SELLING HISTORY
Feb 14th, 2009 | By jonetta rose barras | Category: The Barras ReportTHE District of Columbia’s rich history may soon be in the hands of The Generations Network, Inc. (TGN), a company affiliated with the Mormon Church. The Barras Report has learned that Secretary of the District Stephanie Scott, who is responsible for the city’s archives, is negotiating an exclusive agreement with the company.
TGN owns and operates several digital databases, including Ancestry.com. In fiscal year 2007, it reportedly made more than $140 million. Money comes from memberships and access costs.
Some officials in the city worry that the deal with TGN will mean valuable African-American and local historical records–some dating back to 1790–will be removed from the District’s control. Moreover, residents, who should have ready access to such information, will be forced to pay to review their own history. There also are concerns that the records could be damaged or, worse, stolen, and that the general integrity of the materials could be compromised during their transfer. There also are questions about whether TGN would be liable for such damage.
The agreement that Scott is proposing would grant “TGN the rights and license to digitize, index, copy, publish, republish, market distribute and sell the Licensed Materials anywhere in the world within any media, including printed and electronic products of genealogical records –both and death certifications; marriage licenses, will, probate records etc—of the District government, located in the DC Archives,” say sources familiar with the negotiations.
The city essentially would relinquish physical and intellectual control of the genealogical records to TGN. These will be managed exclusively by TGN.
TBR was unable to determine the length of the agreement or how much the city will pay TGN.
Mike Ward, director of public relations for Ancestry.com, could not confirm the agreement, and was unable to reach the head of the department that handles” content relationships for Ancestry. Com. “Given the holiday, that person is likely unreachable until Tuesday.”
Mayoral spokesperson Mafara Hobson did not respond to an email request for comment.
Stay tuned.
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This is not true.
Stephanie D. Scott, Ph.D.
Secretary of the District of Columbia
http://os.dc.gov | 202-727-6306 | stephanie.scott@dc.gov
[...] THEMAIL—Gary Imhoff reacts to Barras’ news that the District is considering contract with Mormon-affiliated company to digitize archives, and [...]
Stephanie, in that case, how about some details on what’s really going on? Exactly which parts of Jonetta’s story are incorrect?
This is unbelievable! If true, I am infuriated. It’s bad enough that most of the historical buildings in this city have been razed for commercial buildings that have no character or aesthetic. Unlike other cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC and Boston, there are few buildings remaining that give people an inkling of life in the District of Columbia during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. At best, there is Georgetown, building facades in what was the Old City and barely visible plaques indicating what use to be at a particular site. I am vehemently opposed to this deal!
There’s a followup article that should probably be linked in an update.