I agree completely with the fact we should not post copy write materials, but if it is the Historical Society and they are of a mind to help the general public who does not have the ability to purchase or obtain copies of the material, then they themselves should post it for all of us to use. If these publications are still for sale and are selling, then I understand their reluctance, but I live in an area that does not subscribe to ALL of the HS publications. It is very helpful, sometimes for me to see this information on line, and hopefully at rootsweb were it is FREE. We can't beat this dead horse anymore...he is dead. The person posting was wrong, lets get back to what we are here for...and that is to LEARN from others and to help those that need it. MY 2 cents worth. John Lowery

Excuse me John but we are not beating a dead horse here. This is an important issue. Copying other people's work without permission is just not good practice no matter how much we all want to see our family records online. As List Administrator and County Coordinator for Pike Co. I am all for getting records online and for free but it's vital that we share records that we have resourced ourselves and not copy work others have done. The society put that information together into a publication they are selling and they do not owe it to any of us to make it free. They sell their publications and most often the moneys they make goes into supplies for the library. They do not own a copyright to those names and dates but they do own copyright to their publications, copying page by page is just not acceptable. The society spent time and money putting those lists together for their publication to sell to it's members, if someone wants to share the information then that someone needs to go get the lists themselves and put their own time in. This is not intended to abuse one person, this is intended as a reminder for us all to be careful about what we share, is it our work or someone elses. In Pike Co. we do have lots of volunteers who are very willing to share information either on list or on the Pike Co. site and I'm proud to be a part of that, but we do need to take care of what we post. It is very easy to make the mistake of thinking I have copies so I can share them or I found it online so I can share them, that's not always the case so it is something we do need to consider carefully. Debra Crosby -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 12:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AL-PIKE] Re: Please do not post copyrighted materials. I agree completely with the fact we should not post copy write materials, but if it is the Historical Society and they are of a mind to help the general public who does not have the ability to purchase or obtain copies of the material, then they themselves should post it for all of us to use. If these publications are still for sale and are selling, then I understand their reluctance, but I live in an area that does not subscribe to ALL of the HS publications. It is very helpful, sometimes for me to see this information on line, and hopefully at rootsweb were it is FREE. We can't beat this dead horse anymore...he is dead. The person posting was wrong, lets get back to what we are here for...and that is to LEARN from others and to help those that need it. MY 2 cents worth. John Lowery ==== ALPIKE Mailing List ==== Visit Pike Co. ALGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~alpike/

Hi -- As an English and History major and one who worked in many aspects of the field of history, the word plagiarism comes to mind. If one has a photocopy of an original muster roll(s) and is posting lists of names from that -- that is one thing, although the original document should be clearly cited. Using published information for a paper or some such, even something like a list of soldiers, would be acceptable only if properly footnoted, the publication in the bibliography, and preferably prefacing the information with a caveat (i.e. this list is from . . .). Much as it pleases me to get information, piecemeal copying of an entire copyrighted document is neither ethical nor legal, although I must say I have copied large portions of documents when a job was in one state and I lived in quite another. That said -- there have long been a number of Historical Society publications I have wanted to purchase; however, I don't want to purchase publications and have them be of no use to me. This was exactly the proposal I made a few years ago to two prominent members of the Historical Society -- I offered all of my Wood and Waters family papers and pictures for publication in the Society's proceedings in exchange for photocopies of the INDEXES of their publications so that I could purchase the relevant ones. I love primary research, but why reinvent the wheel!! Yes, it is inevitable that I will have to make a geneaology pilgrimage at some time, but AL is a long way to go to look at published sources!! That said, I have come across an interesting little question about the AL 1st Infantry. I have Stewart Sifakis' Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Alabama (1992) -- not very helpful, part of my reluctance to purchase some things sight unseen. It states that the 1st was captured again at Port Hudson, (additional internet resources here) the privates were exchanged the same month, but the officers were confined until the end of the War. Apparently some of them escaped, some names given. Does anyone have information on this escape?? JH Wood is not mentioned, but he was an officer in the 1st and he was not in prison until the end of the War. I have letters from a couple of places including a field hospital and from the field outside Atlanta. And I believe he continued to fight with the 1st until their surrender by Johnston in NC in 1865. He could have been on leave, in the hospital, not captured, AWOL???? Anyone have any info or info to which they can direct me??? Thanks so much, Suzanne