Friends, The following, in italics, came in on one of my lists [Pennsylvania] today. I feel the same about my research as those expressed in the following emails. For my part, I plan to investigate what I should do with my work, [I'm not from PA., as the person who wrote this, so the location won't apply.] I'm also worried about New Orleans and Louisiana as a depository, because of the hurricanes. A lot of irreplaceable documents were lost during Katrina... so I'm not sure Where it should go - yet]. Perhaps some of you may have some ideas about where and how we can individually, and as a group, preserve our family research. Renee / On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM, Ken ONeal <[email protected] wrote: Hi I know what I'm sending is not what most people want to think about, but it is a fact of life, we will all die someday. To be sure all of your hard wotk on your Family Tree, you might want to add this to your will. Ken A Genealogical Codicil to My Last Will and Testament To my children, or guardian: Upon my demise it is requested that you DO NOT dispose of any of my Genealogical records, books, files, notebooks or computer programs. My Family research and cemetery information material I leave to the Uniontown Library's Pennsylvania Room. PLEASE Copy the latest information from my computer, or take computer to Library, for them to copy the latest information Take ALL cemetery records, Family Tree information material with computer, to the Uniontown Library Pennsylvania Room. They can extract information, and return the computer In the event you do not find anyone to accept these materials, please contact the various genealogical organizations that I have been a member of and determine if they will accept some parts or all of my genealogical materials. Please remember that my genealogical endeavors consumed a great deal of time, travel, and money. Therefore please do not ignore my requests/ -------- /A response to the above email from another member of the mailing list: Some things to consider: I've asked the Washington Co Historical Society and Citizens Library Washington PA about their acceptance guidelines. Both have small space. Both said they "might" take a researchers entire collection-- "but" they may not have space so they may pick & choose! Historical Societies have by-laws as an organization, but no where are they~~required~~ to accept or to keep someone's research. Any society couldclose at any time due to financial or any other reason and they can dispose of the info in any way they choose. So... a few points: 1. Consider starting a Savings Account NOW and add to it regularly, that is listed in your Will to be used by XXX Place that accepts your genealogy records, for the upkeep and hands-on work records require.. or to add physical space to the XXX Place. 2. Call and Ask for prior permission to Will your stuff to XXX Place & ask about restrictions. Most don't want unlabeled photos, for example. 3. Consider donating to a LARGE Gene Library like in Indianapolis, IN. But, even they can use funds from you for upkeep / storage. Also with current budget cuts, many small libraries (all over the USA) are NOW in fiscal emergencies or close to it. All are running deficits (I heard one is over $50,000.00 in deficit). All may need to cut staff. So if you ask for a record and they charge, say, $2.00, consider sending an extra $10.00 and ask that the extra is put into their genealogy fund for physical operating expenses (heat, lights, etc) or put toward the salary of the Reference Librarian or the genealogy librarian. Judy/