Posted by Doug May on January 26, 2000 at 03:11:38 in 199.50.26.8 :
To all Titanic enthusiasts, modelers, and association members
As time goes on, I read many of the posts and discussions on this website about pictures and articles that people find related to the construction or lore of the Titanic. And I often wonder why, as an association, we can't use our influence to obtain copies of these sources for all of us to either purchase or view on this website.
We claim to be an association with a name, so why don't we use that name to provide a little influence and get access to ANY of these pictures or articles?
As an example: James Pepper has had some fascinating posts recently, about 1910 era Engineering magazines that appear to have photos, diagrams and articles about Olympic and Titanic during construction. Some of the picures sound quite unique, and they are not in a private individual's collection, but in a university libary archive section.
In cases like this, why can't we find a way to ask for permission, on behalf of the association, to make copies of these pictures/articles so we all can benefit from these new sources? Why do they all have to be kept under lock and key?
It gets very frustrating to me to constantly hear about all of these wonderful sources out there, yet some of the books that used to be in print are no longer in print and are hard to find, many of the photos are in private hands or archive collections, and even Ballard's photos seem to be off-limits to everyone as well as to us as an association.
Isn't it time, now that we have an official association, to use the association's name to possibly obtain access to some of these photos/articles? I know I would love to see the photos, and read the articles, and I am just one person. But I am a member of the association, and many of you are as well.
Does anyone else agree with me that the next step, now that we have an association, might be to try and obtain access to some of the sources that previously might have been denied to us?
We have a lot of information available to us about building the model with all of the great tutorials and postings on Sean's website but we are sorely lacking in members'access to relevant articles, pictures and sources that we all could share.
Not all of us have been able to purchase some of the recommmeded books about the Titanic that have been published, even though those who have them claim they are wonderful sources of information. Some people at this website are on budgets and can't pay $50 or $60 for a book even though they are very interested in seeing some of these pictures.
I know I would gladly pay to obtain selected photos or articles from some of these books, magazines, or other sources if we had access to copies of them.
I would like Sean's and others opinions about what I have mentioned here. Do you agree or disagree with me?
Thanks for your comments.