I have an opportunity to obtain the records of a retired surveyor.
He was in business for about forty years.
His business local is about the same as mine.
Is it a benefit to an on going business to purchase old records?
I will appreciate the opinions of those who have purchased records in similar situations.
Thanks
There are a number of factors driving the answer. First and foremost, are you in a recording State? That limits value but doesn't eliminate it. Field notes can be a gold mine. That brings up question 2.
Was there consistent and intuitive organization of the records? If you have to spend more time indexing the records than using them I would pass.
In short, estimate the nonbillable hours you need to make the records useful. Subtract that from the projected savings from having them over the following 18 months or so. That is the maximum value they hold. There are some (rare) exceptions.
After inheriting my dad's 30 years of records, I've come to the realization that un-indexed records have very little if any value.
Before I started my current database index in 1987, he only used the client's last name to label files, so unless you can remember not only that you did a job in a particular area, but who you did it for in 1975, you will never find it.
Purchasing someone else's records would be even worse, unless it comes with a well designed index.
JEFLS, post: 349892, member: 1771 wrote: I have an opportunity to obtain the records of a retired surveyor.
He was in business for about forty years.
His business local is about the same as mine.Is it a benefit to an on going business to purchase old records?
I will appreciate the opinions of those who have purchased records in similar situations.
Thanks
Gromaticus, post: 349899, member: 597 wrote: ...After inheriting my dad's 30 years of records, I've come to the realization that un-indexed records have very little if any value...
I have seen that to be true so many times. I have worked for a number of firms that retained monumental amounts of records, but the data retrieval was hit-and-miss either due to poor indexing or poor maintenance over the years. Granted there may be a goldmine of archived info. But like a goldmine there is a point where you have to sift through literally tons of muck just to find a speck of gold. Sadly, the cost prohibits the use of the data in most cases.
JEFLS, post: 349892, member: 1771 wrote: I have an opportunity to obtain the records of a retired surveyor.
He was in business for about forty years.
His business local is about the same as mine.Is it a benefit to an on going business to purchase old records?
I will appreciate the opinions of those who have purchased records in similar situations.
Thanks
I purchased a competing company a few years ago. With that company came 20 years of their records plus the records on 8 other surveyors in the area. I purchased the company because I did not want another competitor. The best part of the purchase came with his phone number. I still get calls for people wanting them to do work which I end up doing. As far as the files go, rarely use them. They do sometimes come in handy but nothing I could not deal with if I didn't have them. Not worth the space they take.
The benefit would be merely a personal one.
If you have work that is contained within the records from being a former employee, it would give you insight into the quality and reliability of the system and content.
There may be valuable information like reference maps, personal documented networks and/or of a nature that can not be found anywhere else.
The information would basically add to your already set of records and complete the available information of surveys of your area and you would have a one of a kind library of local survey records.
I can admit that doing research on an upcoming survey and not having to leave the house is a priceless option.......
B-)