[Genealib] Fw: Your signature needed on petition....

[Ceya]

Please sign this petition to stop the National Archives from shortening
their hours of operation.   It should be available--really--   day or night.
Everyone is not fortunate enough to be available to use the Archives only
during certain daylight hours.   If we were lucky enough to get there to use
the Archives, wouldn't it be nice if it was open more?     It took a
petition like this to keep our own Houston-Love Memorial Library open more.
Petitions do work!

Ceya


                                        Your signature needed on
petition....


                    Genealogists Petition_
(http://www.petitiononline.com/FGS2006/)



> 1. National Archives Petition (Dittmar, Frederick  M.)

 - --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Message:  1
> Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2006 08:50:39 -0500
> From: "Dittmar, Frederick M."  <dittmar_ksa at ou.edu>
> Subject: [OK-GEN-SOC] National Archives  Petition
> To: <OK-GEN-SOC-L at rootsweb.com>
> Message-ID:
> <89944065A099FB4AB1296358DD02877A04CD1DFE at XMAIL.sooner.net.ou.edu>
> Content-Type:  text/plain;    charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> This message is originally  from Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online
> Genealogy Newsletter, who just  returned from the FGS Conference and asked
> that
> this message be passed along by  his subscribers. Note: There are only a
> few
> days left to sign this petition. If  you've been planning a long weekend
> in
> Washington, D.C. for research, this will  directly affect your plans.
> - --------------------------------
>
> Quick!  Please Join FGS Attendees in Petition About NARA Opening Hours!
>
> The U.S.  National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently
> proposed a  reduction in the number of hours that the agency's facilities
> are open
> to the  general public. Weekend and evening hours would be especially
> curtailed. The  result will be a major hardship on genealogists,
> especially those who
> cannot  visit during normal business hours.
>
> Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the  United States and head of the
> National
> Archives and Records Administration,  attended the FGS/NEHGS 2006
> Conference
> in Boston this week and addressed the  Opening Session on Thursday.
> Following
> his remarks, he was presented with a  letter by the Chair of the Records
> Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC)  addressing concerns about the
> proposed
> changes in the hours of operation for the  Research Rooms at the National
> Archives.
>
> The members of that committee  have been told that very few genealogists
> have
> responded to the agency's  proposal. In this case, silence will be
> interpreted as agreement! Comments close  on September 8. There's not much
> time left!
>
> A discussion ensued among  many of the genealogists present at the
> conference, resulting in a petition to  ask for reconsideration. I was
> able to upload
> that petition, and conference  attendees were asked to sign the online
> petition
> through announcements over the  public address session, at the Friday
> evening
> banquet, in many of the sessions,  and in the hallways.
> Many people lined up at computers supplied by many of  the vendors and
> added
> their names to the petition. Others signed the petition  from their
> laptops in
> hotel rooms, from the hotel's public access computers in  the lobby, and
> elsewhere. I hope that others returned home and will sign the  petition
> from there.
>
>
> As I write these words,(Monday AM) 1236 names  are on this petition. We
> need
> more, many more, In fact, we need YOUR  name.
>
> Just before the close of comments by the National Archives and  Records
> Administration, this petition will be printed and sent to the agency  via
> overnight mail.
>
> With the limited amount of time left until the  close of comments,
> genealogists everywhere need you to immediately copy and  paste this or
> similar messages and send them to your friends, asking them to  add their
> "electronic signatures" to the petition. Please post information  about
> the
> petition on web sites, newsletters, and mailing lists as you deem
> appropriate. We need to have as many signatures as possible from concerned
> U.S. residents BEFORE September 8.
>
> To add your voice to the messages  being sent to the National Archives,
> please go to  http://www.petitiononline.com/FGS2006.
>
> NOTE: The letters "FGS" in the  above web address MUST be in upper case.


> Shirley B.  Vanderbeck
> CL§, PLS-PP, CLA, CNSA, CM
> NALS 2004 Award of Excellence  Recipient
> Certified Legal Assistant to
> Sandra N. Baldonado
> Attorney at  Law/Councilwoman of Claremont, CA