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Archiver > APG > 2007-07 > 1183757579


From: "Heather McLeland-Wieser" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Why do genealogists disenfranchise themselves?
Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:32:59 -0700
References: <468E3064.DB66.00AF.0@spl.org><200707062005.l66K4vkR014796@mail.rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <200707062005.l66K4vkR014796@mail.rootsweb.com>


Jack;
I'm actually totally in favor of digitization. Just not at the expense of other things. The basket should be filled with all kinds of goodies, not just one type of thing.
Heather

>>> "Jack Butler" <> 7/6/2007 1:04 PM >>>
I absolutely love libraries. I love wandering the stacks, I love digging
through old books, I love finding that unexpected treasure on the shelf
below the book that I was looking for; I pretty much love everything about
them. That is probably one of the many reasons that I enjoy genealogy so
much. But the flat reality is that I will never get to visit most of the
great libraries - or if I do get there, it will be only for the odd rare
visit. I fully understand the kind of experience that I am losing when I
access a wonderful old volume digitally instead of in its native
environment.

That said, I hope that you will forgive me for not joining any laments over
the growing digitization of print and original record collections. Because
it is through digitization that I might gain knowledge of and access to
things that might never have known existed or that I probably never would
have seen even if I knew about them.

Yes, a rich experience is missed by not being in the library - but I cannot
call it a lost experience, since it probably never would have occurred. And
the gain of having the otherwise unavailable record available to me has a
great deal of value to me. Two nights ago, I sat in my little home office in
Florida and studied digitized images of 17th century parish records from a
parish in Midlothian, Scotland. Yes, studying them in the Archives of
Scotland or in the original Parish church would have been a richer
experience; it will be better if I ever get there. In the meantime, it was
marvelous to see them the way that I did.

So, I do truly love libraries and archives and I do visit them whenever I
can. But I must also say unequivocally that I absolutely love the internet
and its digitized images. I am sorry if access comes at the cost of more
traditional forms or structures. But I still love the access.

Jack Butler








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