LowellDeeds

Older index books are becoming a real problem for us. Because they're constantly in use, they have been seriously beaten up with pages curled, torn, and unattached from whatever remains of the binding of the book. Our computerized index only goes back to 1976 (document images go back to 1950), so if you want to search someone's name in either the Grantor or Grantee Index prior to 1976, you must come to the registry and handle one of these rapidly disintegrating books. Putting more of the index onto the computer system is a huge task. Back in 1996, we had ten employees devote all of their time for 15 months to such a data entry project. They added just ten years (1976-86). We no longer have the personnel resources to accomplish such a project and having an outside vendor do it is unaffordable. We are experimenting with a program that uses the electronic images of the actual index pages. This system would work much like the books do. Instead of entering a specific name in a computerized database, this system would allow you to jump to the page that began with a particular name and then view that entire page for the information you seek. You would then copy the book and page of the document you wish to view, shift to the standard computer program, and pull up that document by its book and page number. We will keep you informed of our plans and ideas about this problem. As always, we welcome all suggestions and comments.