NGS Opens "Members-Only Data Section" for Holiday

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogical Society opens the "Members-Only Data Section" of its Web site www.ngsgenealogy.org for the Thanksgiving Holiday!

In recognition of the number of families that will be together over the Thanksgiving Holiday, the National Genealogical Society will open its "Members-Only Section" from November 23 through November 26, 2006 free of charge.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to ask questions about your grandparents, great grandparents, and great, great grandparents.  Where did they live? How long had they lived in the community? Who were their brothers and sisters? What did they do for a living? Did your ancestors immigrate to the United States in the 19th or 20th Century? What was their country of origin? Did your ancestors serve in World War I, World War II, the Civil War, the War of 1812 or the Revolutionary War? There are records about your family waiting to be discovered!

The National Genealogical Society has many resources to assist you in your family history research.

• Our Members Ancestry Charts contain more than a million names, with more than 800,000 names already online. Additional names are being added monthly.
• Our Bible Collection includes more than 3,000 Bibles with more than 50,000 names online.
• Our bookstore includes popular genealogical publications, Genealogy 101, Online Roots, The Organized Family Historian, and Unlocking Your Genetic History. A great Christmas gift for the genealogist in your family.
• Members receive a quarterly NewsMagazine with articles about record sources and methodology to improve your research.
• Members receive the NGS Quarterly four times a year, a scholarly publication which includes compiled genealogies, case studies, essays on new methodologies, critical reviews of current books and previously unpublished source materials.
• An Annual Conference in the States and Family History Fair held this year on May 16-19, 2007 in Richmond, Virginia, will feature "400 Years of Virginia History" along with 150 exhibitors and over 140 lectures, workshops, luncheons and networking events. 

For those ready to take the next step, check out our Learning Center where you can sign up for "Introduction to Genealogy" - an online course available at a discounted price for members. If you are an experienced family researcher, our "Home Study Course" may help take your research to the next level.

To access the NGS Members Only Section, click on http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/Members/promotion.cfm  and enter the username: member and password: ngspromo in the respective textboxes when prompted for credentials. Upon successful login, please feel free to browse our website including the Members Only Section.

If you are already a NGS member, we hope that this brief open access will enable a family member to make contact with you via the National Genealogical Society and perhaps solve a missing link in your genealogical research.

Come, take a look at our website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org over the Thanksgiving Weekend and consider membership in NGS.

Comments

[Linda Waha]

I tried to sign in as directed this morning (3 times), but was denied access. Why?

[Linda Waha]

Sorry, I misread the dates.

[D.S. Ford]

After entering the username: member and password: ngspromo about 50 times, I still could not access any of the NGS "member only" areas. Also, tried both the links provided. Guess you have to jump thru some kind of loops to take advantage of this "offer?"/

[Dick Eastman]

Please note the second sentence in that announcement: "...from November 23 through November 26, 2006..." The special offer hasn't started yet.

- Dick Eastman

[Regine Brindle]

It's after midnight and it's not working yet. Maybe it starts in the morning.

[Concetta Phillipps]

Yup, I just tried too. No dice for me, either. I'll try again when I get up at 10.

[Trudi Short]

Still not working at 7:14 a.m. eastern time.

[Bruce Robinson]

I tried early this morning as well as just now (it's 6:15 MST). It shows me as logged in as Terri, but Terri must not be in good standing with the NGS as I was denied everywhere as well.

[Tanya]

Maybe they forgot about the "free access"?

[Barbara Whiteside]

Trying from the UK. Got on to first page then was refused entry everywhere else as a NON MEMBER. Even created an account. Still no luck. Seems once again "If it seems to good to be true it usually is!!!!!!"

[Doug]

0930 on Thanksgiving Day and still can not access the NGS database.
DICK!! Are you up and reading this yet? Have you been able to get in?

[Ron Fedele]

Well it's after 11 EST and no access. Oh well...

[Miriam Robbins Midkiff]

It's 8:38 PST and I am having the same problems as those mentioned above. I'm also logged in as "Terri" and also having problems accessing anything.

Somebody goofed somewhere, and since it's a holiday, no one's at the office to correct the mistake.

[Jfudy Boyd]

I agree. No access here and it is 11:12 Central Standard Time. I am thinking it is a way to get us interested without delivering any service. Why should we even want to join and risk not being able to access the information? When I got logged in and not being able to access the "For Members Only" it also showed me as "Terri".

[Sharon Meeker]

12:30 Eastern Time and I can't get access either. I am also logged in as "Terri." If NGS is trying to encourage people to sign up for a $55 membership, I am underwhelmed. I doubted that the online databases had much of interest to me anyway, but wanted to check it out -- just in case there was more there than the descriptions suggested. Too bad. I don't think NGS really needs any negative publicity.

[Anthony Rockefeller]

I was able to log in as "Terri" and was able to get to ONE record for review. After that, the NGS system shut me out and does not even recognize the login. I sent an email to their contact person and let them know that such poor performance does NOT encourage me to join NGS.

[L. Best]

It's 2:40pm, Eastern time, on the 23rd. I can't get on the advertised promotion. I only get a big red "error" box that says: Sorry, but your user name and password were not correct. I'm using the name "member" and "ngspromo" as instructed. Earlier today, it said that I too, was "Terri", but I couldn't get any further. Now, it won't even log on as "Terri".

[Mary Ann Gohr]

I got logged in as "Margaret", but she doesn't have any more pull than Terri does, because I couldn't get anywhere, either. It's very frustrating!

[Pat]

It is 10:40 am CST and still no access. Maybe they are cooking the NGS Turkey first!

[Miriam Robbins Midkiff]

I sent a message to NGS and was pleasantly surprised to get a message from someone in their office who encouraged me to try again. It is now working! (12:47 PM, PST)

[Faye D'Amore]

Is everyone typing the username: member and password: ngspromo? I am unable to access the site and I am very frustrated.

[Kriss]

I got into the promo section, but when I try to access any pages that aren't public, I'm prompted to enter a member ID and password. I had been toying with the idea of joining, and hoped that this weekend would help me decide. Frustrated, too.

[Ben Franklin]

After surfing all over their site, I was able to get only a few pages from Bibles to actually work. Everywhere else is still denied. I'm sure this promo was to gain business, but if their site is this poorly administered, I, for one, think that their promotion has backfired. It's unfortunate, but I'm much less interested in subscribing than I was before their offer.

[Scott McKay]

Hi, it took me for ever to get into the membership only area. When I got in there it was very slow, Or could not access information, because to many people were trying to access information. There server could just not handle the load. Which is unfortunate because of all the new possible members the society could get. Leaves Egg on Face.
This always seems to happen, when a genealogy data bank offers. free resources for a limited time.
Scott

[Pat]

I tried again today--yesterday was only able to access one Bible record and cannot get access to anything else today.

I am quite disappointed, as I wonder if this access problem happens if you are a member also.

I am very discouraged that, in the MAC portion of NGS ancestries, there are only 2 instances of the surname I am searching--the lowest of any website I have ever used! I could not access those ancestries because the site was so slow and showed a server error.

I don't know if I will try again, and based on this experience, I will NOT join NGS!

[Mary]

I got in but cant get to any pages nothing will transmit. I joined before and it was a waste of money I thought. I used the lending library books sent to your home which I thought was the only thing worth the money then they did away with it.

[Mary]

I got in but cant get to any pages nothing will transmit. I joined before and it was a waste of money I thought. I used the lending library books sent to your home which I thought was the only thing worth the money then they did away with it.

[Brenda]

Friday night; 11:50 pm CST (USA). Error message: cannot find server. Maybe you can extend the 'free offer' since no one can access?

[Kathy Meyer]

ditto. Sat, 25th, about 6pm MST, slow, slow, slow, error messages, no use whatsoever. I got logged on OK but it doesn't do any good. $55 a year?! I get tons more from Godfrey Library for only $35.... I hope they fix the site and give us another free chance to try it.

[Linda]

This is the third time in two days I have tried to access NGS. It is incredibly slow, and I only get Server errors when I enter a name. No sale here!