Family History Center microfilms

[oilman19]

I thought I would share this info with anyone who rents films at FHC.

Starting in a few weeks, all microfilms will be ordered online and paid with a charge card. The Family History Centers will only be providing access to the films once they arrive, but will not be taking orders on site.

I believe this change is throughout the U.S. It looks like we are catching up with the rest of the world where this has been done.

Hope this helps.

[johnnyonthespot]

It's about time. Driving 60 miles roundtrip just to place an order for a film was just a huge waste of time and gasoline.

[MaryMena]

I live in Canada. On March 1 I ordered 2 films online for the first time. One arrived and one is on back order.

I was very happy to order online. It saved me 1.5 hours of travel time, $5-7 in gas, and it seems that Utah charges at par -- so I paid $6.00 Can. per film instead of $7.50 if I had gone in and ordered in person.

Yesterday I went in to view the one that arrived. The volunteer told me that they have not been told what to do with films that have been ordered online since they have no money to ship them back. So they will hold on to them. Or, she suspects, that it's cheaper for Utah to make new copies rather than pay to have them shipped back. I have ordered quite a few films over the years and have never had a back order. Both the volunteer and I suspect that this film is sitting in a FHL somewhere because that Library has no money to ship it back. If that's the case, I hope they make a copy and send it soon.

[Romano1970]

Since I moved out to Colorado, I have been planning a trip to Salt Lake City where the headquarters is for LDS. I still want to go but it is good that it is going to be electronic now.

[nuccia]

I also live in Canada and I ordered a film online BEFORE Christmas and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I think eventually all records with be online and films will be obsolete. But this won't happen for a very long time.

Mike if you ever head to Salt Lake contact me - I need something from there..lol

[oilman19]

Hi Nuccia,

I believe that is correct. We will be able to access all records on line. However, this will take years for the indexing to be done. They are looking for volunteers to help expedite the indexing process.
I don't believe they will be uploading films on line, similar to what Ancestry has done for some towns, without a complete indexing process.
We have a lot to look forward to.

[nuccia]

Yes, they are always looking for volunteers to help extract records (I actually have been indexing for them for a few years). They have already put complete town and Church records online without and index - you literally have to browse through thousands of records which are divided up into towns, regions, and/or year.

Going through them I found it wasn't as bad as I would have initially expected but the only problem I have - and most Canadians with tell you the same thing - is we pay for internet usage above our plan so the more we look at files, the more it costs us.

[oilman19]

That's interesting.
I pay a flat rate along with my telephone and cable TV service. However, the flat rate isn't cheap. I suspect it is around $50-$55 per month. Is your usage charge that high?

[nuccia]

It used to be a flat rate here until they made a couple of changes a few years ago, and then they changed their billing. I paid about $47+taxes for 60GB and $2 for each GB I went over to a maximum of $50. With the way I research and my websites and the five PC's we have running here it cost me about a $100 per month and the internet, although high speed was not fast enough.

I now pay $100 for 175GB and 50 cents for each GB extra. And it's supposedly quicker - but some days I would argue that strongly!

Here's the link to the service provider I use so you can compare what Canadian's pay..

http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal ... ER_HISPEED

Silly isn't it?

[oilman19]

Quite frankly, I think the internet access is grossly overpriced.

My VZAccess (Comcast cell phone link) is priced similarly. I only use it when I need internet access and none is available, like when I travel. I have never gone over my allowable GB's.

[nuccia]

I agree - it is way overpriced. But I have kids who live on it (in spite of having it on their phones) and I have my forum and websites so this is the price I must pay - thankfully the kids pitch in whenever the can since they're the ones who usually go over.

[DebiHarbuck]

Can someone share the link for ordering films online?

[adelfio]

Here you go Deb
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Orderi ... ory_Center

Marty

[DebiHarbuck]

Thanks, Marty! Not in my area yet, but exciting to know it's coming.

The FHC in my city has been closed for almost a year. They do have an agreement with our library system, but they don't know a lot about helping one locate the films one needs. I need to spend some time studying that system I think.

[Squigy]

That's great!! I can't wait till this is available in my area. Driving a half hour and back just to order films, gets annoying.

@Michael,

I'm moving to the Texas pandhandle, soon (hopefully), and would LOVE to visit the library in Salt Lake City. If you go before me, let me know how it was (I don't want to drive 15 hours and find I'm only allowed on the machine 15 minutes, or something like that).