[Genealib] Searching for records of men who died twice.

[SUBVETPAUL at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/22/2006 1:48:24 PM Central Standard Time, 
walters at alaweb.com writes:


> There is is some interesting case law in the appellette courts of the
> various states that hold that public records are indeed ;public
> property. Severasl cases go on to say that governmental entities that
> are the custodians of these recrds cannot use or access to them or
> the copying of them as aprofit center oruse to generate revenue.
> Several cases have held that the cost for copying must be limited to
> actual cost (electricity, toner, paper, etc.) They specifically
> excluded the value of labor of publ;ic employees. See volumness such
> as "CJS" or "Words and Phrases" under Public Records.
> 
> David

That sounds like good news, however the costs, mostly labor, quoted to me 
were in the order of
Estimated cost/100 records:- $875
Estimated cost/300 records:- $2625
Estimated cost/500 records:- $4375
Estimated cost/1000 records:- $8750
My research includes more than 3,600 records.

These estimastes were based on a quotation from the National Personnel 
Records Center.  Advance payment is required.

Even a search of 1,000 records, which would be helpful, is out of reach for 
this researcher. Costs of this magnitude could never be recovered with the very 
limited specialized market and sale of the published works.
subvetpaul at aol.com
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