Message-ID: <000d01caa51e$e88ae8a0$0301a8c0@Jensen> From: "Don Jensen" <dnjkenosha@wi.rr.com> Subject: Re: Research Fees Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 16:19:09 -0600
It is my belief that smaller historical societies tend to undervalue the
services they offer.
This is particularly true when it comes to genealogically-related
research.
Research is a valuable commodity that can and should command a
reasonable fee.
If you take your car to a garage for service, you expect to pay a
certain charge, and not simply make a goodwill donation based on what
you might think a brake job warrants.
Assuming that your volunteer archivists know what they are doing when it
comes to "looking up data," and therefore can offer useful and valuable
services it is my opinion that fees be the same whether the research is
being done by paid staff (if any) or by knowledgeable volunteers.
People who are into genealogy should understand, and usually do, that
subscribing to Ancestry.com or one of the other similar on-line services
costs money. Getting research from some other archive such as a small
historical society also should cost money. It is not reasonable to
expect someone else to do work for you for free! I think most people
understand and will accept this.
Since every information request is different, some project may take 15
minutes, another one, hours, it makes sense to charge by the hour, with
a minimum charge. I feel that reasonable fee is a minimum of $20 for up
to 1 hour research time, with $15 per additional hour or fraction
thereof. That can include a reasonable number of free
photocopies/Xeroxes, perhaps 3, with additional copies, say, 25 cents
per page. Photographs are another matter and since most institutions
will have to farm that work out to a professional, actual cost should be
recovered, plus a modest couple dollar service fee for the museum.
That seems to be in the "ballpark," based on charges I have paid to
museums/libraries for
genealogical services rendered
--don jensen..
----- Original Message -----
From: The Fort
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: Research Fees
Bill, your questions are interesing as we "struggle" with finding the
right approach in asking for donations/collecting fees. We do not
presently have a structured fee schedule for our services. We have
talked about charging a flat rate for different kinds of research, but
it has not been implemented yet and no final decisions have been made as
to the rate. All research is done by volunteers.
Your website is very nice with wonderful picturs and a wealth of
information!
Regards,
May Schultz
History Library (Burnett County Historical Society)
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Schuette
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 6:58 PM
Subject: Research Fees
We are looking to revamp our research request fees, and wonder what
other historical societies charge for that kind of service.
Do you use a flat rate for different kinds of research? Or do you go
by an hourly rate? If so, what is your rate/hour?
If your researchers are volunteers, do you charge the research
requestor for their time?
Thanks, for any help you may wish to share.
Bill Schuette
Sauk County Historical Society