Asking someone who's on site
I used this function a few months ago but cannot find it again on the new website: where can I ask someone who's on the precise city or country to look for a document I cannot access from my country? it was hidden somewhere but it worked really good and fast, and I received the scan of the file I asked in a few days, for free. Does it ring any bell to someone?
Best Answer
-
Do you mean the remote lookup service?
3
Answers
-
yessss! thank you a lot Áine Ní Donnghaile!!! you rock!👏
2 -
I also like the idea of expanding lookups to archives/locations around the world. Hopefully such will become industry standard!
Question (related to thread so hopefully ok):
If/as the computer index for restricted records becomes available - will the lookup service perform lookups for a specific person and possibly then provide the image (an index should make it easier for researchers not knowing an exact image number)?
0 -
@genthusiast, forgive me if I misunderstood, but I think you've got things backwards. The whole point of the lookup service is to provide the images to go with indexed records that people want to check up on. If it weren't indexed, people wouldn't know which image to ask for.
Yes, restricted films are actively being indexed, if not "All The Time", then "Frequently". Sometimes, the indexing happened before the contract changed, but more often, the indexing project simply includes all of the images that the record custodian wants indexed, which means that yes, occasionally indexers see pages that are otherwise restricted, but this is part of the contract.
1 -
@Julia Szent-Györgyi what I'm asking - since computer/AI indexing is becoming the rule is - will the lookup service be able to lookup even on restricted film records (for specific ones that may not be...). Lookup service might have access to the index before researchers ... But researchers might know rolls they are interested in...
Yes, you're right though - since they are breaking the film rolls apart - restricted rolls may not be able... But who knows - maybe they'll get more specific with which digital images are restricted.
Just looking to get as much out of AI index to researchers as possible is all I meant.
0 -
The request form asks for the image number, if known, and the URL, if known. In other words, there seems to be the option to request something that is not indexed.
I haven't tried requesting something for which I didn't have all the details.
0 -
I agree that is best if you know what you are looking for ... That's why it's a 'lookup service'. I probably didn't explain what I was thinking very well (again) - what I mean is if they have access to an internal index that is not yet released - if given a name, date, place or relation combination for example - if they would look that up? Researchers might know the film they want to search - but if restricted or only at the library - they might have some information just not all.
0 -
It probably depends on who is assigned to process your request. Some of the helpers are wonderful, going beyond the minimum. Others seem to prefer using the "we can't do that" button as quickly as possible.
2
