I don't think it's as simple as hoarding data for future publication (although that's part of it). I think most genealogical and historical societies are very closed groups and are there to preserve materials for *their* descendants - not to share it with the general public (the riffraff). I'm a member of several genealogical societies, but I call myself a sub-member. That means I pay my dues and am on the mailing list, but I'm not in the "inner circle." Recently I adopted a history website for my home county of Gwinnett, GA. I have no roots in Gwinnett, but I've lived here for 14 years and am a member of the historical society. I got just about everything available at the public library (which was very little). Then I went to the historical society library to poke around for non-copyrighted materials. The volunteer working that day happened to be the past president. She gave me a 45 minute lecture about working on an outside project when the society had ongoing projects. I tried to explain that, although the society is doing a lot of good work, it is not putting any information online, and that's what I do best. I asked her when her ancestors first came to Gwinnett County. She said, very proudly, "They were here before 1826." I said, "You are very fortunate, because many people aren't able to come to Georgia, and they would love to see the place of their ancestral home." I finally gave up and left the library. I'll have to go back another day when she's not there and exercise my rights as a member! Pat Sabin Hi, Jane! Sullivan, John wrote: > > Dear SC list, > Welcome to the new millennium (some may say a year early). > I was perfectly aware of why the Cemetery Listings were not > on-line and I completely disagree with the reasoning. > > In my humble opinion: > A few years ago, books were almost the only way to disseminate information. > > The genealogical societies put out various books in order to > share the information. Their clients were libraries, professional > genealogists, and other genealogical societies, and probably a small > number of individuals. I doubt if any of the publishers made any > significant money, rather, I suspect most ventures lost money or > broke even. We're not talking blockbuster novels on the NY Times Best > Seller list ("Cold Mountain"), we're talking about cemetery lists! > > As for the people who actually did the cemetery surveys, I suspect > they did it simply because they wanted the information to be available > to more than the few people close enough to go to the cemeteries themselves. > > In other words, they did it for the purpose of sharing the information with > as many people as possible. That has been my experience with the people > where I live who have done surveys, including myself. Labor of love, so > they say. > > A professional genealogist or business certainly > has the right to go do survey(s), compile them, hoard them, and/or sell > them. (Ever think about who holds the copyright on a tombstone > inscription?) > Family tree maker even gets people to give information to them so > they can sell it to others. The donors do it to disseminate the data and > find others with similar interests. > But should a local non-profit genealogical society be hoarding and selling? > > Isn't part of its charter to make the information available. > > As I said before, welcome to the new millennium. The internet is the best > place in the world to share and disseminate information. > Bad for hoarders and profiteers. > > And who knows when, if ever, the genealogical society will publish their > book. > > If people have done surveys in Colleton County and wish for them > to be on-line, I would graciously accept them via e-mail and > see about getting them published on the internet. please, no copyrighted > material unless you can send permission from the copyright holder. > > I was shocked to be told that the local genealogical society is in > opposition to on-line publishing and the people maintaining the local > web site are on the side of keeping the information unavailable. > > You are probably getting this e-mail via a listserve sponsored by > RootsWeb. Think about International Ships Transcribers Guild, > on-line census pages and transcriptions, people who publish their > family trees for the world to see, etc. Think about it! > > Best regards, > > John Sullivan > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jane Hurd [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 12:26 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [SCCOLLET] From List Manager: about St. Bart. Genealogy Society > > OK folks, > > I understand their position. They are a non-profit organization. If they > have local projects that want to complete, they must generate revenue from > membership dues, publishing books, etc. > > If I did research for a book or wrote a novel, I wouldn't give permssion to > somebody else to post it on their web page. If I posted it without > permission, it's called copyright violation. > > I wouldn't give someone permission to post the cemeteries online as long as > I was trying to sell the book. That's not using good business sense. > > The fact that the Dorchester cemeteries are online is through the generosity > > of the surviving authors. The books were published in 1978, 1979 and are > OUT OF PRINT. Very few copies are in the hands of libraries and most > libraries who have them, don't allow them released on interlibrary loan. > > I can not post the cemeteries online without their group's permission. > I can not volunteer (or have anyone else do it) to do lookups without their > group's permission. > I, like most of you do not live in South Carolina, so I don't have fast > access to the cemeteries. > > Why not try joining the group, making some friends in the group (several of > them live in Colleton County) and asking them to check the local records? > > The Old St. Bartholomew Genealogical Chapter > 104 Wade Hampton Ave. > Walterboro, SC 29488 > > Their monthly meetings are held on the second Sunday of each month, except > July and Aug. at the Library Annex, 615 Hampton St.,at 3:00 PM. > > If you are interested in joining this chapter of The South Carolina > Genealogical Society, their yearly dues are > > individual $12.00 > family $18.00 > associate $8.00 > > NOTE - Associate dues apply if you are already a member of another chapter > of The South Carolina Genealogical Society; your state dues were paid by the > > first chapter you had joined. > > I do know the frustration of not having access to the records that pertain > to your ancestors. The fact that Sherman marched through South Carolina and > > burned courthouses makes all of our research frustrating. > > Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry if you can't see it from their point of > view. Can someone post the status of the book? > > Jane Hurd > [email protected] > > Colleton County SCGenWeb > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/4197/colleton.html > > >From: "Sullivan, John" <[email protected]> > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: [SCCOLLET] Need Help Colleton County Cemeteries > >Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 13:51:19 -0600 > > > >I need help finding a few ancestors in Colleton. > >There seem to be almost no Colleton Cemeteries on-line, > >and have been told there is opposition to making them > >available on-line so that Colleton Historical Society > >can (someday?) make a book with them and sell them. > > > >I have looked in "Cemeteries of Upper Colleton County", > >but Walterboro/mid/lower Colleton County are a problem. > > > >Anyone out there have the information available and > >are willing to do a few look-ups for me? > > > >Thank you, > > > >John Sullivan > >Austin, Texas > > > > > >==== SCCOLLET Mailing List ==== > >Visit http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1968/sc_colleton.html > >Colleton Co - American Local History Network > > > >============================== > >Free Web space. ANY amount. ANY subject. > >RootsWeb's Freepages put you in touch with millions. > >http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi > > > > Rootsweb has started a new discussion list for both Colleton and Dorchester > Cos. > To subscribe: [email protected] or > [email protected] > with subscribe as the subject > > To post, use this shorter address: [email protected] > [email protected] > Jane Hurd > [email protected] > > Colleton County SCGenWeb > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/4197/colleton.html > > Colleton Co SC - American Local History Network > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1968/sc_colleton.html > > Darlington County SCGenWeb > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/5641/ > > Darlington Co SC - American Local History Network > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1968/sc_darlington.html > > Dorchester County SCGenWeb > http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/1956/dorchester.html > > Union Co SC - American Local History Network > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1968/sc_union.html > > Williamsburg Co SC - American Local History Network > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1968/sc_williamsburg.html > > Jane's Space on the Web > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/4197/jane-web.html > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > ==== SCCOLLET Mailing List ==== > Visit http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/4197/colleton.html > Colleton Co SCGenWeb > > ============================== > Search ALL of RootsWeb's mailing lists in real time. > RootsWeb's Personalized Mailing Lists: > http://pml.rootsweb.com/ > > ==== SCCOLLET Mailing List ==== > Visit http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/4197/colleton.html > Colleton Co SCGenWeb > > ============================== > The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > 12.8 million individuals and counting. > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/