Ancestry.com and FGS to Collaborate on Large Indexing Initiative For Individuals

The following announcement was written by The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com:

ANCESTRY.COM LAUNCHES GLOBAL PUBLIC INDEXING INITIATIVE AND ANNOUNCES FIRST COLLABORATION WITH THE FEDERATION OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES

Ancestry.com Introduces the World Archives Project to Preserve and Provide Online Access to Historical Records

Philadelphia – Sept. 4, 2008 – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today launched the World Archives Project, a global public indexing initiative designed to give individuals everywhere the opportunity to help preserve historical records. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) is the first organization to partner with Ancestry.com during this beta phase of this new venture, enlisting genealogists and family history enthusiasts to help test the software and prepare it for a more public release.

Now in public beta, the World Archives Project allows individuals to transcribe information from images of original historical records and to create indexes that will remain accessible for free on Ancestry.com and on Ancestry’s localized sites in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, and Italy. Active contributors* will soon be able to access all original images that are part of the World Archives Project. Organizations can also partner with the World Archives Project and sponsor indexing projects. Ancestry.com will donate a digital copy of the sponsored index and images back to partnering organizations.

“As a global society, we are falling further and further behind when it comes to digitizing historical records,” said Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com. “The World Archives Project allows us to work collectively as a community to preserve and to digitize records that will otherwise surely be lost to the wear and tear of time. By providing free access to these indexes on the world’s most popular family history website, we will provide millions of people with access to records that might help them unlock new clues about their ancestors.”

Already, several thousand individuals have joined the World Archives Project private beta, indexing Wisconsin Mortality Schedules and Nebraska State Censuses. Participants provided feedback and recommendations for this public beta release.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this cause and to help spread the world about this new initiative,” said Wendy Elliott-Scheinberg, president of FGS. “The World Archives Project is a great way for enthusiasts and genealogical societies to directly impact and further family history research.”

“FGS has been enormously helpful in the development of our vision for the World Archives Project,” said Sullivan. “The 500+ genealogy societies that FGS represents are absolutely critical to the continued health and growth of genealogical research. We’ve been searching for years for the right way to partner with genealogy societies, and we think this project will allow us to help them attract new members by leveraging the popularity of Ancestry.com. We appreciate the encouragement and support FGS provides and look forward to continuing our relationship as this project marches forward.”

For more information about the World Archives Project or to get involved, visit www.ancestry.com/worldarchivesproject.

*Specific guidelines must be met to be considered an active contributor. For more information, visit http://landing.ancestry.com/wap/learnmore.aspx.

About Ancestry.com

With 26,000 searchable databases and titles and nearly 3 million active users, Ancestry.com is the No. 1 online source for family history information. Since its launch in 1997, Ancestry.com has been the premier resource for family history, simplifying genealogical research for millions of people by providing them with many easy-to-use tools and resources to build their own unique family trees. Ancestry.com is part of The Generations Network, Inc., a leading network of family-focused interactive properties, including www.myfamily.com, www.rootsweb.com, www.genealogy.com and Family Tree Maker. In total, The Generations Network properties receive nearly 7.5 million unique visitors worldwide (© comScore Media Metrix, July 2008). To easily begin researching your family history, visit www.ancestry.com.

About FGS

The Federation of Genealogical Societies links the genealogical community by serving the needs of its member societies, providing products and services needed by member societies, and marshaling the resources of its member organizations. FGS was founded in 1976 and represents the members of more than 500 genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow. To do this, FGS publishes FORUM magazine, filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news. FGS also publishes an extensive series of Society Strategy Papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society.

Comments

[theKiwi]

System Requirements:
Operating System:
Windows XP Home or Professional, Windows Vista

So that leaves "The Rest of Us" out. At least FamilySearch came up with a Java based application that runs on my Macintoshes.

And from another page:

Active contributors will receive free access to original images in the project’s databases. Those who already subscribe to Ancestry.com will be eligible for a discount on renewal.)

So I won't be able to earn a 15% discount ($45) off my Ancestry.com World account unless I do this from Windows XP running in Parallels on my Mac - something I try to avoid as much as possible.

Hello Ancestry - any word on a Macintosh client for this?

Roger

[Brad Moser]

Has the FGS sold out? Why give the hard work of their members away to a commercial company? Why aren't they working with the LDS or starting their own independent initiative?

[theFrog]

Again, the mother of all is looking for a few good fools to transcribe any and all records so they may sell the rights to view this work to the rest of the world. Oh yes, the index will be available to all who wish to look but you will pay to see the actual work which others did so this conglomerate may continue to have bragging rights. I also question why FGS would join with this organization ??? Miss the days of the old, free and helpful rootsweb. Even miss the days before everyone thought they had to be wired to be a family researcher. Long live the dinosaurs who still know what the
inside of a court house looks and feels like.

[Traci]

Excuse me...a few good fools? I'll bet "theFrog" does not volunteer to index with FamilySearch either. Just your average old griper and complainer. Of course he misses "the days of the old, free and helpful rootsweb" when everyone else did all the work, and he would glean what he could for free, copying information onto family group sheets that went into his file cabinet, never to see the light of day. Collaboration and sharing? What's that?

Long live the mammals who know what the inside of a court house looks like AND still find time to volunteer to index for FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. I take umbrage at the 'fool' remark from the dinosaur.

[Linda Stienstra]

Number one: I am not a fool. I am a giving, sharing person. I was at event and saw the presentation. I firmly believe in what they are doing.

If I can help somebody locate a record, I feel good. If a researcher went to a Courthouse, and I do, he would have to pay to get a copy of the document he found. What you are saving is gas money and time involved in searching dusty old books. . . . and at least you have located something you're looking for.

Number two: I volunteer to do indexing (and no, I don't belong to the LDS Church)and I volunteer for RAOGK and Find-a-grave and at my local Historical Society.

I believe the community should help each other, after all a lot of information can be shared and YOU benefit, too!

[Linda]

Read the fine print. What they are asking is for the public to do the work and then in order to access it? we pay for Ancestry.com. If you want to index, do it for the Family Search group. That really is free. I don't understand why they are working with Ancestry.com on this project?

[Kathy]

Ancestry is a company... a for-profit company, and they have the money and resources to create a system where people can interface with documents and transcribe them. That takes LOTS of money to program something like that. They want to make something that will create a dialog with people and to entice them to join. It's business. I am just jealous that I didn't have the money to do something like this first... and then have the money to offer it for free.

[Bob]

I did some transcribing for Ancestry.com many years ago, and received a fee. I was deeply unhappy about the attitude of some of their staff in Washington State.
Since Family Search started there indexing on line, I must have indexed thousands of names, the best thing is that they will remain free.
I am not against companies or Family History Groups, I have personally transcribed many Church Yards for which the FHG now charge for the CD's. Ancestry has to make a profit - just ask how much Ancestry paid the British Govt. to use the census images on line, and think how many people this has helped.

[Linda Johnston]

AHEM!! Ancestry takes on another HUGE project to "help" the genealogy community? Let's get REAL. They are to be the beneficiaries of yet another scam, to get the "sweat equity" of generous researchers, who volunteer to do this work for no pay. That must save Ancestry a considerable amount of money, since they don't have to employ people to gather the information. I don't see them completing a project that they PROMISED to do, about 10 years ago. That project was the reconstruction of the 1890 Census. I am certatin that that would benefit many researchers and, correspondingly, enlarge their paid subscribers. Are they NOT doing the project because it would involve actually PAYING employees at Ancestry to work on it? With their "vast databases", one has to suspect that they have the data. It's simply a matter of getting a team of people to put that data together, to make it available.

By the way, I DO volunteer my time, transcribing a cemetery in Ohio, while I live in Michigan. I use my vacation time for that. I also type all obituaries from my area, and donate a CD and a hard copy to local libraries, historical societies, and a part of RootsWeb that is NOT able to be "harvested" by Ancestry. I DO NOT believe in giving away my hard work, only to have to pay to see it on Ancestry. In addition, I enjoy doing lookups for individuals who need help, but don't have the financial or physical resources, to go to those great old courthouses, where musty smells and dust abound. I happen to have been fortunate enough to have acquired an extensive library, over the years and, when the snow abounds, I do my best work, at no charge. My only request, with regard to payment is, you help the next person who needs assistance, if you have the resources to do so. I believe that's called RAOGK, even though I don't advertise it.

[Gene]

It sounds to me like this group needs a lesson in how our Society and free market system works. #1 FGS by no means would have the resources alone to pull this off. Kathy is right. We are lucky to have ANY genealogical societies left to join the FGS. Another sign of our society as a whole. #2 Like it or not a company that is in the business of genealogical records is the one to handle it. (I know there is a whole other discusson on Ancestry's less than user friendly web-site, but...) FamilySearch is church based and although their resources are greater than some non-profits, they are still limited.

It never ceases to amaze me all the screaming that is done about all of this being "free" is so selfish and short sighted. "Free" to the screamers means "free to me". They don't give a hoot about who actually pays - for the programming, the disk space, the servers, the Internet access with enough bandwidth for the traffic, security, the maintenance, etc. etc.

If some of the screamers would like to step up to the plate and foot the bill (like many thousands of $$$ a month), let them do so. I'd like for it all to be free to me as well, but as an IT Manager I estimate that startup costs for a very small site would be in the area of $250K and there would be no content yet.

Somehow letting Ancestry deal with that seems like a great option.

[George Peres]

If this really goes through, we should all ask our societies to withdraw from the FGS. We do not want to support a criminal company that keeps stealing subscriptions that aren't owed, data that isn't theirs and copyrighted web sites.

The FGS could have taken the high road and said no. They can work with the LDS instead, an organisation that isn't out to scam you.
FGS members should kick the current board out or leave. This FGS does not deserve to exist. If my society remains a member, I will leave.

[Nancy]

I applaud the current leaders of FGS and their willingness to work with Ancestry to make more records available to both serious researchers, and those that want to sit at home and have it all for the price of their internet connection.

If you cannot afford the price of a subscription to Ancestry.com, check your local library and LDS church. In my community Ancestry is free to all at both. I am happy to have the records available! When I started my family history researh in 1982, I could not have imagined the ease of access to records that we have today. Thank you Ancestry!

[Bob Cocklin]

Nancy is the new Amanuensis?

[Chicky]

Ummm. Did you guys not read the second paragraph of the press release? It says "...World Archives Project allows individuals to transcribe information from images of original historical records and to CREATE INDEXES THAT WILL REMAIN ACCESSIBLE FOR FREE on Ancestry.com and on Ancestry’s localized sites..." (my own emphasis added).

I know that lots of people mistrust Ancestry, but c'mon- they spell it out in the press release- they aren't going to charge for the work of the volunteers in this one. I doubt they want the PR hullabaloo that would come of changing that after they promised it publicly.

[Dunham Swift]

I too would like to see a Macintosh capability. There are millions of Macintosh users and a whole lot of them (me included) that would utilize this resource if we were able. Please don't let some lazy IT Department tell you it would be too difficult. All it would take is some willingness and small investment which would be made up for in the future. Thanks for your consideration.

[Sarah]

I have mixed feelings about this union. I can see its merits but I do have my concerns. They are saying free right now to make people interested but will it remain that way.

As several posters here alluded to doing transcribing and RAOGK, I have also done the same and it takes a considerable amount of time and dedication. I did contact LDS about transcribing and was told by the local LDS stake that my services would not be accepted because I was non-Mormon.

[Linda - Wisconsin]

Why should we volunteer on a huge project like this and then half to pay for looking the same information up. At least FamilySearch.com is free. I have been volunteering with them for several weeks now, and the process is very easy to learn, and I will continue volunteering for them. Thanks, but no thanks to the Ancestry FEES AND HIGHER FEES.

[Judy - California]

Sarah, I'm sure you will hear from others that you do not have to be a member of the LDS church to participate in their online indexing project. Just log on at FamilySearchIndexing.org and follow the instructions to begin indexing.

[Marilyn]

I transcribed some census records for LDS just this week, my first time...I am not a Mormon church member, they don't ask about it..(Sarah) try again here (http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/home/home.jsf?pname=homeTab)

About USGenWeb -- is it defunct? So many of their links are broken whenever I try to use their various features.

[Adrian B]

I'm not sure why Dick bothers... Over 50% of the content of this discussion was predictable - "sold out", " a criminal company", etc.

I have huge sympathy with Mac users if they have issues. And equal sympathy with those who complain about indexing issues. BUT...

I would just point out a discussion I saw complaining that the lauded LDS also uses dodgy technology for their Pilot site (I paraphrase); that the FreeBMD site in the UK (volunteer driven) refused my first correction with the explanation that (paraphrasing) 'we've tried our best so we don't think you can better it' (contrast this to umpteen corrections of mine to Ancestry that are now in their indices); and the simple fact that in the UK, the commercial companies have 1, 2 or 3 versions of each census while the volunteers had never got much beyond the 1881 and various _bits_ of the 1851 or 1841.

I simply want as much data as possible - I love what the LDS are doing with Cheshire voters' records, but I also want anything a commercial company can offer me in a manner that makes it cost effective for me.

[jeanneo]

I agree with the many people who have defended Ancestry. I think that their annual memberships are a relative bargain when compared with the amount of time (and gas) it would take for me to go to libraries or LDS Family History centers to use their free access to Ancestry. In this day and age, "free" is disappearing fast, and understandably so. As other posters have pointed out, it takes huge resources, both financial and human, to digitize old records.

It's easy to complain, but at least be fair about it. As Chicky pointed out, access to these publicly indexed records will be free. And why worry about whether that will change in the future? Nothing remains the same forever. I think that Ancestry and FGS are doing a good thing, and I hope other organizations will join the effort.

[Janet Arkel]

Chicky, read again... the records are not free.
Read again! The records are NOT free!

They want the societies to do the work for free, but do not offer full access to all society members.

[Zadruga Guy]

Janet Arkel, read again, "Ancestry.com will donate a digital copy of the sponsored index and images back to partnering organizations." So once a project is completed, if "all society members" don't have access to the indexes AND IMAGES that Ancestry.com donated, then complain to the society leadership.

[Dick Eastman]

---> I did contact LDS about transcribing and was told by the local LDS stake that my services would not be accepted because I was non-Mormon.

Absolutely not true. In fact, I believe the LDS Family History leadership in Salt Lake City would strongly disagree.

The only way to become an indexer is to sign up online. When you do so, you are not asked any questions about your religion or your religious beliefs. The project is open to everyone, including atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and others.

- Dick Eastman

[Janet Arkel]

Zadruga Guy, read again!
You get access to that one project only. Images you already have (that's how you make a transcription, smartypants). You do not get access to it. Other societies do not get access either.

YOU ARE BEING FOOLED BY THE ANCESTRY MONEY GRABBERS.

They want you to work for free. YOU DO NOT GET PAID. THEY THEN SELL YOUR WORK TO EVERYONE ELSE, AND YOU DO NOT GET A CUT. You don't even get free access to Ancestry.com.

YOU DO NOT GET ACCESS. YOU DO NOT GET PAID. YOU DO NOT GET A CUT OF THEIR PROFITS. YOU GET NOTHING BUT THE IMAGES YOU ALREADY HAVE.