re:discontinuation of lds film ordering program

[mezzogiorno62]

as of sept.1st lds will no longer lend out films. although i haven't done any film ordering in over 10 years,it was an option i knew was available if needed. many films for italy are available in the digitized collections,but virtually nothing for the province of avellino. nothing new there for that province since 2014. and nothing available at the www.antenati@beniculturali.it site either for avellino. i contacted lds regarding this,but didn't get a very clear answer. its odd lds would discontinue film ordering until everything has been digitized. other than writing to the civil offices and state archives in italy,which i've already done for many years,what are the options for consulting these records? is anyone out there aware of any new developements regarding the lds italian film collections not already digitized-specifically avellino? are there any new developements?

[Biff83]

Since my paternal grandparents came from two small towns in Catanzaro, I ordered all 8 microfilms for the period 1809-1860. Cost is $7.50 each but they are on extended loan at my local library which is an affiliate facility for LDS. There were too many microfilms for my maternal grandparents' town so I opted to just order marriages from 1809-1899 on 7 microfilms. I'll be okay as long as everyone was from the same town. Almost finished with my paternal side, awaiting films for my maternal side.

Although the digitization of records is the way to go, what will be available online to the public versus what will be available only at a Family History Center will be dependent upon licensing arrangements. My paternal grandparents' towns records have been digitized but they're only available at an FHC and the nearest convenient one to me is about 2 hours away. Much easier for me to have the microfilms available locally.

Biff

[Rossonero3]

These films have been a godsend to me, absolute gold mine. I was so worried about this latest news that I ordered every film available for the commune that 3/4 of my family comes from, all 27 films! Unfortunately for me the dates only range from 1809-1865, so i'm missing that period of the late 1800's and early 1900's that would be very helpful in linking generations. I was told by my local FHC (which is an LDS church about 30 min away) that all films would be digitized by 2019 or 20, and the most 'in demand' films would be digitized first, not sure how true this is. I really hope when they are digitized that they will be available from any computer, not just the FHC, that would suck.
@Biff83 The births and marriage table of contents and records have been extremely helpful, but i would also urge you to order some 'Processetti' films if they are available. These are all of the documents that were required by a couple before they were to be married, i.e. birth records, death records, notices, etc, and vary in the amount of content per marriage. However one thing that makes them great is that if a parent(s) of the married couple are deceased, then they need to provide that parent's death record and other related records like their birth record and then even their parent's death records. So, for the married couple, their may be records in the Processetti file for their grandparents and even great grandparents. For instance, I had a relative getting married in 1857 and since his parents were deceased, there were records there for 3 generations back, the oldest being written in latin from the early 1700's, so I was able to trace my lineage back several generations from that one Processetti packet. The only downside is that there are no table of contents so it's very tedious scrolling through every document to find one that relates to you.

[Eleven]

You would be surprised what you can uncover in these processetti files. I started my genealogy 24 years ago. In doing my father's town in Sicily, they only had from 1865 back. I needed forward..to fill that gap. At that time, my aunt (fathers sister) was in her 80s. She was born in Sicily and came here at age 11. She helped me fill the gap.

I found 5 women with her grandmothers exact name. I made copies at the FHL and she helped me narrow it down to one. As I went back one more generation, again..she helped me fill the gap with a few people.

She then told me this story. Her mother always used the surname Cordaro. But, when she needed her birth record to come to this country, the surname was Esposito-Inchoistro. Right there, I knew I would find a "parents unknown" somewhere. Sure enough..I did. This man, my grandmothers grandfather had about 7-8 kids. Each one had a different variation of the Esposito-Inchoistro name..with a few Cordaros thrown in..however, my grandmothers father was Esposito-Inchoistro..so how did my grandmother end up with this Cordaro name? Apparently, the midwives gave those names. My grandmother was glad to be coming to this country, so she didnt have to use either of them...she would use her husbands.

So, for 20 years, 2 things often crossed my mind. Was my aunts memory of her Italian relatives exact enough so that I took the correct line of people? And..what was up with my grandmothers surname. How could she use one name for more than 30 years and then find out it was wrong?

About 6 or 7 years ago, my aunt was now 101 years old, living in a nursing home. They finally put online the rest of the records for this town. I was finally going to get some answers. First, my aunt was correct in all of her memories. She indeed gave me the right people. Second..which is the first thing I did, was find my grandmothers birth record. Carolina Cordaro. I made a copy to bring to my aunt. I was so happy to find this. BUT..why wasnt that the record they gave her for her passport. I have the passport.

I decided to look through this processetti. I managed to find the marriage of her sister. At this time, my grandmother was 18 years old. Apparently, their mother had both hers and her sisters birth record changed..from Cordaro to Esposito-Inchoistro..like their father. An age old mystery solved for me..finally.

I dont know what even made me look at those files, but I was glad I did.

[carubia]

The Family History Center near me has a separate office in a different building where they keep the microfilm scanner. That building is scheduled to be torn down in October, so I asked where they were going to put the scanner. They replied that they have no room for the scanner in their main office, so they will be getting rid of it, as microfilms will be replaced with online records anyway.

I am the main user of that scanner. There are dozens of film rolls at that FHC that I've ordered over the years and they never send them back, or even charge me. They said that for any rolls that I am still checking, they can place a special request with the head office to give priority in scanning those rolls. It would take 3-4 months to get them online.

[Rossonero3]

I just checked the FamilySearch page that lists all of the films for my commune, all of which I had ordered, are all digitized and available online now, yay! ...however, they are only available for viewing at an FHC or affiliated library!! Ugh. The FHC closest to me is hardly ever open, 1 or 2 days a week and only for a few hours during the day since they rely on volunteers to monitor in the viewing room.
What i don't understand, is that some of these communal records for other areas are available for viewing on any computer, why is this? Is there any rhyme or reason as to why some are available to view anywhere while others only to be viewed at an FHC?

[carubia]

If previously they were only viewable on microfilm, how is this any worse? Either way, you would have to travel to an FHC.

[Rossonero3]

If previously they were only viewable on microfilm, how is this any worse? Either way, you would have to travel to an FHC.

You are right,It's not any worse....I'm just jealous, or frustrated, that records from other communes are available to view from ANY computer, meaning I could be sitting at my laptop at home or in the office viewing documents whenever I want.

[Eleven]

I ran into that problem last year. For 24 years I was trying to get some info on my late husband's grandmother from a small town in Benevento. Every few weeks, I checked the family search site to see if they added anything and last year, around this time..they had records from that town.

I clicked to view and it wouldnt let me see them. Whatever wording they used, made me think only people with some kind of special account could see them.

Needless to say..I went a little nuts. They have them, yet I cant see them. I began writing to whomever I could from family search including posting on their facebook page.

I finally found out, that you could view those at the FHL. The reason has to do with the special contracts they have with each town. I am guessing, some towns dont want their records online.

I managed to find what I was looking for, here: http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?q=gallery

However, there were not many records there, but enough to make me happy. Recently, I discovered that it looks like the FHL has more records from this town than the above site. I am figuring that eventually this site will have them too. I find it a bit clunky to use..but you do get the info.

[Rossonero3]

Has anyone asked their local library to be an affiliate of the LDS?
I emailed FamilySearch about why some town records were available on any public computers but others like mine are only available at the FHC or affiliate library. This was their response...

"The rights are set by the owners of the records and we just administer a system to control that. I would go to your local library and ask them to contact us about being an affiliate library. There is no cost and it's pretty simple to do. "

I'm curious as to what the local library(s) would have to do and if anyone else has done this with their local library.

[VotM]

Has anyone asked their local library to be an affiliate of the LDS?
I emailed FamilySearch about why some town records were available on any public computers but others like mine are only available at the FHC or affiliate library. This was their response...

"The rights are set by the owners of the records and we just administer a system to control that. I would go to your local library and ask them to contact us about being an affiliate library. There is no cost and it's pretty simple to do. "

Do you have a point of contact for the person who provided the quote? I would be interested to learn if FamilySearch has a web page, point of contact, or other resource that I can pass along to my local library system. Thanks in advance!

[Rossonero3]

Has anyone asked their local library to be an affiliate of the LDS?
I emailed FamilySearch about why some town records were available on any public computers but others like mine are only available at the FHC or affiliate library. This was their response...

"The rights are set by the owners of the records and we just administer a system to control that. I would go to your local library and ask them to contact us about being an affiliate library. There is no cost and it's pretty simple to do. "

Do you have a point of contact for the person who provided the quote? I would be interested to learn if FamilySearch has a web page, point of contact, or other resource that I can pass along to my local library system. Thanks in advance!

I do not have the person's contact info, it was generated from a general support email address from their organization. The "Contact Us" page link is below and their phone number. I sent emails and provided two of my local libraries with the link and phone number in hopes they will pursue this.

https://www.familysearch.org/ask/help