Of course, Tony, there is a cost to keep and provide archives for us, and it a glorious asset to us all that the service exists, not just here but in most of Europe and elsewhere. Perhaps it's a sign of a civilised society. I was referring to the incremental cost of taking a photograph with a digital camera. Such a cost is non-existent. Michael Walsby ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Pottrell" <editor@pyroport.com> To: <eng-somerset@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 11:12 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Som. Rec. Office to charge for use of cameras No cost to the archive? How about the cost of the archivist to go down to the archive, find the document(s) and give them to you, then take them back and file them away? It also means there's more money for them to maintain the records as well. I'd happily pay the £2 fee personally. I believe the London Met Archives charge a few quid also for camera use. T walsby wrote: > 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 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 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