Ancestry no longer at LDS family history centers

[Nello-LosAngeles]

I just read a bulletin that says full access to Ancestry.com will no longer be available at Family History Centers. Apparenty, Ancestry was providing the access at no charge and will discontinue the service as of April 1, 2007.

Nello

[vj]

Nello, here's the announcement,
with comments from Dick Eastman
on his blog...
Thank you! Valarie
Anouncement

[Nello-LosAngeles]

Val,
I just read the announcemt and spoke with someone regarding the "free" service. Apparently the Church had given Ancestry access to the LDS databases in exchange for the service at family history centers.

Eastman's annoucement is from the Ancestry group, which makes no mention of the exchange.
Nello

[nuccia]

No wonder the LDS is looking for volunteers to help index several databases as mentioned by jcsm on the following link.

http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/Foru ... =6296.html

If you would like to be a volunteer, go to..

http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/index.jsp

[vj]

Nello, another one (unverified) from Mar 16th. Valarie

"Discontinued Access to Ancestry.com Databases
The following email was sent today to Family History Center Directors from the Family History Support Center.

Discontinued Access to Ancestry.com Databases

For many years, Ancestry.com has provided free access to patrons of family history centers around the world. Ancestry has informed the [LDS] Church that as of April 1, 2007, it will discontinue this free access to the full Ancestry.com service.

Free access through Ancestry.com to the following databases will continue:

1. Index and images for the 1880, 1900 and 1920 U.S. censuses
2. Full name indices for the British 1841-1891 censuses (England and Wales)
3. World War I draft cards indices as created and miscellaneous other databases

Free access is likely to be discontinued for the remainder of the Ancestry.com databases including:

1. Index and images for the 1930 U.S. census
2. Index and images for the 1901 British census (England, Scotland, and Wales)

At this point, Ancestry.com is not offering an option for family history centers to independently purchase commercial or library site licenses. Patrons, of course, may choose to subscribe directly to Ancestry.com.

Free access to online databases is important and we therefore intend to add many new databases to FamilySearch.org. Much of the data preparation will be accomplished through the online indexing program available at FamilySearchIndexing.org. We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.

Volunteers have already begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other projects. Other censuses and vital record collections will be indexed as soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is completed. The more volunteers that participate, the sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases on FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that this will be of great interest to individuals around the world. We are also exploring opportunities to provide broader access to additional databases from other online service providers.

Please inform patrons regarding our plans to provide access to records and invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch Indexing projects. We will communicate as more information becomes available. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our patrons.

Family History Center Support"

[john_dominic]

I just read a bulletin that says full access to Ancestry.com will no longer be available at Family History Centers. Apparenty, Ancestry was providing the access at no charge and will discontinue the service as of April 1, 2007.

Nello

Glad to see they're becoming even more USELESS.

I just LOVE that they're not releasing their records as they scan so they have some big "grand opening in 2025 when i'm 50 years old, so that i'm nearly dead by the time I can see them easily.

Not that it really matters that much, considering they have little or no records from my home towns, anyway...

[Nello-LosAngeles]

John, I hope you are refering to Ancestry. LDS is the "good guys" in this. While not a LDS member I have used their centers, staff support and access for 4 months. I would not have been able to accomplish my goal without their help.

Most of us are not willing to pay the $300 fee that Ancestry asks.
In the long run this will be a benefit it all researchers. LDS family search will eventually have everything we need for free from our homes.

I signed up today to help with the dsts indexing. We should all consider doing it.
Nello

[wldspirit]

I always promote doing volunteer work in the transcription of records, even if it's just posting what records you have found in your research.
There are many sites out there that accept transcriptions, and provide the information for FREE.
The Lds is a good starting point....if each of us pitch in and do our part, well it's that much more information available to all researchers.
wldspirit

[john_dominic]

John, I hope you are refering to Ancestry. LDS is the "good guys" in this. While not a LDS member I have used their centers, staff support and access for 4 months. I would not have been able to accomplish my goal without their help.

Most of us are not willing to pay the $300 fee that Ancestry asks.
In the long run this will be a benefit it all researchers. LDS family search will eventually have everything we need for free from our homes.

I signed up today to help with the dsts indexing. We should all consider doing it.
Nello

No, they've been utterly USELESS to me. They've offered NOTHING and helped me NOTHING in accomplishing my goal.

A. The're open basically 8 workable hours a week in Chicago (subtract a 45-60 minute commute from that) and don't even take microfilm. How the hell am I supposed to figure out anything with that?:

Here is an alternative FHC:
Hyde Park Illinois
5200 S University Avenue
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States
Phone: 773-493-1830
Hours: M 9:30am-12:30pm; W 7pm-9pm; F 6pm-9pm; Sat 9am-12pm;
Closed: Holidays, and the 1st weekends of April and October

As I said, the hours are terrible. I have an actual job, which is like 9-6pm (or later) and only three hours a week are even applicable (Wendesdays possible, but rare), and that's not considering the fact that all of it is a leat an hour commute each way.

Don't worry, I can get them imported through the Newberry Library (they have better hours than the LDS center), but i'm still basically screwed on all days except Saturday.

And, researching one day a week (of which that day is extraordinarily often busy) is very slow.

Anyway, felt like clearing up the fact that all LDS records in Chicago are absolutely a nightmare to have any reasonable access to.

J

B. They have ZERO records of my family online, even my stereotypical English lines of my family. None. Zilch. Nada.

C. They have no records of my family's city beyond 1815 offline. Look it up:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library ... umns=*,0,0

On my father's German side (my direct line) they have no Church / Census Records AT ALL, just one random book from 1654.

So, do you see my point?

Completely useless.

[wldspirit]

I understand your fustration....we have lousy hours at my local Lds to,
and my town of interest is not filmed.....but they still provide a useful service thru their website and it is free......not to mention the research guidance at the site is fantastic.......
wldspirit

[Nello-LosAngeles]

John,
Timing is always difficult. The only public library with Ancestry is a miserable ride for me. A genealogy volunteer there told me to use the phone book and call an FHC within my area and ask them for the name of the largest "stakes" then call and ask hours. There were six some with only one occasional FHC volunteer, others open only days, but I found one that is open evey night until 8 or 9 and Sat, staffed with many knowledgable volunteers. They order films once a week and call me when they come in. This is my first experience at this type of research and I could be more pleased at the help I have received.
Nello