Free Public Access on Ancestry.com

In case you missed it, the following was in today's announcement from Ancestry.com:

To commemorate the NARA-Ancestry.com agreement on the eve of Memorial Day, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Military Collection -- the largest online collection of American military records -- available for free to the public. From May 20 through May 31, people can log on to http://www.ancestry.com/military to view more than 100 million names and 700 titles and databases of military records, the majority of which come from NARA, from all 50 U.S. states.

You can read the full announcement at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/05/ancestrycom-and.html

Comments

[Rob Westguy]

Your title is misleading. It is not free.
You need to provide your details.
Once you provide these, you will receive lots of Ancestry.com spam.

[Dick Eastman]

It is free. You pay no money. Lots of sites ask you to provide your name and e-mail address. There's nothing unusual here.

- Dick Eastman

[Rob Westguy]

I did not say it is unusual.
I pointed that it is not really free, as you have to give your details.

[Dick Eastman]

But it IS really free. That's the point. There is no requirement to pay any money. Therefore, it is free.

[Dave S.]

Dick, with all due respects, you are wrong on this one.

I'm sick of all these things being advertised as free, that aren't.

[Rob Westguy]

Dick, if you think that all those names and email addresses they obtain for their "free" offer are worth nothing, you don't understand the economics of "free". Wired did an article not so long again that non-technical people can understand. Maybe that helps.

[Dick Eastman]

When I went to school, I was taught that "free" means "without payment of money."

Sure, everyone collects names but that doesn't cost money. My local library lends books to town residents free of charge but they make me sign up for a library card first. They collect my name and address but it doesn't cost any money. That's why it says "free library" over the front door.

[theKiwi]

In the context that it doesn't cost money it's free!!!!!!!!!!! Seems very clear to me!!!!!!

If "it doesn't cost money" isn't your definition of free, then I guess for you NOTHING is free - even reading this rebuttal you've had to expend a mouse click or two to get to it, and if you reply in some way it will cost you a whole bunch of key strokes.

Dick provides a free service here. The seemingly constant nit-picking annoys me at times, and all I do is come here to read it - I don't know how annoyed I'd be at some of the reactions here if I had written and posted it FOR FREE!!!!

[JDR]

In my book Dick is using free correctly. It would be helpful to readers to add "with registration."

[Rob Westguy]

"When I went to school, I was taught that "free" means "without payment of money.""

I am sorry to hear your teacher had such a limited understanding of English.
Free has more than one meaning and money is not the only thing of value.

[Don]

It appears that not all of your readers are sensible. If you don't have "throw away" e-mail addresses for those occasions, then you deserve spam.

[Mary B.]

Leaving your name and email address is not too much to ask...I have multiple email addresses and none of them are connected to my "real" name... so the name and email address you give them to access the site is up to you...get the picture?

[Mary B.]

Leaving your name and email address is not too much to ask...I have multiple email addresses and none of them are connected to my "real" name... so the name and email address you give them to access the site is up to you...get the picture?

[rod]

This means that all of the paying subscribers will get unacceptably poor performance during the "free" period like the free access that killed footnote?

[Laura]

Something killed Footnote? Last time I checked (2 minutes ago during my regular morning favorite website checks) it was not only still "alive" but thriving.

[Joan Shurtliff]

I'm sure the military records are free, but the crux of the matter comes down to business practices. Once Ancestry.com gets a name and email address, it's almost impossible to get off their list. I subscribe and the situaion has gone from getting a phone call to see if I want to renew my membership to automatically getting charged each year which means they have my credit card information on file. Although many companies do the same thing, I don't appreciate it. The thing that I detest is that when the changeover came, I was also subscribed to their magazine. I'm not going to comment on the quality of the magazine, but it doesn't fit my needs. To unsubscribe, I had to send them written notice - a letter via snail mail. No other magazine that I subscribe to requires this. I will forward the information about the free military records to folks that might be interested along with a caveat about getting on a spam list and the decision is up to the individual.

[Kim Watson]

The person that has a problem with 'free'( without strings or payment) information needs to get a life and quit nitpicking a small point to death.
Thanks for your 'free' information about genealogical sites etc,. It has helped me find items about my family.

[mudgekin]

All very reminiscent of a time when a certain previous President questioned what the definition of "is" is.

[Maggie]

I just followed the link and it recognizes me since I used to be a subscriber. I went to the military site, and all the links are dead. The only place to put a name is if you "start your family tree" i.e. Give them names and relationships and dates they can harvest into their mis-mashed family tree to mess up everyone else who is searching. I just want to search on my family surnames, and I will never post family tree information until I am convinced I have done my own research and won't be mislead by others. I am disappointed if this kind of action is what the U.S. National Archives considers an appropriate way to make government information available to the general public.

[Adrian]

1) I went to the "U.S. Military Collection" link off the front screen under "What’s New on Ancestry.com", clicked on that and got to the Search Form (below "Start your Tree"). (By the way Maggie - I do share your distaste for the mish-mash. Mashing together needs brain-power not IT grunt-power. I only wanted to point out that the links worked for me.)

2) Where do I collect the money I bet myself about the tenor of the first few replies on this topic?

[lee]

I can't get anywhere with this site period. Nothing is working right. Keeps telling me to put in my name etc. yet it doesn't accept it. As usual ancestory hints at being a helpful site yet is a ripoff for your own genealogy!
I wish NARA had of researched what they were doing before handing Ancestry.com the silver spoon!

[Debbie]

I just tried Ancestry tonight and its working just fine! I found my great-great-grandfather's Civil War record and my grandfather's World War I Draft Registration. I even found my husband's grandfather's World War I Canadian Army enlistment papers. Works beautifully.

[Susan]

I agree with Dick. If there is no exchange of money, services or goods, it is free. Now, on the other hand, "there are no free lunches." Of course, Ancestry is going to collect our data so they can advertise. I expect this. They are not a charity, but rather a business. They are using good business skill here, hoping to draw in new customers. Give Dick a break!

[Maggie]

I figured out that my Firefox plugin -- No Script -- was interfering with use of Ancestry, and I was not familiar enough with it to figure out which "script" to allow, so all the links were dead.

I do not mind paying for government services of this nature at all; and just want to say that if we were each asked to donate a buck or two before an open access period, and then given an access code; and the funds (millions? of dollars) went into a fund to assist this kind of service in the future it could be worth it to help others find their info.

More than anything though, I think they are misleading millions of people by asking for the names of the living to start a family tree. That is personal and private information, and when their computer starts trying to link other search names to that name, heaven help us all. Has anyone else had someone post a family tree named "my Heinz 57 tree" and then found their name in it (without a doubt)? -- Hideous!!
Maggie

[Linda]

Thanks. It gave me a chance to confirm that Ancestry.com still has not corrected the Ancestry.com WWII Enlistment records. Ancestry obviously botched the import. They admitted it six months ago but have done nothing and it is a relatively easy fix to make. While not a particularily user friendly interface, NARA has the most accurate information. If you want your veteran's army service number and want accurate data in the "Civil Occupation" field, go to http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=893&cat=GP23&tf=F&bc=sl. This error and omission of a key piece of data (the army service number) affects hundreds of records.

[Teresa]

Personally I am thrilled that Ancestry has released this free time for the military records. I have used them a lot in the last few days.

My only complaint. Could they do this next year, say in January? I know they want it to coincide with Memorial Day, but I am torn between the 85 degree 0% humidity outside and the military records inside.

I do not own an Ancestry subscription. Earlier this year I decided I could spend a little money each month on genealogy, and was trying to decide between Ancestry and ordering microfilm from our state archives. For $25 I can purchase a roll of microfilm from the area my ancestors were from (they didn't tend to move much) and use it for ever. For the cost of ancestry, I could order about 10 films a year. So I chose the film. But I use ancestry when they offer it free, and when I can get to the library. If my state archives didn't sell the films, I probably would have gotten the Ancestry subscription.

But I don't understand complaining about them selling it. You don't have to buy it. I once joined Ancestry for the two week trial. I tried diligently in that two weeks to find my great great grandmother, with no luck. When I called to unsub, the guy was very nice. He even tried to see if he could find her (in the 1870 census) for me. I told him if he could, I would keep the subscription. :) When he couldn't, he unsubbed me and it was not an issue. I now use it when they offer a database free and have had no problems with the service.

Ancestry does have my email address. I do get their newsletter (my choice) and if they had a blog I would RSS it. I have never gotten spam from them. I have never gotten any sales pitches from them other than links on websites I visit.

So Ancestry if you are listening, I like the free trials. A few in the winter months would be great, since I have to be inside all the time when it snows any way.

And if you want to extend this latest free offer until Jul 4, that would be great, I still have the Revolutionary War, WWII, and the Civil War to go through.