Last month, there was a discussion on the LANCSGEN list concerning the online availability of records for certain parishes. Brought to the attention of the list was a scheme called OnLine Parish Clerks operated by the three counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset (links at the end). As a consequence of that discussion, a small team of co-ordinators has been formed with a goal to introduce a similar project for the county of Lancashire. Of course, the success of such a project relies on recruiting volunteers to extract and make available the data. The benefit of such a project to all researchers hardly needs to be explained. The time is now right to issue a call for volunteers. The goal is to find someone to serve as an OnLine Parsh Clerk for each of the almost 400 parishes in Lancashire. An OnLine Parish Clerk would assume the responsibility for providing material extracted from records for that parish to be displayed online for the benefit of all. Please note, there is no requirement for an OnLine Parish Clerk to be local to their assumed parish. An OnLine Parish Clerk or any other volunteer may be on any continent. There is also ample opportunity to contribute for any who would wish to take a less prominent role in the project. Volunteers may contribute by extracting an assigned portion of the records, assisting remote OnLine Parish Clerks by visits to local libraries and other resources, or by providing digital images of churches or other prominent features of the area. Copies of the records required for extraction can be made available through the project to volunteers without cost to those volunteers. The commitment of time is also flexible. Some may have more time available than others, but every contribution, both large and small is valuable. So I would encourage you all to contribute in whatever manner you are able in order to make this project a success. Please do NOT reply to the list but go to the sign up form at:- http://www.michaellonsdale.co.uk/opc/index.htm If you have problems with this link, please reply to me personally at the address below. Regards, Paul Dixon [email protected] Carrollton, Texas Links to existing schemes:- Cornwall - http://west-penwith.org.uk/opc.htm Devon - http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/DEV/OPCproject.html Dorset - http://www.dorset-opc.com/ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/