worthwhile thing to do for a researcher. While you are limited to 10 surnames, you can choose wisely - if you have brick wall ancestors, you might choose them just in case someone else is also searching for that person or surname. Or if you have an ongoing one-name study, you could choose that surname if you want people to contribute to it.

I will contribute my 10 surnames soon - and then I will check back occasionally to see how many and which surnames are on the Virtual Surname Wall.

Many genealogy societies have surname lists like this in online databases or on 3x5 cards in a repository. Then there is the "big daddy" of all surname lists - The Rootsweb Surname List - at http://rsl.rootsweb.com/. Have you contributed your surnames to this list? Anyone can do it!

Have you ever used the Rootsweb Surname List to find other researchers looking for your surnames of interest? If not, you should - and may be surprised to find a distant cousin or two looking for you. Try it at http://rsl.rootsweb.com/!

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