On-line ordering at Family History Centres

[ursulamezza]

I'm sure many of you will know - although I didn't until today! - that FHC microfilms can now be ordered on-line for those based in Australia, New Zealand, the British Isles and Canada. Great for those of us who find it hard to visit in person to place an order or to remember to make a phone call during opening hours...

https://film.familysearch.org/

[johnnyonthespot]

I cannot imagine why the US based FHC's are so far behind in this regard.

That and the fact that "permanent loan" films cannot be transferred to another FHC if the user should move or find another FHC more convenient for any reason...

[ursulamezza]

Apparently Florida is 'testing' it in the US, but, yes, seems odd to me too that it was introduced first elsewhere.

[Eleven]

What they really need to do is get this stuff online, without taking years to make their indexes...like ancestry does. What a pleasure it is working with the online Italian records that ancestry put out there. I cant see any reason why the FHL cant do the same thing.

Ancestry must be making a ton of money with these records..and the FHL is missing out on doing the same.

[lilbees]

I have had great success with the few Italian records that FHC has posted online. Going through the indexes and actual records has been great in yielding lots of information and also family members I was unaware of.

On the new beta FS site the information is really lacking and to me almost useless. I still use the the other one to find information. So much easier to use than the new one.

The same is true in browsing the films. Much more functional on the old than the new. Too many bugs to be worked out.

lilbees

[Eleven]

The problem, lilbees, is the way the FHL has their online setup, everything has to be indexed. I have worked on indexing Italian records there. They were doing the same area for over 2 years. At that rate, our great grandchildren wont see all of the available italian records, online.

Ancestry has no type written indexes for what they are putting online. They have my fathers town...actually, they have the whole province.

You choose your town from a dropdown menu of the towns. Then you see a list of what type records they have. Among the records, they have the indexes (from the actual books). Lets say you choose a birth index. You now get a list of the years. You select a year and if you find your person, it gives a certificate number.

You go back to the menu and choose the birth records, then the year..and you are able to click until you get to your cert number.

I have also searched years, page by page without using the index.

This all proves, no type written index is necessary..its actually a waste of time. Also, a good part of the time, they indexer types the name wrong..then you have an even harder time finding it.

I personally never found anything on the FHL site that I didnt already have (american records).

I just wish they would learn from ancestry and get the italian records out there with no index, even if they have to make a special area to do that.

[johnnyonthespot]

It's true - if FHL would simply scan entire microfilms and put the images online, we would be able to research them just as we do now when we visit an FHC: select a film, scan quickly to the year of interest, locate the index page(s), find the number of a record of interest, go back (sometimes forwards) and locate the actual record.

This exact procedure seems to be underway as we speak, but who knows how long it will take to complete. See https://beta.familysearch.org/s/image/s ... PRagg%253D for an example or click "Browse through 224,071 images" at https://beta.familysearch.org/s/collect ... PRagg%253D and follow the links to see all Napoli images.

Personally, I would be willing to pay any reasonable monthly/annual subscription fee to be able to access these films online.

[lilbees]

Amen!

lilbees

[aliza24]

I heard from my FHC director that this in the works. Don't know when- but I can't wait! FYI- I'm in the Houston, TX area. The director didn't mention if they'd be starting everywhere or just certain regions.

[Eleven]

You guys should take a look at ancestry. They might already have your town. Go to ancestry.com. Look at the tabs across the top..find the one that has "card catalog" in the drop down (I think its under search).

Then type in "Italy" in the top left and click to search. It will give you everything they have for Italy.

I am paying for the deluxe membership. Its about 32 dollars a month...but..I have copied the civil records for my entire town.

I also said, at one time, that I would pay ANY fee to be able to access Italian records..and that fee is nothing compared to what it would have cost me to rent micro-film. Not to mention..I can sit here in my underwear, any time of the day or night. It took me 8 hours to get what would have taken me a few months of FHL visits.

I really cant see the FHL sitting by while ancestry is raking in the cash. I know they would like to put things out there for free..but everyone was perfectly willing to go rent their films. I am SURE people would rather pay a fee here..than renting their films.

Anyway, I am done with what I need from ancestry, but I am still paying them. My plan is to unsubscribe soon until they have something else that I need.

[oilman19]

Is there any way for a non-subscriber to Ancestry (like me) to find out when their town has been put on their site? I don't wish to pay for a subscription if the info I seek isn't there.

I would happily pay for a subscription just to avoid renting films and finding time to meet the limited hours available to view them and scan them at the FHC. Plus, I recently had a bad experience at the center that I use. A volunteer librarian decided to use the only scanner available to "find" a record on a film instead of using one of the many available readers. I don't even know if she intended to scan the record if she was able to find it. So, there I sat, waiting for her to find the record instead of being able to scan the records I needed for the evening. Unfortunately, this is the 2nd time she did this to me on 2 successive visits.
The time frames available when these centers are open are limited enough, but when you have to compete with a person who has the keys and can use the center anytime, it is very frustrating.

So, yes I would pay Ancestry for the convenience of being able to work on my hobby at my convenience. There are many nice people at the Centers but the times are quite inconvenient to be very productive.

There, I got it off my chest. I have been wanting to vent this for a while now.

[Tessa78]

Hi Jim,

You don't need a subscription to do what Eleven has described. The list of available records will come up for you. You just won't be able to access them without a subscription...

T.

[oilman19]

Thank you, T.

[PeterTimber]

Doesn't your library have access to Ancestry.com? =Peter=

[oilman19]

The Simsbury Public Library has the Library Edition available. I presumed I would need the World Edition, or at least the European Edition to see the Italian records.
At any rate, my ancestral town is not yet loaded into their system.