The Debate on Open Access to Public Records

Recently Dick Eastman, in his online newsletter, wrote a short article on the status of this debate and what the Federation of Genealogy Societies (of which PGS is a member) is doing to bring some resolution to it. You can see Eastman's article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/03/open-access-to-public-records-a-genealogical-perspective.html

The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), a joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, has published a White Paper dealing with access to vital records in this post-9/11 world. The paper offers some sample legislative language that may be used by those crafting bills to fairly represent the needs of genealogists and still protect the public’s rights of privacy. You may view a PDF of the bill at FGS’ website at http://www.fgs.org/rpac.