APG to Conduct Roundtable on Open Records Access

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists:

WESTMINSTER, Colo. – The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) will conduct a roundtable on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 during the National Genealogical Society Conference at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri.  The topic of the roundtable, which will be moderated by David Rencher, CG, AG, is Into the Future with the Records Preservation and Access Committee. The roundtable will be held from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Chouteau A&B rooms.

Beverly Rice, CG, Roundtable Coordinator, encourages members to attend saying, “This is an opportunity for all conference attendees to become aware of our genealogy communities’ combined efforts to maintain access and preserve the world’s records.  The topic of records preservation and access is of such importance to the genealogical community that APG has opened this roundtable to all interested individuals.”

The roundtable is normally open only to APG members; however, because of the importance of the topic all genealogists and interested parties are invited. In addition, the roundtable is an ideal time for APG members to network, share ideas and learn how other professionals market themselves.

The Association of Professional Genealogists (http://www.apgen.org/), founded in 1979, is the sole organization representing genealogy as a profession.  It supports the preservation and accessibility of records useful to the fields of genealogy, local and social history.  Its members represent all fifty states and several countries. The association promotes excellence in genealogical research, teaching, and writing.

Comments

[Angry Citizen]

This is about no longer selling our records for $ 1000 to the Ancestry.com criminals so that they can turn round and demand 1.000.000.0000 from all of us to see our own records, that we already paid taxes for?

[Dae Powell]

Angry Citizen fails to recognize the effort to organize and index records, let alone the costs of maintaining a presence on the Internet. The staffing payroll and the many costs of acquisition prevent our tax dollars from supporting such a private enterprise.

I think the meeting is a good idea, but wonder how such a large scope can be effectively covered in just two hours. Perhaps they could petition emails with ideas and suggestion aforehand to expedite the discussion?

Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[Angry Citizen]

"The staffing payroll and the many costs of acquisition prevent our tax dollars from supporting such a private enterprise."

My god, you are confused.
Our government is not a private enterprise...

[Angry Citizen]

"The staffing payroll and the many costs of acquisition prevent our tax dollars from supporting such a private enterprise."

My god, you are confused.
Our government is not a private enterprise...

[Dave]

Angry Citizen, you can still access the records at the original repository locations--Civil War pensions, homestead papers for the western states, pension agency payment registers, and much, much more. In an ideal world, the government would put the necessary resources into making them widely and publicly accessible from a home computer. Sadly, we don't live in an ideal world. The reality is, the National Archives has to fight hard to keep itself open in the face of budget cutbacks.

That Ancestry, or any other commercial firm, is making records available at a faster clip than the government can or will do is a benefit to folks who choose to use their materials. If you don't have access, or can't afford it, a significant number of institutional settings make Ancestry's sites available in their facilities.

And no, I'm not a shill for the firm, nor in its employ.