I don't think this charge is unreasonable; one of my primary desires is that our historical archives are kept in good condition and looked after by well rewarded, well trained archivists. If, in this present climate of pressure on government and local government spending, it is necessary to pay what, in all fairness, is a very modest fee to copy records in order to support the archives, then I for one am prepared to do it. It is only reasonable, that whilst society through its taxes, pay the bulk of the cost of maintaining the archives, that those who access the archives and use the resources of reading rooms, archivist's time, etc. should pay something extra. Perhaps it would be better to charge a £2.00 entrance fee to use the archives, but that probably breaks the rules of free public access to museums etc. Bob > > Message: 6 > Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:09:39 +0200 > From: "walsby" <walsby@wanadoo.fr> > Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras > To: <eng-somerset@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <001201c8d9d0$55c9e9a0$c6affac1@PC302132836219> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > To produce a photocopy incurs the cost of machine wear, paper, and > personnel cost (my > experience of Somerset record office is that the staff do take more care > to give you > a good copy than some other record offices). So you pay for goods and > services. > > There is no cost to the archive service for a researcher to use a camera. > "Falling > in line with other offices that already charge" is the same excuse that > motroists > offer when caught speeding - everyone else does it, so why shouldn't I ? > It's no > excuse at all. > > Michael Walsby > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "J Collingridge" <sparrer@gmail.com> > To: <eng-somerset@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 12:04 PM > Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras > > >> >> walsby wrote: >> >> >>> I wonder how they justify such a charge. Would they rather have >>> documents exposed to photocopying ? >>> >>> Or is it simply to make money, in which case can we expect the cost >>> to rise each year ? >>> >>> It certainly doesn't help relationships between researchers and >>> archivists. >> >> No, I don't think it does help, but the record office is falling in >> line with other offices that already charge. It'll no doubt catch a >> few researchers out as well. >> >> I don't know that it's a money making exercise, although it probably >> will rise year on year. It would appear to be more a money >> replacement exercise since so many people now use digital cameras >> rather than ask for photocopies. >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in >> the subject and the body of the message >> > > > > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the ENG-SOMERSET list administrator, send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET-admin@rootsweb.com. > > To post a message to the ENG-SOMERSET mailing list, send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET@rootsweb.com. > > __________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com > with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body > of the > email with no additional text. > > > End of ENG-SOMERSET Digest, Vol 3, Issue 426 > ******************************************** >

I think Bob has hit on the central point...free public access... not to the buildings, but to the records themselves.  These are public records.  The public owns them, the archives conserve them and make them accessible.  There are conservation as well as cost issues related to photocopies which makes a reasonable charge proper.  Camera use spares this layer of wear and tear on the records, as well as saving staff time and equipment. There are other reasonable and sensible rules about how one makes a record of public information.  Pencils not pens. Silent keypads on personal computers.  The camera license fee is small, but as a policy, it does seem to contravene the spirit of the free access rule without any conservation or administrative or cost reason to justify it.  Rebecca -----Original Message----- From: Bob Hunter <rmwhunter@blueyonder.co.uk> To: eng-somerset@rootsweb.com Sent: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 1:33 pm Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras I don't think this charge is unreasonable; one of my primary desires is that ur historical archives are kept in good condition and looked after by well ewarded, well trained archivists. If, in this present climate of pressure n government and local government spending, it is necessary to pay what, in ll fairness, is a very modest fee to copy records in order to support the rchives, then I for one am prepared to do it. It is only reasonable, that hilst society through its taxes, pay the bulk of the cost of maintaining he archives, that those who access the archives and use the resources of eading rooms, archivist's time, etc. should pay something extra. Perhaps t would be better to charge a £2.00 entrance fee to use the archives, but hat probably breaks the rules of free public access to museums etc. Bob > Message: 6 Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:09:39 +0200 From: "walsby" <walsby@wanadoo.fr> Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras To: <eng-somerset@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <001201c8d9d0$55c9e9a0$c6affac1@PC302132836219> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original To produce a photocopy incurs the cost of machine wear, paper, and personnel cost (my experience of Somerset record office is that the staff do take more care to give you a good copy than some other record offices). So you pay for goods and services. There is no cost to the archive service for a researcher to use a camera. "Falling in line with other offices that already charge" is the same excuse that motroists offer when caught speeding - everyone else does it, so why shouldn't I ? It's no excuse at all. Michael Walsby ----- Original Message ----- From: "J Collingridge" <sparrer@gmail.com> To: <eng-somerset@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 12:04 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras > > walsby wrote: > > >> I wonder how they justify such a charge. Would they rather have >> documents exposed to photocopying ? >> >> Or is it simply to make money, in which case can we expect the cost >> to rise each year ? >> >> It certainly doesn't help relationships between researchers and >> archivists. > > No, I don't think it does help, but the record office is falling in > line with other offices that already charge. It'll no doubt catch a > few researchers out as well. > > I don't know that it's a money making exercise, although it probably > will rise year on year. It would appear to be more a money > replacement exercise since so many people now use digital cameras > rather than ask for photocopies. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in > the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------ To contact the ENG-SOMERSET list administrator, send an email to ENG-SOMERSET-admin@rootsweb.com. To post a message to the ENG-SOMERSET mailing list, send an email to ENG-SOMERSET@rootsweb.com. __________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the email with no additional text. End of ENG-SOMERSET Digest, Vol 3, Issue 426 ******************************************** ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:31:16 -0400 rbccstrr@aol.co.uk wrote: Hello rbccstrr@aol.co.uk, > The camera license fee is small, but as a policy, it does seem to > contravene the spirit of the free access rule without any How? Access (i.e. *viewing*) is still free. It's only copying that attracts a charge. Having said that, I disagree with the philosophy of charging to use one's own equipment, but that's a different issue. -- Regards _ / ) "The blindingly obvious is / _)rad never immediately apparent" I'll tell you something, I think that you should know Rich Kids - Rich Kids