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RE: (erielack) Re: ELHS Archives

One other thought I have about the archive is the investment aspect of it.  No doubt, the Society has spent a decent amount of money to have the archives stored at and catalogued by University of Akron.  The archive IS an asset to the Society, meaning that it is a possesion that has value.  The return on this asset is generated in the sale of copies of the archived materials.  I'm guessing that one of the hopes of the Society was to have the archive actually serve as a source of income someday.  If that is the case, I can understand the hesitation to relinquish ownership of the archive to NPS at Steamtown.  

However, it would be wise to do a financial analysis of the true income generating ability of the archive.  I'm sure that if losing a source of potential income is a concern to the Directors, that they will be analyzing the cost / benefit factor of retaining ownership and continuing to pay to house and catalogue the archive versus making a huge material donation to the NPS.  With the money that has been spent to house and catalogue the archives at Akron, I wonder how many copies of photos, documents, and maps it will take before the Society sees any profit (note, NOT income, but PROFIT).  If the purpose is to not make a profit on the archive, but to merely ensure that the materials will always (as in forever) be available to the membership and the public, then I think the Directors will have to seriously consider the Steamtown option.  

Being members of a democratic society, people get used to the idea of having a voice in anything that they are a member of.  NO, I'm not re-opening the beaten-to-death topic of the self-sustaining board of directors versus an elected board, but just stating that it can be frustrating to members who contribute to the running of the organization with their dues, yet have no voice in the operations of the Society.  Although I do have the confidence that the Directors ARE working on this problem to come up with a solution that they feel is in the best interest of the Society, not hearing any feedback from the Directors during this discussion contributes to this frustration.  

Tom Schmieder






From:  "Donald Barnickel" <JDBAR_@_worldnet.att.net>
Reply-To:  "EL Mail List" <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>
To:  "EL Mail List" <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>
Subject:  (erielack) Re: ELHS Archives
Date:  Thu, 1 Mar 2007 00:07:45 -0500
>Dear List Members,
>
>I'd like to offer one additional observation on the ELHS Archives issue. As
>has already been stated in this thread, the Tri-State Chapter of the NRHS
>donated their significant collection of EL material (from the Hoboken
>offices) to Steamtown sometime last year.  For those who don't know,
>Tri-State meets monthly in Morris County, N.J., where many of their members
>either reside or work.   As such, their Board of Directors must have
>wrestled 
with issues similar to (though not necessarily identical to) those
>that currently face the ELHS Board of Directors, including loss of ownership
>of their material.  The Tri-State Board also had to consider the
>disadvantage of moving their collection further away from (not closer to)
>the geographic center of their membership.  They must have weighed the same
>pluses and minuses of Steamtown and NPS ownership that have been discussed
>here as well as within the ELHS Board.  I'm sure their directors performed
>due diligence in obtaining the answers they needed to determine what was in
>the best interests of both their membership and their archives.
>
>Personally, I think the Tri-State Board chose wisely.  Their decision should
>assuage at least some of the concerns now facing the 
ELHS Board members who
>are considering Steamtown as a possibility for the ELHS Archives.  Indeed,
>the precedent has been set and it seems to have been successful so far.
>Equipped with this knowledge, perhaps the ELHS Board should be given the
>benefit of the doubt that they, too, will make a decision that is in the
>overall best interests of their members as well as the ELHS Archives.
>
>Don Barnickel
>
>
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