One of our county volunteers sent a message to our Sec of State expressing concern over the preservation of our old records. Below is a copy of the response she received. Ginger gingerh@intrnet.net ---------- > From: Gloria Frazier <glofra@townsqr.com> > To: ILMACOUP-L@rootsweb.com > Cc: ILGEN-L@rootsweb.com; listowners@rootsweb.com; rootsweb-help@rootsweb.com > Subject: Preservation of County Records > Date: Tuesday, April 28, 1998 10:58 PM > > Below is the answer to my email I sent to Secretary of State of > Illinois George Ryan. My email is at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacoup/preserve.htm > > I do appreciate the response from Director Daly and his concern in > the preservation of our old records. > > The letter tells me the process of more preservation of records > will be slow due to politics and the lack of public interest. I do > understand the problem with digitizing. > > We, as the public, need to have the interest in writing and > encouraging a working relationship between the county, state and us > to solve the dilemma of our old county records. > > Encourage county officials to bring the problem to light. I believe > the lack of money in counties is a reason for officials not > bringing the problem to light. How do they come forward and tell > the voters who voted for them that the old county records, for lack > of money for storage, are stored in wet basements, barns, or > attics? I can't think of a another reason for Director's Daly's > comment, "persuasion of county officials and the pressure of space > limits and staff shortages that they face" not working. > > My dream would be for county officials to come forward and ask for > help in preserving our past. > > Listowners, please feel free to pass this on to your lists. > ------- > > OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE > > SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 62756 > > > GEORGE H. RYAN > > SECRETARY OF STATE > > > > > April 22, 1998 > > > > Gloria Frazer > 3007 Paula Drive > West Plains, MO 65775 > > Dear Ms. Frazer: > > Your e-mail message of April 7 to Secretary Ryan on the > preservation of Illinois county records has been referred to me for > reply. > > Your letter makes very intelligent points concerning those records, > and presents a good assessment of the limitation of the efforts > that have been made in regard to them by both LDS and IRAD. As you > understand, the central problem has two aspects - 1) to remove > those records from courthouses where access to them is restricted, > and 2) to place them in situations (physical sites or copy formats) > in which they can be made use of. > > The first aspect faces the difficulty that the law does not permit > IRAD to simply order the removal of all records prior to 1920 from > courthouses. That system can rely only on persuasion of county > officials and the pressure of space limits and staff shortages that > they face. It is more feasible to negotiate with each county on an > individual basis (imperfect as that is) than to attempt to enact a > law that would mandate that they surrender everything. Such a step > would be successful only if there existed very widespread public > support for it. > > The second part of the problem is one that we are attempting to > address by the system of IRAD depositories, and by extensive > filming by both that system and by LDS. We are also looking very > closely at digitizing county material. (A recent state grant was > made to fund such a pilot project.). The difficulties with that > method are that digitizing is often very poorly suited to capturing > 19th century documents, that it is extremely costly, and that there > is no warranty that that format will survive over the long term. > (Vendors normally do not make those facts clear.) > > Gloria Frazer > April 22, 1998 > Page 2 > > > Your letter also noted that IRAD's physical sites "could not hold > all of the old county records from every Illinois county unless the > areas ... were dramatically increased". That is true. It is the > problem that faces all historical depositories, for identical > reasons, and can not be resolved in one step. We are addressing it > through space negotiations with university officials at IRAD sites, > the use of computer availability of databases, installation of > compact shelving where feasible, and related incremental efforts. > > Finally, I hope that I have illustrated that the Illinois State > Archives is, and has been, fully aware of all of these problems, > that we have made continuous, ongoing efforts to resolve them, and > that we will continue to do so in the future. > > Sincerely, > > > > John Daly, Director > Illinois State Archives > > JD: tlp > > > > > ------------------ > > Gloria Frazier > Macoupin County ILGenWeb Coordinator > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacoup/macoupin.htm > ILGenWeb Civil War Roster Volunteer > Macoupin County Illinois USGenWeb Archives Volunteer