Greetings,
First of all, let me say how much we appreciate the keen interest in LVA
collections - who knew an announcement about new microfilm would spark
such a lively discussion? Since my posting yesterday concerning the
microfilm duplication project has elicited such a large number of
responses, I'd like to follow-up with several points, some of which have
already been pointed out by other posters.
First, while we would all like increased and easier access to the
information that is vital to our research, the LVA continues to use
microfilm for a variety of reasons. Rather than spelling them all out
here, suffice it to say that the scale of information that the Library
is responsible for preserving can be staggering. Given the sheer volume
of the information in just the county and city microfilm collection
alone, the cost for scanning (the easy part of digital projects) alone
would be staggering, not to mention the continuing cost of providing the
infrastructure (servers, software, terminals etc.) and staff that would
be needed to maintain and make that information available. Just to
reiterate, this project is simply duplicating existing security
microfilm that is already held in our collection, not original scanning
of collections that have not been reformatted previously. One poster
mentioned correctly that the duplication project is a relatively
inexpensive (and quick) way to get additional local records to
researchers. While I appreciate that some localities may have their
deeds (images and corresponding index) or other records on-line, keep in
mind that those efforts only represent one records series for one
locality. In these cases, much of the conversion and indexing is done by
a vendor hired by the locality. Also, commercial ventures that provide
digital content on-line (such as Ancestry.com) generally do so for a
cost, whereas the LVA provides access to this information at no cost to
the user.
Having said all that, the Library is very much involved in digitizing
its resources, especially local records, as witnessed by the over 1
million images currently available on the Chancery Records Index (CRI).
I would also make the point that we are providing digital access to
records that have not been previously reformatted and secured by
microfilming. In other words, we are investing in providing digital
access to collections that are not currently available to a wide
audience (and by the way we are creating security microfilm of these
digital collections). You have to make choices on where to invest the
money you have at your disposal - again, you can only do so much with
the resources at hand.
We are continually adding indexes and images to the CRI (see link
below); in fact we will be posting a large number of new Rockbridge
County digital chancery images today. And trust me when I say that being
involved in these digital projects has made the LVA very aware of the
challenges of creating, maintaining, and serving digital collections.
Please know that these are discussions that staff of the Library has had
many times in the past and we will certainly do so again as we follow
the changing technology and what other cultural institutions are doing
in developing best practices. I hope I've answered some of the concerns
that I've heard and again want to thank everyone for their interest in
the Library and its collections.
http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm
Carl
Carl Childs
Director, Local Records Services
Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 692-3739 (phone)
(804) 692-2277 (CCRP) (fax)
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