I just wondered how many people knew that the Records Office at Myddleton Street in London is closing - in fact the ground floor closed this week, and all those huge ledgers have been shipped off for storage in Dorset, never to be seen again. What's more - the promised on line version has been delayed - so it's microfiche only until 2009. Still - I guess most of us are already using 3rd party on line resources but it's a shame for those who made visiting the GRO a 'day out' and for visitors from abroad. Also for meeting up with more experienced researchers. Ah well. Progress! But I'm sure many of us have nostalgic memories of jostling for space as we heaved the ledgers into position and the excitement shared breakthroughs were made. I think quite a few of the records at Kew have/ are being digitised too so the originals will be unavailable - and sometimes not all info transcribed. Sue

sue collins wrote: > I just wondered how many people knew that the Records Office at > Myddleton Street in London is closing - in fact the ground floor > closed this week, and all those huge ledgers have been shipped off > for storage in Dorset, never to be seen again. What's more - the > promised on line version has been delayed - so it's microfiche > only until 2009. That's not quite correct. The *new* indices due under the DoVE project won't be available for some time yet, quite possibly not even in 2009 *but* the old indices are still available via ancestry, findmypast and familyrelatives, amongst others. Fiche is not the only option. AIUI, the project had stalled completely but with the ONS (which has responsibility for the GRO indices) being transferred to the IPS (Identity and Passport Service), it's moving again. It may also be that there will, eventually, be restrictions placed on the more recent events. If there is anyone using a fiche that isn't legible, then the original volumes can, and will be, checked by a member of staff on request. It won't be an instant check and it won't be available to the public either. > I think quite a few of the records at Kew have/ are being digitised > too so the originals will be unavailable - and sometimes not all > info transcribed. The National Archives are only doing what has been the case in record offices for a number of years. With the growth of interest in family history and genealogy, the old (and not so old) documents won't stand repeated handling. If they are to be preserved for future generations then they have to be digitised. Nevertheless, original documents will remain available as, when and if the need arises. They just won't be automatically produced. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, SOM