[terry: [uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!CHRISTOP%NORUNIT.BITNET: Letter from Soc.roots on Usenet Netnews (2)]]

[Mark S. Miller <mark>]

On the dangers of monopolistic and/or non-redundant provision of
information storage services, or why the Ark of the Covenant is even
harder for anthropologists to find now than it was before.

Return-Path: <terry>
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 17:09:55 PDT
From: terry (Terry A. Stanley)
To: mark
Subject: [uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!CHRISTOP%NORUNIT.BITNET: Letter from Soc.roots on Usenet Netnews (2)]

Return-Path: <uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!ROOTS-L>
Date:         Mon, 25 Sep 89 02:06:57 EDT
Reply-To: ROOTS-L Genealogy List <uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!ROOTS-L>
Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List <uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!ROOTS-L>
From: Alf Christophersen 02 45 41 97 <uunet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!CHRISTOP%NORUNIT.BITNET>
Subject:      Letter from Soc.roots on Usenet Netnews (2)
To: Multiple recipients of list ROOTS-L <ROOTS-L@NDSUVM1>

>> File relayed from the Usenet NetNews list SOC.ROOTS
>> I am not responsible in any way for any information or text which is
>> displayed in the following text.
>>
>> Please send answers to THE LIST or the author of ORIGINAL MESSAGE.
>> In ANY CASE, DO NOT SEND ANY COMMENTS OR LETTERS DIRECTLY TO ME.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Path: ndsuvm1!cunyvm!nyser!njin!rutgers!usc!randvax!karen
From: karen@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Karen E. Isaacson)
Newsgroups: soc.roots
Subject: Re: Destruction of records after microfilming.
Message-ID: <2217@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 22 Sep 89 14:45:52 GMT
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica, Ca.
Reply-To: karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Karen E. Isaacson)
References: <2819NU021172@NDSUVM1>
Lines: 24

In article <2819NU021172@NDSUVM1> magill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>...many small town US courthouse type records are being
>microfilmed by these incompetent operators and then, THINKING THAT
>THE RECORDS HAVE BEEN PRESERVED FOR POSTERITY, the originals destroyed.

1.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I hear somewhere that the
National Archives destroyed the original 1910 census after microfilming,
but before the microfilms were developed?  So this phenomenon is
not limited only to small town courthouses.  (Nor to Mormon
missionaries, for that matter, not that magill made any implications
as to the identity of the incompetent microfilmers.)

2.  The remark about courthouse records being destroyed is certainly
on target.  I wrote off to a courthouse in Montana for a copy of
a great-great uncle's wedding license (I wanted his wife's maiden
name).  The county responded very promptly.  Imagine my astonishment
when I opened the envelop to find my uncashed check, the ORIGINAL
marriage license torn out of the book, and a note from the clerk
that the records had been microfilmed, so they didn't need the
originals anymore.
--
        Karen E. Isaacson
        karen@xxxxxxxx
        {...}!vortex!randvax!karen