Good work, Dick. I forwarded this to the Grosvenor Room in the hopes that they can cite a source for the "no remote lookups" rule. --- Dick Hillenbrand <[email protected]> wrote: > Here is a little more information that I can tell you all. > > I immediately forwarded the information that Cynthia put on > this mail list > to the Syracuse library. > The librarian checked with supervisors, data processing > because the man > there used to be in Local History/Genealogy and was told that > they have been > doing lookups for free, for patrons since day one. She also > called the > librarian at the Rochester library and was assured that there > was no "law" > against it. > > They were confident enough to ask me to add some additional > information on > my Blog toady, which I did. > I have no part in this other than reporting it as news. > Personally I > applaud the OCPL and truly hope there is not a problem. > > Dick Hillenbrand > Upstate New York Genealogy Blog > http://ny-genes.blogspot.com > > > On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 7:13 PM, M <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Just a thought, has anyone called (Dept of Health) to see if > there really > > is a law against it? I work late hours all week, or I'd > call to ask. I > > think I was told once before as long as the rules for time > were followed... > > here is a list from NYS Dept of Health > > > > Birth certificates - if on file for at least 75 years and > the person > > whose name is on the birth certificate is known to be > deceased. > > Death certificates - if on file for at least 50 years. > > Marriage certificates - if on file for at least 50 years and > the bride and > > groom are both known to be deceased. > > > > And a link to their website as well as contact information. > > > > http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/phforum/foil/foil.htm > > > > As long as the person is not alive, where would identity > theft come into > > play? For that matter, someone could get a copy of a draft > card (WWI or > > WWII) and use the date of birth, parent information and > steal that identity. > > Bottom line is, it happens no matter what "security" the > government > > imposes. And at what cost to a person's freedom to > information? > > > > Marcy N. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.-* Cynthia Van Ness, MLS, bettybarcode AT yahoo DOT com http://www.BuffaloResearch.com "Everyone claims to want a city, but no one here wants city living. City living by its definition is crowded. It is tolerant of other people. It is dependent on a sophisticated population that makes a hundred compromises daily so that they can benefit from the collective energy that a city generates." --Robert N. Davis, Jr. (1955-2007)