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Archiver > OHLAWREN > 2003-06 > 1056579898


From: "Dusty Smith" <>
Subject: RE: [L'wrence] Alternatives
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 18:25:27 -0400
In-Reply-To: <49.302f8d8d.2c2b5b12@aol.com>


I came in on this late - and I'd like to know WHY the government would stop
access to records of those long gone?? Or is this for more recent
ancestors - say still in the 1900's?

Thanks for any info.

Dusty Smith


-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 4:08 PM
To:
Subject: [L'wrence] Alternatives


It is clear that our access to public records is going away. My suggestion
to you all is to think ahead and try to get hold of what indexes and vital
records you can now IF they are available, WHILE they are available. For
example,
here in KY there is a bill pending in the Senate which, if passed, would
take
our access away to the KY birth/marr/death indexes and make all vital
records
almost impossible to get. So I'm stocking up on things like vital records
CDs for the states I need, even if those records are currently on line. If
you
don't stay vigilant about these things and take their ready availability for
granted, one day you'll log on and find yet another law has gone into effect
and that index you've counted on for years is suddenly gone. My advice is,
shop
eBay and the genealogy sites. There are vital records CDs available NOW
which won't be once the laws get passed...especially at a fair price.
Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com have some. But again, once these laws pass,
they won't be
allowed to sell them. And you can bet when it becomes illegal to sell them,
there'll be a black market for them and the prices will be unreasonably
high.
There's a guy now on eBay who sells the vital record indexes for several
states,
like TX, CA, IL, KY, and OH, at a relatively cheap price. Don't count on
anything prior to the early 1900s, but it will be better than the nothing
we'll
have when all these laws get passed. When I told a fellow researcher about
the
indexes, her response was "well why would I buy those when I can get it
online for free??" THINK ABOUT IT.

Rebecca Weigold
Newport KY


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