Link backlog is shrinking

I just finished all the new link submissions from 2003. And Michele and I are putting a big dent in 2004 right now. The backlog has shrunk from over 10,400 to less than 9,400 links now. Going through the backlog we first weed out the broken links and sites that no longer exist. Those, along with duplicate submissions sent by visitors, account for approximately 10 to 15% of the backlog that is currently on the What's New pages.

Server problems today

Well, the CyndisList.com server was down for a while today. Why does it always happen when I'm away from my computer? A girl has to sleep, eat, or play with the kid and the dogs sometimes too. Only one friend e-mailed to tell me the site was down. I can only assume the rest of you have a life away from the computer during the summer. Good for you! Some days I feel like this laptop is a ball and chain. I have about 50 e-mails waiting for me to reply (I get about 200 each day), with at least two of them being e-mails I should have answered a week ago. Sigh.

Back to the links...Cyndi

I Should Be a Rocket Surgeon

I just noticed that my Your Research Workbook post on July 10th had no comments. I looked into it and found that the options for comments on that post were turned off. So, despite the fact that I asked you all for your comments about what you use for a research workbook, I didn't allow any of you to respond. I'm brilliant! Sorry about that. It is fixed now, so comment away.

Spelling Conundrum

I'm working on new links today (duh). Once again I have run across a web site with "geneaology" in the title. I often find misspellings in the title of a web site, or within the description. Obviously, those are the two spots I focus on most when I'm setting up a new link. When I find "geneology" or "geneaology" or "ancestory" I find myself with a conundrum.

Do I e-mail the owner and tell them that they've misspelled the word? That would be the nice and polite thing to do. But the next question that I ask myself is this: if they misspell the name of our hobby what other errors might appear within the information on their site? It seems logical to me that someone who makes that spelling error would also make other errors. They may not be careful with details. They might not be as thorough in the research as they should be. So, if I don't tell them about the spelling error and I set up the link as they titled their own site or with the description as they wrote it—spelling errors and all—I leave a clue in the link to people who will visit the web site.

When you visit a site with these misspellings in place you should think twice about the data you find on the site. Use the information as a clue, but don't rely on it to be 100% accurate. Of course, you really shouldn't rely on any information as 100% accurate until you get to the original source of the material, whether there are spelling errors or not.

So, if you find a link with misspelled words on Cyndi's List, don't immediately think that it was an error on my part. First, follow the link and visit the site to see if maybe the misspellings were found there originally. If the errors aren't on the site, then be sure to let me know and I'll fix my links.