[Genealib] Still have a problem with Ancestrybank reply

[Kleback, Linda]

I think there's always going to be a division in the genealogy committee about pay versus free.  A few years ago Pam Cooper and I gave a program for Florida Archivists where we recommended having some money set aside to buy documents pertinent to their area if they showed up on auction sites.  They really only wanted to talk about why these documents should all be freely donated to a repository.  Our point was that in a perfect world that would happen.  In reality we need to realize that documents can and will be on the market and that we should buy them and preserve them as much as possible.  My library's Local History Department has bought some terrific items on eBay that would have been lost to this area if not for their efforts.

Linda Pazics Kleback
Genealogy Specialist
Bay County Public Library
POB 59625
Panama City, FL  32412-0625



-----Original Message-----
From: genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu
[mailto:genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu]On Behalf Of
ancestrybank at ancestrybank.com
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 5:18 PM
To: genealib at mailman.acomp.usf.edu
Subject: [Genealib] Still have a problem with Ancestrybank reply


Dear Traci,

Very good comments.  And Bill Cribb, thank you for yours...you summed  
up a reply nicely.  This site has to be recognized as just one more  
option.  Right now, because of the site, there are several thousand  
documents (and many thousand more than have not been archived yet but  
scanned) that simply would not be available otherwise.  I admire  
people that make their collections readily available...but not  
everyone wants to donate to a library or repository.  If people want  
to make money from their documents, that is their choice...this site  
is just one more option out there that they have that is not currently  
available.  I want to address each of your comments.

Why should the owner and the company benefit?  Why not?  Who are we to  
say that all documents owned by individuals have to go to a library,  
archive, museum or repository?  You need to remember, there are a lot  
of repositories out there charging for access to their images.  How do  
you think the US and British National Archives would respond?  They  
charge as do many libraries.  So who makes the decision that a library  
should make a "fast buck" versus the person who actually owns the  
document and puts in all the work?  Obviously, there are costs  
attached to providing this information as Bill stated.  Would more  
visitors benefit if it went to a library?  Someone can download a  
document image they found on the site for $5 or they can drive to the  
library/repository...or the library/repository could send the info to  
them and charge a fee for copies like most do.  Finding the census  
document in many places is a good thing...what isn't a good thing is  
having to subscribe to a bunch of different services and then find out  
that all they have are the same databases.  That is the point of this,  
is that when someone visits the site, they know this will be a  
completely new database that they haven't explored.

Second comment, yes we want to make money.  It is a company.   
Companies are not usually created with the intent to fail.  I believe  
it is okay to make a hopefully useful company and actually earn from  
the idea.  I'm not sure why Ancestrybank would be a target of this  
question...you do realize how many companies are out there for the  
field of genealogy...it's the second largest hobby in the world.  I'm  
not sure why people would think that a person would take an idea,  
spend a great deal of time and money, and not hope to do well just  
because the company is in the field of genealogy versus any other  
industry.

Third comment about incentive to archive should be for love of history  
and to educate and enlighten...that is correct.  I love history as  
well.  The site is just another option.  Sometimes people need more  
than just a love to make it worth their time to share what they  
have...doesn't make them bad.

Fourth comment about fast buck hardly creative or innovative.  I go  
back to there are going to be thousands of documents available to the  
genealogy community that would never have been available otherwise.   
It has taken a great deal of time and money to create this concept.   
It is creative/innovative in that it taps into a large market of  
people who can earn from documents that they own if they choose not to  
donate their collection.  It also pools people together to encourage  
them to transcribe documents.  Educating is great.  Please continue to  
do so.  I beg to differ that a digital image is a preservation measure  
for original documents.  If it isn't that, then what is it?  You are  
right that it doesn't maintain or restore the integrity of the orginal  
documents, but at least we will have people doing something versus  
nothing.

Last comment about genealogy being a great community because they  
share information without a price tag.  That is absolutely true.  I  
won't bother to list the genealogy companies, national archives, and  
libraries that do have a price tag though...I hope you are writing on  
the message boards about them as well.  If you need a list of these  
libaries and national archives(for example  
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/), I will send  
them.  Again, it's just another option.

Before I close this email I would like to point out that the next  
messages on this listserve are about the Ancestry Library Edition  
Subscription.  Are they trying to make a fast buck?  I hope you write  
messages about this because based on the premise of these messages,  
the information in their databases should be free.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Ryan
ancestrybank at ancestrybank.com
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