WHO WE ARE

As many have already discovered, apart from being THE happening place to hang out in the genie world, [DPS-CHAT] and the Perth DPS is FREE of any charges. We've been running in our current format since September 1997 and automatic Perth DPS membership is extended to ALL [DPS-CHAT] subscribers.

We provide a forum for genies (new and old ... in both years and experience) to come together on the 'net and share their triumphs and tragedies (often only another genie will understand) and provide help with genie and computing problems.

Back in our formative years in 1994, long before the internet was a viable option and when computer Bulletin Boards were all the go, we found it helpful to provide on the spot training, help and guidance at monthly house meetings.

These days we hold meetings at my place in Nollamara, a Perth suburb to the north of the Swan River, and in Erica Hills' home in Bibra Lake to the south of the river.

'IN-THE-FLESH' MEETINGS

Meetings are held on a Saturday afternoon at my place and a Sunday afternoon at Erica's and we hold them about every 6 weeks. We provide tea, coffee and bikkies free of charge and chatterers are encouraged to bring along genie books, fiche and CDs for others to use at the meetings.

There are always plenty of brains to pick and many lasting friendships have been made. Because of that, if problems do arise, then there's usually a fellow chatterer who's not too far away or who's willing to help over the phone.

Obviously, we meet VIRTUALLY in cyber-space every day with our far-flung chatterers in country WA, the eastern States of Australia and overseas in New Zealand, the USofA, Canada, England AND anywhere else that they may appear from.

There've been many instances where far-flung chatterers have paid us a visit here in Perth and we always try and organise a meeting to fit in with their itinerary. Judy Decker from the US has been our most distant visitor to date but many country and interstate chatterers have taken up the challenge.

PUTTING FACES TO NAMES

Many others have helped us put a face to their name by PRIVATELY sending a piccie (up close and personal-style) to Erica Hills so it could be added to our growing Perth DPS Rogues Gallery.

For a visual feel for what we're about, check out our Erica's handiwork at:

To join the list (free of charge of course), subscription details can be found at:

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PIONEERS

To get information added to our Western Australian 'Pioneers' pages, info needs to be submitted to PRIVATELY to Christine Uphill. The pioneers pages do have a special submission form for that purpose:

RESEARCH INTERESTS

To get your research interests added to the Perth DPS site you need to read the following guidelines.

All DPS-CHAT subscribers' e-dresses are mentioned on the Perth DPS MEMBERS page. A link can also be added to their own genie webpages or to their own personalised page housed in the Perth DPS research interests area.

Details need to be sent PRIVATELY to me, Rob Nelson, and I'll knock up the page for you.

I don't cater for individual christian names but do allow for the occurence of the same surname in various localities over various time frames. The same applies to variations in spelling.

You are welcome to submit an introductory paragraph or two in which you can highlight your special research interests.

After you've worked through the following screed, have a look at pages from Ken Stewart & Michele Hanson by clicking on [MEMBERS] on the Perth DPS web site (http://www.perthdps.com/) and scrolling down till you find their names. Then click on [RESEARCH] and it should bring up their personalised web-pages which have examples of the use of an introductory paragraph.

You can also add the URL for your own page to your signature file after I've built it like I do:

Research Names:
http://www.perthdps.com/research/nel01.html

The file size is no problem but please try and send it in a similar manner to those already on-line and either add it to the text of an email or send me an excel or word-type attachment.

The site is registered with several search engines and many of our inquirers visit the site after entering a surname of interest into their search engine.

Because of the amount of work involved in editing them to match the interests listed by other members, please submit your lists in the following format:

• SURNAMES are required in upper case
• COUNTY and COUNTRY names MUST be submitted in Chapman Code
• DATES can be prefixed by the terms pre, aft, cir, or can include a date range

The list needs to be in alphabetical order.

If you have alternative spellings for a surname, they need to be listed separately as most people using search engines will not be looking for entries like SM(I)(Y)TH.

The same thing applies to "SMITH, NSW, ACT, QLD, AUS". This needs to be submitted as three entries - one for each state. The only exception to this would be SMITH, -All-, AUS, -All-.

Don't forget to include your e-mail address. Submit your genie homepage details if you have one and it will be added to the Perth DPS members directory.

If in doubt, check out existing submissions by clicking [MEMBERS] on the Perth DPS web site (http://www.perthdps.com/) and then selecting a name and clicking on [RESEARCH] to bring up a personalised web-page of another Perth DPS member.

• ENJOY your participation in [DPS-CHAT] and happy hunting!