(12/1/03) The December Meeting of the Advisory Board of The USGenWeb Project was called to order by National Coordinator Isaiah Harrison.

(11/20/03) By general consent, the minutes of the November 2003 meeting of the Advisory Board were approved as corrected.

(12-2-03) NE/NC CC Representative Jan Cortez presented the following motion:

"I would move that the USGW Project accept the USGenWeb Census Project, located at www.us-census.org as its official Census project. "

The motion was numbered 03-26. Discussion ensued.

The motion failed with no "yes" votes, 7 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 5 members not voting. (12-20-03)

Those voting YES: none

Those voting NO: Cyndie Enfinger, Shari Handley, Teri Brown, Don Kelly, Darilee Bednar, Phyllis Rippee and Bettie Wood

Those abstaining: none

Those not voting: Pam Reid, Richard Howland, Jan Cortez, Christine Goff and Denise Woodside

Additional Comments:

Gail Meyer Kilgore, Linda Blum-Barton, and Larry Flesher voted no after the results had been announced.

(12/12/03) SW/SC CC Representative Phyllis Rippee presented the following motion:

"I move to disband the MNIGS Committee."

The motion was numbered 03-27. Discussion ensued.

The motion passed with 10 "yes" votes, no "no" votes, no abstentions, and 5 members not voting. (12/14/03)

Those voting YES: Cyndie Enfinger, Pam Reid, Shari Handley, Teri Brown, Don Kelly, Gail Meyer Kilgore, Linda Blum-Barton, Larry Flesher, Phyllis Rippee and Bettie Wood

Those voting NO: none

Those abstaining: none

Those not voting: Richard Howland, Jan Cortez, Darilee Bednar, Christine Goff and Denise Woodside

Additional Comments:

None.

(12/14/03) SW/SC SC Representative Larry Flesher presented the following motion:

"I move that the Family Group Sheet Project be approved as a Special Project of the USGenWeb Project."

The motion was numbered 03-28. There was no discussion.

The motion passed with 10 "yes" votes, 1 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 3 members not voting. (12/17/03)

Those voting YES: Cyndie Enfinger, Shari Handley, Teri Brown, Jan Cortez, Don Kelly, Darilee Bednar, Gail Meyer Kilgore, Linda Blum-Barton, Larry Flesher and Bettie Wood

Those voting NO: Phyllis Rippee

Those abstaining: none

Those not voting: Richard Howland, Christine Goff and Denise Woodside

Additional Comments:

Pam Reid voted yes after the results had been announced.

(12/17/03) SW/SC CC Representative Bettie Wood presented the following motion:

"I move that the slate of replacement members submitted by Ellen Pack be approved. "

The motion was numbered 03-29. There was no discussion.

The motion passed with 10 "yes" votes, no "no" votes, no abstentions, and 4 members not voting. (12/19/03)

Those voting YES: Cyndie Enfinger, Shari Handley, Teri Brown, Don Kelly, Darilee Bednar, Gail Meyer Kilgore, Linda Blum-Barton, Larry Flesher, Phyllis Rippee and Bettie Wood

Those voting NO: none

Those abstaining: none

Those not voting: Richard Howland, Jan Cortez, Christine Goff and Denise Woodside

Additional Comments:

Pam Reid voted yes after the results had been announced.

(12/13/03) National Coordinator Isaiah Harrison posted the following correspondence:

To Mr. NC & AB Members,
The following is our report for the Family Group Sheet Project that was started in July of this year.

We now have 16 volunteers, all of whom are now USGW Project members, & we have volunteers who are waiting on a state to become adoptable..I would like to extend a big heartfelt thank you to all the temporary volunteers that took their time to lend us a hand & get some states set up. You all are very much appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since July, we have added some items, here are a few:
1) A mail list--this is to ask questions, make suggestions, etc.
2) Guidelines (& guiding lines for states): http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/guide.html
3) A search engine on our main page (searches over 8500 pages)
4) A volunteer help page: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/louisianaHelp.html
5) Due to many requests, we added an International section

While we can't force documentation, a volunteer created a page "How to Create a Well Documented Group Sheet": http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/newmexico/sources.htm
Also, while we cannot verify the accuracy of the information submitted, we do recommend quoting sources, & giving documentation. We also encourage visitors to consult the original material for verification. The CC is not left out & has the opportunity to include family group sheets on their web sites. The submitter receives a copy of their family group sheet submissions, if they submit them electronically. Since the family group sheet belongs to the submitter & they hold the copyright, they can send this copy to another state, a CC, keep a copy for future corrections, etc. If the CC chooses to do so, they can set up a page similar to this: =http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~garichmo/families.html (idea & design thought up by Jeanne Arguelles, a GA CC). If the CC doesn't receive the individual family group sheets for their county or counties, they can use the search engine for the state, & link to the family group sheets using the same format above.

Our states are encouraged to set up pages for the counties like this: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/georgia/counties.html. If any CC has a FGS project going for their county, it can be linked as these counties are (I use GA for an example): http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/georgia/counties.html

As of 12 DEC 2003, there were 28,647 visits on our home page (up from 11,739 in our AUG report) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usfgs/

These are now state projects & are under their state guidelines, etc. Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, & Texas (& at least one state not yet approved to become a state project)

Here is the breakdown of each state
Alabama--523 fgs with 19,488 visits
Alaska--1 fgs with 134 visits
Arizona--22 fgs with 1910 visits
Arkansas--658 fgs with 7883 visits
California--114 fgs with 2402 visits
Colorado--44 fgs with 998 visits
Connecticut--6 fgs with 90 visits
Delaware--20 fgs with 4,105 visits
District of Columbia--2 fgs with 131 visits
Florida--127 fgs with 1,465 visits
Georgia--1,744 fgs with 71,835 visits
Hawaii--0 fgs with 94 visits
Idaho--28 fgs with 1,041 visits
Illinois--229 fgs with 2,749 visits
Indiana--56 fgs with 475 visits
International--32 fgs with 622 visits
Iowa--Over 1,000 fgs with 18,022 visits
Kansas--635 fgs with 8,683 visits
Kentucky--118 fgs with 4042 visits
Louisiana--140 fgs with 2,585 visits
Maine--26 fgs with 863 visits
Maryland--734 fgs with unknown # visits
Massachusetts--72 fgs with 1,017
Michigan--568 fgs with 145 visits
Minnesota--160 fgs with 2,083 visits
Mississippi--77 fgs with 5,803 visits
Missouri--229 fgs with 3,644 visits
Montana--10 fgs with 254 visits
Nebraska--81 fgs with 663 visits
Nevada--33 fgs with 589 visits
New Hampshire--25 fgs with 584 visits
New Jersey--35 fgs with 325 visits
New Mexico--130 fgs with 1,829 visits
New York--25 fgs with 625 visits
North Carolina--75 fgs with 2,230 visits
North Dakota--97 fgs with 667 visits
Ohio--378 fgs with 4,645 visits
Oklahoma--198 fgs with 9,139 visits
Oregon--43 fgs with 626 visits
Pennsylvania--117 fgs with 7,114 visits
Rhode Island--5 fgs with 4,106 visits
South Carolina--75 fgs with 5,331 visits
South Dakota--53 fgs with 820 visits
Tennessee--201 fgs with 2,986 visits
Texas--over 1,300 fgs with 38,380 visits
Utah--21 fgs with 1,754 visits
Vermont--57 fgs with 2,211 visits
Virginia--35 fgs with 4,375 visits
Washington--13 fgs with 4,107 visits
West Virginia--184 fgs with 1,586 visits
Wisconsin--125 fgs with 1,376 visits
Wyoming--3 fgs with 158 visits

As I'm sure you all know, family group sheets have been used for numerous years to aid in genealogical research. It shows the whole family unit, sometimes aids in the tracking of the family from county to county or state to state, & sometimes will lead to other contacts that have more information than you do. These are usually done on paper,but with computers becoming so popular, it is great to do them by computer also. Most of us have made many connections through a family group sheet. Family group sheets, just as our county web sites, are a secondary resource, but they can offer clues to a primary resource that can in turn be documented in our personal files We wish to actively support USGW Project researcher's efforts to find information on their ancestors by offering the FGS Project as a special project. Please vote yes.

Thank you
Bettie Wood

(12/14/03) National Coordinator Isaiah Harrison :

TO: USGenWeb Advisory Board
FROM: USGenWeb Election Committee
DATE: December 11, 2003
SUBJECT: Confirmation Request for Replacement EC Members

Per Election Committee procedures, the EC respectfully submits the following Slate of prospective replacement EC Members for your approval/disapproval.

Should the AB approve of the submitted Slate, the EC requests immediate seating of both new Members in order to allow time for training.

- OneYear Replacement Term
Northeast North Central Region
Term: Jan 1, 2004 - Dec 31, 2004 Mike St. Clair
Qualifying Positions:
County Coordinator Taney County Missouri http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~motaney/taney.htm
To replace R. Marie Mickalunas who resigned due to a personal situation.

- One Year Replacement Term
SouthWest/South Central Region
Term: Jan 1, 2004 - Dec 31, 2004
Shirley Cullum
Qualifying Positions:
County Coordinator Brooks County, TX www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txbrooks
County Coordinator Orange County, TX www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txorange
To Replace Bettie Wood who will be resigning at the end of the year due to her position on the Advisory Board.

The EC regrets that since the first replacement Call in September there have been no volunteers for a vacant Archives seat, Term: Jan 1, 2004 -31 December 2005. That seat remains open, and will have to be covered by other EC Members.

The Election Committee appreciates the Advisory Board's consideration on this matter, and will be happy to answer any questions.

Respectfully submitted,
The USGenWeb Election Committee

(q2/20/03) The December session of the Advisory Board of The USGenWeb Project was adjourned with the intention of reconvening on Monday, January 5.