POSEN-L Archives

Archiver > POSEN > 2003-05 > 1052406305


From: Lukasz Bielecki <>
Subject: [POSEN] Poznan Marriage Indexing Project and the LDS
Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 17:05:05 +0200 (CEST)
In-Reply-To: <3EB26B49.94D63DE4@ihug.com.au>


Dear participants of the Poznan Project,

Some of them have asked in the way as below:

> Dear Lukasz,
>
> I would like to take part but have heard rumours that the LDS is
> unwilling to allow even indexes of their microfilms to be put online for
> this project (and assumedly others like it) : (. Could you please let me
> know the status of the project?

Fortunately, I have received an email from a person who is in charge for
this kind of projects from the part of the LDS. I hope that it clarifies
on the matter discussed and it seems that the LDS holds a friendly
position towards our project and will help in what concerns negotiations
with Polish (possibly also German) holders of the original records in case
they might object to the publishing of the results in the Web.

So we can continue on indexing. And I am of course most thankful to those
persons who have already submitted their results and to those who are now
proceeding with their parishes. Soon we will achieve an amount of data
substantial enough to start a test searchable database to show how our
data can be helpful.

Also, I will appreciate new declarations for indexing parishes and of
course spreading the information about the Project to all people possibly
interested and able to help.

Best regards

Lukasz Bielecki

### Excerpts from the LDS correspondence: ###

# I work for the Family History Library in Salt
# Lake City and I coordinate cooperativeindexing projects that involve our
# microfilm. I want to work with you on your project to create an index
# of the records
# of Posen. The FHL applauds the efforts of dedicated people who create
# indexes, abstracts and published materials from
# our films. These publications benefit thousands of individuals
# researching family history.
# It is the intent of the Family History Library to facilitate indexing
# projects whenever possible. It is also our intent
# to comply with contracts we hold with original record custodians around
# the world who have allowed us to microfilm theirrecords. These
# contracts describe how their materials can be used in Family History
# Centers, including limits on
# indexing, distributing, circulating, copying, and publishing (including
# Internet publishing). The materials in the FHL
# collection are provided to patrons only within the limits of these
# contracts and solely for research purposes.

# Anyone who wishes to index, abstract, or copy major portions of a
# record, or set of records from the Family History
# Library collection must consult the FHL before beginning the project.
# This does not mean you cannot do your project,but you need to work with
# me to get it set up within the limits of the contracts we hold with the
# archives in Poland. I
# can help you get things you cannot get through local Family History
# Centers, such as permission for your indexers to
# take film home to index. We also have free indexing software we can
# provide that many people find faster and easier to
# use than Excel or Access, if you are interested.

# I have worked
# through dozens of these situations, and in almost every case we have
# been able to reach an agreement with the archive to
# allow the indexing to go forward and for the data to be posted on the
# Internet. We won't know how the archives in
# Poland will react to your project until we contact them. Usually the
# only thing the archives ask is that they be given
# a copy of the index data for their use, other times the archive does put
# some restrictions on the data. We have not yet
# had an archive stop a project entirely. The Family History Library also
# asks for a copy of the data for possible inclusion in our genealogical
# collection.

# We have a standard Indexing Agreement we use with cooperative groups
# such as yours. On small projects, we usually have
# an agreement with each volunteer. For our larger indexing cooperatives,
# we usually have agreements with coordinators
# over sections of the project. The coordinators are then responsible to
# communicate and enforce the terms of the
# agreement with the people who do the indexing.

# If you can please send me a complete list of films you wish to index, I
# will start the task of looking up the contract
# for each film. I can then prepare agreements for those film.






This thread: