There's a lot of ways to look at this thing. Personally, I see nothing wrong with Genealogical Societies putting out information at a reasonable price so that others can benefit from its availability. (Not everything is available from the Family History Centers.) Most Societies, being non-profit in nature, recycle any "profits" into projects that will further research. (Our Society here in Omaha is working to put all of the released federal censuses into the public library, for example.) If it were done on the basis of paying a reasonable wage to the volunteers, plus all the other costs of running a business, there would be far less genealogical material made available to people so readily. You can imagine if funeral directors were inundated with people inquiring about their ancestors, they'd soon stop being so generous with their information, and of necessity, begin to charge for their time and materials. Many records aren't available on the 'net (somebody had to put them there, and that took time, effort, and cash from someone). Not everybody has 'net access...or is interested in obtaining it. (Who are we to question their decision?) The more that Societies put out, the more accessible information comes to people. Yes, at some point, families went to the funeral home in grief, made their selections, created the records. But sometimes those records are the only trace we're going to find of someone during certain periods. If you live halfway across the country from where someone you loved died, you may have no idea where to start looking for the information when there is no death certificate from the time period. (Talk about price gouging--what about the prices some states & counties are asking for birth, death and marriage certificate copies 100 or more years old?) Additionally, remember that many times costs are incurred by volunteers. If I go to our library to do lookups, I have to drive, or take a bus. If I drive, I have to pay parking. There are also copy and postage costs. As an RN, I get paid a very good salary--when I do lookups, I don't charge for my time--but with the nursing shortage in our city right now, I could be working and making far more than I'd charge to do people's lookups. Yes, if they want copies, I do charge a small fee for each copy--less than the ones advertised in such places as the Genealogical Helper--but anything gained gets turned into more microfilms for the library--so everybody benefits, not just myself. Other volunteers do the same thing. So let's all help Societies make more records more available to all of us. Join your local one and volunteer. Join one from where your ancestors started, and be a long-distance volunteer. Be part of the solution, rather than just griping about potential problems. There are records we're working on in an effort to make them accessible that haven't been available. Should everything be donated: travel time, search time, copies, everything? Should those away from the home town gain everything, and nothing be put back in to keep the wellsprings functioning? Pretty soon the volunteer sources burn out. If we're concerned about the costs of purchasing materials and are afraid that some far away society is going to get rich on the volumes we buy, purchase them, use them, and donate them to the nearest library that has genealogical resources...it might cut down on their sales--but the work would be made available to others. Karen