May I ask direct research questions on this forum?

Question

I checked the guidelines but did not find a specific statement regarding this. Also what is a filler question? Thank you

Answer 1

You're always most welcomed to ask direct research questions on here, as long as they're about people or events more than 72 years old. We all hit the same roadblocks with privacy laws on records more recent than that.

As you get to know the people on here, you'll realize most of us have some area of expertise. Some of us are particularly fond of Jewish research in Eastern Europe. Others are well-versed in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada or individual parts of the US. If you don't want to deal with silly answers, then you're always welcomed to email one of us directly for a good question.

People like Shirley T, Ted Pack, Wendy, Holly N and I love doing real research and getting deep into records. A couple of others will just give you generic answers that point you to a variety of websites that may or may not help you. Some never answer the question at all and just try getting points for answering questions. So there's a little bit of caveat emptor with some of the answers you get...just like everything else in genealogy.

Answer 2

hi and welcome... I don't know what a filler question is. No help there.
I might explain a bit... this isn't the same as most 'forums' out there. It's a cross between a game show for points, and asking a question. Unlike most boards, your question will 'close' to further replies in a few days (you can extend for a few more days). When it closes, there are no new answers. YOU can close it before then... you have the option to pick your best answer. We honestly prefer that, since it is clear you know what helped you. If you don't chose, it goes to voting,and often that is unreliable. It's really more satisfying if the really best answer gets the 10 pts.
We "compete" to help you, hopefully in friendly fashion. The downside is that it is a very generic place, and you won't have someone expert, say, in Alabama records. Your question will NOT remain "posted" as it would somewhere like genforum. You can go through the resolved questions. As anywhere, you get the most help by including name/date/location, even if estimated.
More 'direct' questions can be more fun for us... it makes for variety.
Hope to see you often.

Answer 3

Yes. Now this is an All English Speaking Board. People on it are from the U.S. U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Therefore you can get better answers if you
identify the country and if in the U.S., the state. Just don't put information about living people on it orexpect to find living people by making an inquiry.

Actually, people on this board look forward to good research questions. We get so many from silly nitwit girls asking what name sounds good with such and such name, or kids that have someone put a camera almost on top of their face and they send the picture to us asking, "What's my ethnicity?"

Also if a person ask a question from the Home Screen of Yahoo Q & A, Yahoo's system picks out the category. Because of that we get questions that don't pertain to genealogy. They can change it before it is submitted but if they are new they might not notice that. All questions fall on the Home Screen also, therefore, expect to get some silly answers from kids just having fun.