Arturo,

You are welcome, it is always my pleasure to help out and because I am self taught on the computer, most everything I have learned is by trial and error and believe me there has been much error but every mistake I make allows me to learn something new. If I didn't take the risk and try something, I would not learn something new.

I receive so much from the wonderful people in this group that feels like family that I can't help but give something back whenever I have the opportunity.

Isn't it amazing how each one of us came to do our research. We collectively could probably write a book on how to do research in Mexico and each of us could include our personal experience and a little about our journey, our musings, how we listen to our ancestors as they try and guide us. Just another one of my crazy dreams.

Alicia

----- Original Message ----
From: arturoramos
To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 7:25:26 AM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Thank You Alicia

Alicia:

Thank you for sharing your experience with genealogy software and more importantly your analogy of such software and storage in one's home. It is a very vivid and valid analogy.

Just to share another story, this is how I got started with genealogy. My father asked me to help him organize information that he had so he could create a chart of some sort for a family reunion... if I had only known what I was getting into when I volunteered for the task and downloaded PAF...

My only mistake was to start entering names as quickly as possible without entering appropriate source information and details as to conjectures I was making along the way when the source documents did not explicitly state a relationship... Now it has become a real headache to fix what could have been done right from the onset with very little additional efforts. So my advice to anyone starting out is to document everything... PAF and other software has places to put notes and sources and these should be used extensively. You will thank yourself a few years down the line, not to mention that generations after you will thank you profusely as they review your work.