Footnote.com (one of the sponsors of this newsletter) today made what I believe is a major announcement: the entire U.S. census records will soon be online. Of course, other companies have already placed the census records online so what's the big deal? The Footnote.com version, for the first time, will allow you to correct, comment, or supplement the original records. You can even add pictures. You can also link people together as relatives, even if they live in different households. That's all new.
You will be able to search the records, find the person(s) you are interested in, and then view the original record in the enumerator's handwriting. (Other vendors offer that service also.) However, with Footnote.com, you can append notes or even pictures that will be visible to anyone who searches for the same record in the future. You can even link people together, including those who do not live in the same household. You can never DELETE anything from the original record but you can add such things as:
You will be able to search the records, find the person(s) you are interested in, and then view the original record in the enumerator's handwriting. (Other vendors offer that service also.) However, with Footnote.com, you can append notes or even pictures that will be visible to anyone who searches for the same record in the future. You can even link people together, including those who do not live in the same household. You can never DELETE anything from the original record but you can add such things as:
- Name spelled wrong in the original records, he was always known as "Irving"
- Later married Martha Williams who is found in this census as 15-year-old living with her parents.
- Died young
- Died and left no heirs
- A picture of this family is available on my web page at http://www.my-web-page.com/pictures.
For the first time, users can even upload photos or documents and attach them to online census images, making them attachments visible to anyone who searches for the person's census record.
Finally, the price to access these records is much, much lower than that of the competition.
The following announcement was written by Footnote.com.
-Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930-
Lindon, UT – October 29, 2009 – Today Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) announced it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses ranging from the first U.S. Census taken in 1790 to the most current public census from 1930.
Through its partnership with The National Archives, Footnote.com will add more than 9.5 million images featuring over a half a billion names to its extensive online record collection.
“The census is the most heavily used body of records from the National Archives,” explains Cynthia Fox, Deputy Director at the National Archives. “In addition to names and ages, they are used to obtain dates for naturalizations and the year of immigration. This information can then be used to locate additional records.”
With over 60 million historical records already online, Footnote.com will use the U.S. Census records to tie content together, creating a pathway to discover additional records that previously have been difficult to find.
“We see the census as a highway leading back to the 18th century,” explains Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “This Census Highway provides off-ramps leading to additional records on the site such as naturalization records, historical newspapers, military records and more. Going forward, Footnote.com will continue to add valuable and unique collections that will enhance the census collection.”
To date, Footnote.com has already completed census collections from two key decades: 1930 and 1860. As more census decades are added to the site, visitors to Footnote.com can view the status for each decade and sign up for an email notification when more records are added to the site for a particular year.
View the Census Progress Page on Footnote.com.
In addition to making these records more accessible, Footnote.com is advancing the way people use the census by creating an interactive experience. Footnote Members can enrich the census records by adding their own contributions. For any person found in the census, users can:“The most popular feature of our Interactive Census is the I’m Related button,” states Roger Bell, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Footnote.com. “This provides an easy way for people to show relations and actually use the census records to make connections with others that may be related to the same person.”
- Add comments and insights about that person
- Upload and attach scanned photos or documents related to that person
- Generate a Footnote Page for any individual that features stories, a photo gallery, timeline and map
- Identify relatives found in the census by clicking the I’m Related button
Footnote.com works with the National Archives and other organizations to add at least a million new documents and photos a month to the site. Since launching the site in January 2007, Footnote.com has digitized and added over 60 million original source records to the site, including records pertaining to the Holocaust, American Wars, Historical Newspapers and more.
“We will continue to move aggressively to add records to the site, specifically those that are requested by our members and others that are not otherwise available on the Internet,” said Wilding.
Visit http://www.footnote.com/census/ to see how the census on Footnote.com can truly be an interactive experience.
Additional Resources
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/footnote
Join us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Footnotecom/52981708480
About Footnote, Inc.
Footnote.com is a subscription website that features searchable original documents, providing users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit http://www.footnote.com.
This is not entirely new you have been able to update incorrect information and append notes on Ancestry for at least a couple of months now.
However the interactive part does sound interesting to me.
Posted by: Matt Casey | October 29, 2009 at 07:16 AM
Good news - Footnote has the best interface of all the genealogy websites. I think the census is one of Ancestry's biggest assets, and with a strong competitor on this side, hopefully we'll see some competition that will benefit consumers.
Footnote is also free at Family History Centers, unlike Ancestry which pulled their access.
btw - some people forget that Heritage Quest has most of the census records (albeit not as good quality images) and is free at most libraries.
Posted by: Steve | October 29, 2009 at 08:10 AM
Don't you mean in your opinion it has the best interface. ;-)
Posted by: Matt Casey | October 29, 2009 at 01:41 PM
I dislike Footnote's Flash-based file viewer. It's dreadfully slow.
And the idea of yet another online database polluted with misinformation that another generation of researchers will use as "sources" just makes me shudder.
I've seen some data on there that has women giving birth to their first child, and then the last child is born 50+ years later. Now, I don't know much about the female anatomy, but I tend to think that would be quite remarkable should it be true.
I also have one person that took my GEDCOM and merged it with hers, and apparently several dozen others as she has 75,000+ people in it, and posted it online. She has my poor gggrandfather with three wives at one point, and having another child nearly forty years after his death. Because, after all, there was only one Patrick Carney living in the United States in the 1800s...
Posted by: bcarney | October 30, 2009 at 06:58 AM
Almost a year ago I had the opportunity to "test drive" this new interface and the search options are amazing! Did you know that you can do a reverse alphabetical search? For example, my maiden name is Warkentin and you could find all surnames ENDING in -kentin!! We'll no longer be bound by searching for the letter we THINK the name started with. None of the other websites have that search capability. That's only one of the many benefits I saw as I worked through the new and improved Footnote.com!
Also, if you go to all the effort to find someone's naturalization and citizenship papers, go ahead and attach it to their census page and NOBODY who uses Footnote will ever have to hunt for that again. This will save us all so many research headaches in the long run!
I'm excited that this is finally going online! Way to go, Footnote! :)
Posted by: Marissa Warkentin-Gardner | October 30, 2009 at 07:49 AM
Regarding Heritage Quest, here in Michigan (I don't know about other states) HQ is available to Michigan residents from their own home computers. All it requires is a computer and a Michigan driver's license or a Michigan library card. It has been made available through the Library of Michigan and is a wonderful resource.
Posted by: Nancy | October 30, 2009 at 08:50 AM
Do Footnote's census have an every-name index? Sounds like they only have a couple years on-line right now. I wonder how long it will be before the rest of the censuses are complete? I would drop Ancestry in a minute if all the other censuses will be fully indexed (at least somewhat correctly!) on Footnote.
Posted by: Debi | October 30, 2009 at 08:57 AM
I like it. I hope they finish it soon -- there is much I wish to explore. Footnote ROX!
Happy Dae·
http://ShoeStringGenealogy.com
Posted by: Dae Powell | October 30, 2009 at 01:27 PM
Heritage Quest is also available through the Los Angeles County Public Library online program here in California. All you need is a County Library card.
Posted by: Judy | October 30, 2009 at 01:37 PM
Heritage Quest is also available in San Francisco.
btw, bcarney, it isn't the female anatomy which changes, making two births 50 years apart unlikely, it's the physiology.I'm just sayin'...
Posted by: Frank Van Orden | October 30, 2009 at 02:54 PM
In response to:
Do Footnote's census have an every-name index? Sounds like they only have a couple years on-line right now. I wonder how long it will be before the rest of the censuses are complete? I would drop Ancestry in a minute if all the other censuses will be fully indexed (at least somewhat correctly!) on Footnote.
Posted by: Debi | October 30, 2009 at 08:57 AM
YES, it's an every name index! :)
Posted by: Marissa Warkentin-Gardner | October 30, 2009 at 06:22 PM
I wonder what source they are using for their original images? I have found many missing pages from the Ancestry offerings and, in one case in the next county to mine, most of a township in 1870. This township is also missing in the Heritage Quest offering.
Posted by: MarilynH | October 30, 2009 at 10:06 PM
What about connections that are just plan incorrect? I've found internet messages regarding some of my ancestors that make conclusions that I subsequently found to be wrong. If those become attached to the record, it will only serve to perpetuate incorrect information. Can other users correct misinformation?
Posted by: Laurie Hanophy | October 31, 2009 at 12:55 PM
I find it cumbersome to use and narrow. I searched for some with spellings exactly as in the completed 1860 Census, and could not get them to come up. Makes me wonder. Will be anxious to see it improve. Searched fro Simeon McCowin and although he is in Hempstead Co., Arkansas, he did not come up. Suppose to be 100% complete.
Posted by: Leonard McCown | October 31, 2009 at 01:47 PM
You cannot remove someone else's comments but you can always APPEND your own.
If you see information that is incorrect, either in the original record or in someone's appended information, I would strongly suggest you enter what you believe is the correct information, along with any source citations or even images of the proof.
If you do that, all future genealogists who look at the same record will see BOTH the original mis-information and your corrections. The newcomer gets to choose which version to believe. If you offer proof of your information, the choice should be obvious.
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | October 31, 2009 at 01:50 PM
Great! The site with the worst search engine reinvents the let's-publish-the-census-and-be-like-everybody-else wheel for the umpteenth time!
Posted by: Greg Matthews | November 02, 2009 at 12:26 AM
I agree with GM. Footnotes search engine doesn't produce results. I couldn't find any information on the family group I was researching, but found much information in Ancestry. A very disappointing addition to genealogists. It is interesting to find that others have good results. I will try again.
Posted by: Jeanette Studley | November 02, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Such excellent sites like this and Heritage Quest should make provision for the disabled and very senior citizens. Many, many of such folks spend much time with genealogy, yet simply do not have ANY extra money for the high prices of such as Ancestry.com. You have a wide and deep audience available if you simply make some provision for those millions with very limited and fixed income.
Paul
Posted by: Paul Drake JD | November 02, 2009 at 04:23 PM
What's the price for this service from Footnote?
Posted by: GMF | November 02, 2009 at 09:45 PM
The price is "no extra charge."
The new interactive census records are included in Footnote's regular service:
Monthly $11.95/month
Annual $79.95/year (which works out to about $6.70/month)
Posted by: Dick Eastman | November 02, 2009 at 10:09 PM