Comment: FamilySearch to Provide Access to World's Genealogical Records

I published an article yesterday entitled, Rumor Mill: LDS Family History Centers to Offer Additional Online Resources. I must admit that even I was surprised when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made an announcement only a few hours later, early on Monday morning. The announcement is everything that I had predicted and a lot more.

In fact, I believe this is perhaps the most important genealogy announcement of the past few years.

The first part of the announcement is a name change. Of course, the Church's web site is well known as FamilySearch.org. That brand name has become synonymous with genealogy searches. The Genealogical Society of Utah, an organization fully subsidized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has always performed the business of collecting and preserving records of genealogical interest. Now the name of Genealogical Society of Utah is being changed to FamilySearch. The organization that collects, preserves and publishes records of genealogical interest is now one and the same as the web site.

Next, FamilySearch has announced a major new program that will aid other organizations in placing their records online. FamilySearch will provide free services to archives and other records custodians who wish to digitize, index, publish, and preserve their collections. As mentioned in the announcement, "FamilySearch will also provide tools and assistance to records custodians who want to publish parts of their collection using state-of-the-art digital cameras, software, and web-based applications."

The result will be digitized records that may be hosted on FamilySearch.org or on most any other web site. FamilySearch is not concerned where the records will be hosted, only that the records be available to the general public for free or for a reasonable fee. The Church's goal is to increase public access to massive genealogy collections worldwide, regardless of where the information is located.

Even better, the providers of the information may opt to have the index of the record collection available for free on FamilySearch. Anyone who visits FamilySearch.org can search for records hosted on thousands of web sites, find a record of interest, click on the link and immediately view the record of interest. It makes no difference if the record itself resides on FamilySearch.org or on your local genealogy society's web site or any other web site that is a part of this collaborative effort.

One method of looking at this is that FamilySearch.org will now become the equivalent of a "Google for Genealogy." You will be able to visit one free web site and perform searches of tens of millions of genealogy records. You click on the link for a record and the next page you see will be that record, regardless of where the digital record is hosted

I would also point out one more item of note in the announcement:

FamilySearch will announce the first collaborative projects of its new Records Access program during the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Convention in Richmond, Virginia, the week of May 14, 2007. Many more project announcements are expected in the following months.

As I wrote at the end of yesterday's "Rumor Mill" article, "This should be a very interesting week for anyone who uses online genealogy resources!" I expect to be writing about more announcements in the next few days.

Comments

[Daniel Donatacci]

This is incredibly exciting!

[Sally Pocock]

Dear Dick Eastman, This is not a comment on the exciting LDS news which is wonderful, but I didn' know how otherwise to contact you. Incidentally I read your offerings daily and find most of them very interesting and helpful, especially those of UK interest.

I think your readers may be interested in an ongoing project here in Truro, England. I am now transcribing and indexing with very full details the many thousands of inmates of our Cornwall County Gaol. These Gaol Admission registers have only recently been discovered. Already completed are 7,500 inmates of the Bridewell, 1821-1848; and the prisoners of the Gaol proper from 1835-1841 (Vol.II); and from 1846- 1851,(Vol.III); each volume being separately produced on CD and available from me. There is worldwide interest in Cornish families, as so many Cornish miners went around the world for work. Many criminals, petty and otherwise, were transported, and these are all listed separately. There are wonderful personal descriptions and as the information completed so far is unique, and virtually pre any useful Census, it is essential to early research. Many non- Cornish men and women were also imprisoned in this Gaol. Anyone interested in full details of these CDs please contact me at :-

[Dick Eastman]

To contact me, click on "CONTACT US" in the menus to your right on this screen or on most any screen in this newsletter. That will take you to a page with an e-mail link for me as well as for my U.S., London and Skype telephone numbers and FAX number.

Thank you.
- Dick Eastman

[Linda Morris]

I wonder how this will affect the subscriptions to Ancestry.com, whose prices are ever increasing. I for one, resent the way they have combinded many databases into one subscription forcing you to purchase the whole bundle, when you may only be able to use a few. For example, my ancesters came from Ireland, France and Canada. I'm not interested in England Whales, Scotland, Germany or the rest of Europe and never use them, but I'm forced into an expensive subscription that includes all of these to get the records from Canada. I will carefully consider my renewal this year, now that there will be a great alternative at Family Search.

[Clay Gullatt]

It's not just the large fees that ancestry.com charges but a few years ago myfamily who owns ancestry.com bought genealogy.com and charges an even higher fee for that service rather than combing the two and charging one fee. If you want all of their services it is over $400.00 per year!

[Bill Buchanan]

I have often been critical of subscription-based services, but I have had excellent success, especially when researching in the USA, England and Wales at Ancestry.com

Actually, Ancestry.ca is a bargain if you are doing research in Ontario and Quebec (not as useful for other parts of Canada). I just now checked their website for the current price:
Canada Deluxe Annual Membership CDN $47.40
If that is too much, organize your research and sign up for a month or a week and complete it during that time period.

If researching in Canada, definitely take the time to check the census transcriptions and images at www.automatedgenealogy.com An excellent FREE resource for the 1901 (national), 1906 (prairies only), and 1911 (national) censuses.

Other Canadian (and international) resources are listed in the Online Research link at http://billbuchanan.clawz.com Many of these resources are free.