Lynne wrote:

The other broader question arose when I told our historian of what we are
doing and he scowled and replied "No one is going to come into the museum if
you have all this online." I realize that this is an ongoing debate today,
but I am curious as to whether other list members have a sense of whether
extensive Internet resources have a depressing effect on the number of
visitors to their museum -- or whether they encourage attendance.
=============

I have a master's degree in library and information science and years of
library experience. We librarians are dealing with the same dilemma. Our
county's newspapers date from the beginning of our county (not so old --
1904), and they are used frequently for historical or genealogy research.
The process is to go to the newspaper and to borrow a microfilm from the
years we need. Then we take the film to the local library to use their
reader. If we want to make copies, we have to drive to Lubbock (40 miles
northeast) to use their readers that will make copies.

All of this is to say that we need to make the information available online
so we can protect the originals. Those who are doing scholarly research will
still need to look at the originals, maybe even digitally photo them, but
others will be satisfied with online copies. It seems that protecting the
originals while still giving access is primary here.

Betty
--
Betty DuBose Hamilton
Chairman, Terry County Historical Commission
Brownfield, Texas

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