Jewish Records Indexing - Poland
	The searchable database of indices to 19th century Jewish vital records from current and former territories of Poland. More thanrecords fromPolish towns now indexed and available. More added every month.

Photocopy Service for Shtetl CO-OP Initiative

The Goal: To help Shtetl CO-OPS

For many Shtetl CO-OPs, and individuals working on their own to index the records for their town, timely acquisition of quality photocopies, at an economical rate, can be an important first step.

One Solution: The Toronto Copy Service "Copy Service"

In photocopying the index pages for his Ciechanow Shtetl CO-OP, Stan Zeidenberg had a very positive experience using the facilities of the Toronto Reference Library (one of the non-LDS libraries with inter-library access to LDS films). This library has a number of high quality reader-printers able to produce copies in both the 8-1/2" x 11" and 11" x 17" format and the rate per copy is very reasonable. Machines are available on a first come, first served basis. 

It was clear that, by setting up a copying service at these facilities, there was an opportunity to accelerate the work of Shtetl CO-OPs and dedicated volunteers working on their own. Stan Zeidenberg agreed to launch such a service for JRI-Poland which has now been in operation since the summer of 1998.

Here's how the service operates:

1. Basic Charge:
   • Index pages from one LDS film: US$ 30.00
   • Index pages from two or more films: US$ 25.00 each.
2. Payment:
   Shtetl CO-OPs make donations to JRI-Poland for the exact total. The donations cover the cost of:
   • Film rental (from Family History Library, Salt Lake City)
   • Postage
   • Photocopying index pages

   Copy Service volunteers will use their best judgment in selecting paper size, copy magnification and number of pages required to provide the optimum readable index copies. The Copy Service, at its discretion, may make refunds of part of the basic charge in circumstances where the film has very few index pages. (Of course, Shtetl CO-OPs are always free to do their own copying if they believe money could be "saved" that way. In fact, this is encouraged as the Copy Service is just that... a non-profit service to help Shtetl CO-OPs who do not have access to a Family History Center or who lack volunteers to do the copying).

3. Accounting procedure:
   Upon receipt of the donation from the Shtetl CO-OP, the JRI-Poland Treasurer issues checks with the order for the films for a specific town. The funds are directed to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto) which acts as the banker for the JRI-Poland Copy Service. The JGS of Toronto makes the necessary disbursements for costs incurred by the service.
   
4. Delivery Time:
   The volunteers of the Copy Service cannot guarantee a delivery time since they are dependent on the receipt of films from Salt Lake City, availability of photocopy machines, and their own personal schedules.

To order pages for your town or for more information about the Toronto Copy Service, please contact JRI-Poland Shtetl CO-OP and Transliteration Coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius.