Bonnie,

Yes, I have used it almost since its inception. It is a forum where discussion is carried out in Russian. They do have a section devoted to those who want to post a query in a different language. I have posted in whatever section is appropriate to the topic and utilizing Google Translate, I translate the posting into Russian and post that with the English language query. This forum is particularly interesting since you'll find many users in Russia with significant experience working with the various Russian archives. I have posted queries of late from the 1765 Vilna Revision List and although that RL is in Polish, I have been given translations by very helpful forum members.

The forum maintains a library of very useful Russian language resources and does have a database. This database is unlike what Genners are used to, as this forum does not focus on posting record transcriptions but rather guides one to various resources. This is accomplished by listing contents of various inventory books held in the various archives. There is also a cemetery database . Overall, it is quite worthwhile to have this forum available for use in furthering our research. It just takes a bit of work to post appropriately by incorporating Russian language queries along with your native language posting. You can upload images with your posts for translation and you can even hire a researcher through the site. As an example, I know one of the founders of the forum who, besides being a university professor, also conducts research professionally for clients. He travels regularly to the archives in Vilnius and Minsk to conduct research.

All told, the jroots forum can be a worthwhile resource added to ones toolbox, especially in light of the fact they discuss holdings of archives not dealt with here...archives of SPB, Moscow and beyond. This is in addition to all the territories of the Pale of Settlement and any country where Russians have migrated.

Joel Ratner
Newton, MA.