Where is Børge Solem
NancyC	I have been trying to get a reaction from Børge Solem for a long time. I wrote to him a year or so ago, and I have recently left two messages on the Transcribing Passenger Lists Forum. I see Børge is active in this forum, so I was wondering if he could take a look at my request for corrections on the ship list http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_list.asp?jo=339 which he transcribed in 2000. In addition to the correction of the farm name which I have posted recently, there are some other corrections as to the ages of people in my family who were on the Christiane. I will get back to whoever with these if I receive a reply. Thanks!
Jo Anne Sadler	Børge Solem is extremely busy running this website, writing articles, transcribing passenger lists, thats where he is[xx(]. If you had noticed, at the bottom of the passenger list there is a link to add additional information or comments. The lists are transcribed as they are written on the original record. If you have additional comments or remarks then send them in at the bottom link, they will be put in as "remarks", not correcting the original record which must stand as the original record. All us transcribers can do is transcribe the list as best as can be done given the circumstances, ie: 19th century handwriting, sloppy handwriting, inconsistent handwriting, poor copies, etc. I heartily recommend you transcribe a few lists and see how difficult it can be. If you are basing your information on farm books, they are extremely inaccurate at time, spellings change, even vital records, especially death certificates are not always accurate. Your ancestor quite possibly gave his name as this spelling, names were not important until the turn of the 20th century. And if you are going to send in "corrections", you should state your sources.
Borge	Here I am! I apologize for not following up on your mail about the passengers on the Christiane in 1850. I did not see your posting to the "Transcribing Passenger Lists Forum" before now. The letter from July 2003 has now been recovered from the pile of "things to do". However, maybe you could use the new feature I added to the lists, explained by Jo Anne, which will let you add the information without being dependent on me. [:I] I do confess that running the Norway-Heritage web site has turned out to bee very time consuming. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that it could be a full time job for at least 2 persons. However, Trond and I try to maintain the service with the help of some great friends, but we could need some more hands here. Any volunteers? So why do people want to get involved in such a project? - A few weeks ago I was talking to an old friend. He asked me, "Børge, why do you keep spending such a great deal of your time and money just to maintain that web site? You don't get anything back from it". What he did not understand is that it is a "labor of love", and I make great friends through it. I think I'll keep it going for a while longer. However, my family and job has to come in the first and second place, and at least my family thinks I am spending more time on the web site than on them, so I have to take some time off. I hope you will all bear over with me for forgetting to follow up on your contributions, which are really very much appreciated and important for the project. Please, if you think I have failed to follow up on any of your contributions, feel free to e-mail me with a reminder whenever you find it appropriate.
NancyC	Thanks for both replies! I'm not criticizing you, Børge, or anyone else who contributes to this site. You do a wonderful job on this Web site, and it is a fantastic resource. You are always so quick to reply, so I really wondered if something had happened to you. I'm glad you are "only" overworked. I'll try to follow the routine described above. I was following the instructions at the bottom of the passenger list itself, both when I sent you the letter and in my posting. Thanks again!
NancyC	As to the sources I have for my family, I am convinced these are as accurate as they come. Also, it is quite understandable to confuse the spelling of -rud with -rind, especially when trying to transcribe it from a handwritten document displaying poor or oldfashioned penmanship. However, -rind is much less likely as the final part of a Norwegian farm name than -rud, so this should also be an argument for taking a closer look at the farm names that end -rind on this and perhaps other lists. I did originally send sources to Børge Solem by snail mail. However, that was about 2 years ago, so I don't remember what I sent him. If there is a chance of getting these names corrected, I can certainly send the documentation. I know that correcting these entries would be a drop in the bucket, but since these lists are so widely available, every drop in the bucket should count! Again, keep up the good work! I will be happy to volunteer at some point, but I may have to wait until I retire!
Borge	I will look into the name matter this weekend, and consider is the names should be changed. I have the letter you sent me in July 2003 and I hope you could add the additional info by using the new feature. If not, let me know and I will add it. The reason I added the feature for posting additional info was that it became quite some job to maintain it when I had to administrate it.