We have the records of two funeral homes so far in our collections. Since they are records of private businesses and the businesses donated them to us, and whereas we do inform the businesses through deeds of gift that collections will be open to users, these materials are open to all. We did meet with our university attorney last month and she stated that all records we acquire are considered "public records" and must be open. She is looking at the Florida definition which says "used in the course of the agency's business" must be public...and her argument is that that is precisely our archives' business...to acquire, preserve, and make available. But in looking at legal exemptions to the public records law, we found two important ones. First, there is a exemption permitting archival records donated to be placed under restrictions per agreements with the donor and receiving agency. Second, there is a state exemption that "official death certificates" (certified/seal) issued by the State of Florida that contain the cause of death are closed for fifty years. Accordingly, we have gone through the funeral home records and removed the official certificates and are sealing/storing them separately so the funeral home records are still open for use. As we reach 50-year marks, the certificates will be refilled in the record series (!). I did ask about cases where other materials might indicate cause of death, e.g. notes by the funeral director, autopsy reports (if any), etc. but the exemption to the public records law was specific only to the official State of Florida death certificates, and our university attorney was on spot about this. Other than that, the funeral home records are open to any researcher. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian, Special Collections John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 850-474-2213 [log in to unmask] A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>