I have just returned from the Idaho Historical and Genealogical Library. I
wanted to copy the Cemetery records for Cambridge, Salubria and the
transcriptions from the Hillcrest Cemetery in Weiser that contain some
birth and death information. I was not allowed to copy them until I
received permission from the Idaho Genealogical Society who may or may not
have done the transcriptions. (It is very confusing as to where some of the
records came from. Some may have been transcribed locally and then recopied
from the originals by the Idaho Genealogy Society in 1950-60).
The Librarian called an IGS board member contact for me who happened to be
on her way to the Library. I waited for her to arrive and explained who I
was and what I wanted to copy and why. She answered " please answer me why
in the world we would allow you to do that". She was very concerned about
money, stating several times that researching for people was the way they
made their money. I was also warned that "someone is going to get their
butt sued off over this" as "copy writes are good forever" and "some
board
members are very upset over this issue". I don't know if the Idaho
Genealogical Society has publications for sale or if they just "make their
money" doing research. This 'lady' did give me permission to put the
Society's address, phone number and research fee on my site. I have
attempted to locate a site that would steer me to what they do offer but
all links offered for Idaho at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgw/links/idaho.htm came up 404 - Object Not
Found.
I would note that in the Province of Ontario, Canada, the Genealogy
Societies have submitted their cemetery transcription indexes to a Web site
called Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid. Once a name of interest is found and a
cemetery noted, a researcher can then order the transcription from the
publishing Society. All are served. It would seem in Idaho, you must pay a
researcher from the Society $10 an hour to search all Idaho State cemetery
records to try and locate a person who may or may not be buried here.
Washington County has been removed from the Internet. Someone else can "get
their butt sued off". Nor do I need to be upset by ignorant people such as
the representative of the Idaho Genealogical Society I definately did not
have the 'pleasure' of speaking with today.
Sincerely, Pat Roloff