Hello Cara, Many thanks for all this detailed information - it's warmly appreciated. In another thread, I did advocate the digitising of parish registers and was speaking generally, not simply about Ireland. Obviously, where the original material is in a decayed or illegible state, it would be quite pointless to do this, so I fully understand your concerns. Have you any idea on the state of Irish census returns and if there are any plans to digitise these documents? On the question of the WHC, I have no criticism at all to make of the staff employed there and they are probably on quite low wages themselves. My concern, as ever, is with the "powers that be" and my niece's experience (mentioned elsewhere) when she was seeking information on her great grandparents. She was quite distressed that she could not afford even the assessment fee and so my advocacy for digitising records is prompted by my concern for people in similar positions, who shouldn't feel deprived of information due to lack of funds or availability to travel to Ireland. I agree completely with your comments on "going back to reading a book." I'm an avid reader myself and a world without books would be a sorry place indeed. In supporting the internet, I certainly would not recommend it as a sole source for information. Rather, it is best used as a complementary tool to the rest of one's research. Because the internet, these days, reaches out to so many differing people around the world I don't believe its contribution to human knowledge should in any way be underestimated, though. There you go, Cara. No complaints from me and, although I have very rarely posted on these boards, I take a keen interest in all the information and opinion that is being shared. Your contributions, in particular, have never been anything other than fascinating and informative. I've printed out quite a number of posts from this board, which I'm keeping filed safely away - all ready for future reference once I really get down to my Irish research. I must stop rambling, too. All the very best to you Cara, and many thanks for running such an excellent board. Best regards, Marie ----- Original Message ----- > At the risk here of getting a little flack from those who would like to > see these books digitised and placed on the net, I also think that would > be great, so before you read on, please be aware that my feelings are the > same as everyone elses.<snip>