ATLANTA (AP) - Scholars, amateur genealogists and others are protesting the state's decision to limit public access to the Georgia Archives.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/PvdbBE ) thousands of people signed online petitions and Facebook pages over the weekend after Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced only limited public appointments to the archives will be available starting Nov. 1. Kemp says the change was necessary to help trim more than $730,000 from his office's budget.

The Georgia Archives house the state's collection of its most important and historical records dating to 1733, the year Georgia was founded as the 13th British colony.

Emory University historian Leslie Harris, who's upset by the change, calls the state archive "the attic for all of us, where memories are stored."