tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post115005802131864486..comments2024-03-26T11:22:41.940-07:00Comments on Genea-Musings: The Ancestral Golden Arches of Genealogy?Randy Seaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17477703429102065294noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-25622885278797357532010-07-30T20:29:14.742-07:002010-07-30T20:29:14.742-07:00This is clearly a case where "new" inter...This is clearly a case where "new" internet genealogists see the glass half full and us "old" genealogists see the glass half empty. Of the postings only Bill West notes the problem of money, a real concern.<br /><br />Have you read Nicholson Baker's book, Double Fold? This is the true story that after many U.S. newspapers were microfilmed, the original papers were destroyed. Baker delves into the problems that color pictures were lost, which editions were microfilmed (the N.Y. Times alone had several daily editions), etc. We think we are saving records via one type of technology and inadvertantly destroy some in the process.<br /><br />I'm wondering how many court houses are not saving old court cases? Certainly 19th century court cases have no value today. Are they being saved? They are certainly not being digitized. Certainly deeds are not being digitized. Probate records are not being digitized. Companies are picking the lowest hanging fruit. Vital records. Military records. Census records. Are we presuming that the Family History Library has already microfilmed it all? That would be a terrible error of thinking.<br /><br />There is nothing so frustrating as to read a footnote in a work 80 years ago, and not be able to see the record because it has been lost. Trust me--I know.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205797878738290997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-51696613098892655982010-07-30T16:34:19.510-07:002010-07-30T16:34:19.510-07:00Record loss is a real problem. But not a new one. ...Record loss is a real problem. But not a new one. In balance, I think we are into the digital age and whether it is dark or light will depend on issues we probably have yet to see or understand. But I do know, that I would not have seen quite so many U.S. Census records had Ancestry.com and others not made them available online.James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.com