I MEANT "the MEMORIES of the people, the trains, the stories".... not sure if we need to physically preserve the people. ;) - - Paul Why not, it appears to have worked for Keith Richards! Like several others, "I wasn't going to comment on this topic, but..." I think the issue of accessibilty is paramount, and I don't necessarily mean being able to walk in and browse. I'm guessing that most people access the archives remotely, and will continue to do so even if they end up in NJ or Scranton. It appears that the membership is already quite geographically dispersed, and this will become increasingly the case as people continue to be driven out of the Northeast by high taxes, shuttered plants and monster snowfalls. Even if the collections end up in your state, you will probably prefer to have the info sent to you rather than drive 100 or 200 miles. This remote accessing will increase as they are eventually and inevitably digitized as Paul suggests. They will likely end up in former EL territory but the precise location is of secondary importance. Many of us, myself included, have experienced frustration and delay with the current arrangement, even when visiting in person. We should ensure that whoever ends up overseeing the collection is prepared to retrieve requested information reliably and with reasonable despatch. The other critical facet of accessibility is information, ie cataloguing. It's my understanding that much of the collection is still not catalogued, and you can't access info you're not aware of. So there is a need for volunteers to do this. Paul B The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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