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Archiver > OHCLERMO > 1998-11 > 0910313210


From: Walter Wood <>
Subject: Preservation of Old Books
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:46:50 -0500


As another visitor to the Clermont Co. Courthouse(s) last week I would like
to share some of my observations. I have already shared some of my
successes while there and we had a very pleasant experience so please do
not misunderstand these comments to be sour grapes or criticism for the
sake of criticism. I would hope that my observations could be used in a
positive way to protect valuable resources and make visits even more
profitable for those in the future.

In the southwest corner of the court house basement was a sump pump to
remove accumulated water. Since it is there, I can only assume that this
has been a problem in the past. Many of the old record books are simply
piled on the floor. If a severe storm comes and the power goes out many of
these books are going to be very wet and will be lost forever.

The copies of many of the microfilms at the library were in very poor
condition with many scratches and need to be replaced. (Considering how
many copies I made there at the reasonable cost of dime a page, I have to
assume that I made a significant contribution towards new films. <g>)

I also noted that he microfilm reader/copiers at the Probate Office were in
very poor condition. The Clerks there indicated that they had been asking
for replacements for them for at least five years. (Ditto the remark at
the end of the above paragraph except at this office the copies were a
quarter each. <g>)

I am planning on writing to the County government to ask them to consider
correcting some of these areas. I would also appreciate receiving
information on the genealogical society in order to possibly contribute in
other ways.

Walter D. Wood
Apopka, Florida

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/walter_wood

Note: There is an underscore between walter & wood in the above addresses

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