Guidelines For Offsite Patrons Requesting Research
Before requesting a search, and in order to expedite your request, please read all of the information below and follow the rules listed. There are certain basic questions that need to be answered before research begins.
1. When requesting a search, send all names, dates, places of birth and any other info you know in order to help staff in finding your ancestor. State if you are looking for something specific. DO NOT request EVERYTHING the archives has on a particular surname.
2. What records do you want checked? If you only want certain records checked, please specify which records. [Example: census record, marriages, wills and estate settlements, court petitions, and minute books.]
3. List any records you have checked previously in Lawrence and in other counties in TN, or other states in the U.S. so I will not duplicate your search. Also, state whether you found info [Example: census, marriages, military records, etc. on Ancestry.com, findagrave.com, familysearch.org, etc.]
4. If you request more than one surname at a time, we have the option of completing one surname and moving the other to the end of the line behind other people who have submitted requests. This will allow us to provide this service for more off-site researchers in a shorter time.
5. When the search is completed, you will be emailed a list of records found with the price for each listed beside it. You can decide which records you need copied or have all of the material copied.
6. Family File Folders - If you only need information copied on a particular surname, we have already itemized the contents of many of these including price of each item. Several also list what other records we have on that family. I will simply attach the file and send so you can choose what you need. If your request is for a file that is not itemized, it could take up to 3 days for a staff member to find time to itemize if the file is large. Or, we can just count the pages in the file and you pay for the entire file in hopes of finding what you need.
7. Copy fees are currently 15c per page per side, 25c for 11x17; from old microfilm reader 25c, new microfilm scanner no charge if saved to USB drive, 15c if actual copy.
8. If you need a document certified, we will certify them for $1.00 per page.
9. The materials will be mailed to you after I receive a check or money order for the copies, postage and/or any research time. (Sorry, we cannot accept credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal.) Postage for shipping is calculated by weight and your zip code, so please be sure to include your zip code with your request. Depending on what the material is, it might can be mailed media mail. Books are normally mailed media mail.
10. Depending on what you are requesting, materials may be scanned and emailed, but this option is limited to 10 items.
11. Please credit the archives if you use any reproductions of our material for public use, especially photos and documents, using similar language as this: Courtesy of the Lawrence County Archives, Lawrence County, Tennessee. Or a specific citation stating where the image is located (collection, box, file, folder, etc.).
12. For published materials and photos in our collection, it is the patron’s responsibility to clear reproduction rights and adhere to U.S. Copyright Laws.
13. Make your check or money order payable to the Lawrence County Archives, and mail to the archives at 2588 Hwy. 43 S. Leoma, TN 38468.
Last updated November 17, 2017 by Kathy Niedergeses
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