I had an interesting discussion with Julie Hill, with Archives.com, on Monday. She’d just sent me a news release about the fact that Archives.com is now posting the FamilySearch.com Federal Census images and indexes at their website. While these resources are free at FamilySearch.org, they add tremendous value at the inexpensive (at $39.95 per year) Archives.com site. Working with FamilySearch, they’ve also committed 5 million dollars to the digitization of additional historic records. In my opinion, the initial posting of those census records at their site will give them a tremendous boost.
The U.S. census records have been the genealogical holy grail for online database websites since the early days of public bulletin boards and later access to the Internet as we know it today. In the late 1990s Heritage Quest digitized these records through 1920, and made them available on CD-ROM. It took years to get most of them indexed, and that was only accomplished by having the work done in Bangladesh. Ancestry.com got into the online census business in 2000, and after some discussion about using the Heritage Quest digitized images, decided to go it on their own, and they proceeded to digitize and index (again offshore) the same census records. Eventually Ancestry.com won the race to post the U.S. census records online, and by doing so moved into position to dominate the online genealogy data business from then on. Many other important databases have been posted since those early years, but none as important as the U.S. Federal Census. This said, the access that Archives.com now has to FamilySearch U.S. Census records – records with superb indexing – will make Archives.com truly a destination site for genealogists.
Archives.com offers a seven-day free trial of their site. Now that the census records are becoming an integral part of it, this might be a good time to check it out.
Note that following the news release I’ve posted a review of my search for the New York Meitzlers in the census records posted at Archives.com.
The following news release was written by Archives.com staff:
Family History Website Archives.com Brings Extraordinary New Value to Users and Pledges 5 Million Dollars to Digitize Additional Historical Records
October 1, 2011: Today Archives.com, the web’s most affordable and easy-to-use subscription-based family history site, announces the addition of the U.S. Federal Census, the single most valuable collection of U.S. historical records. The U.S. Census collections were made available by FamilySearch International, the world’s largest genealogy organization, as part of a joint effort to introduce more records to family historians worldwide. In conjunction with the Census effort, Archives will also embark on a joint project with FamilySearch to digitize tens-of-millions of additional historical records, the majority of which are not currently online. Archives has pledged a minimum of five million dollars to this important project that will positively impact the entire community.
Archives CEO Matthew Monahan notes, “We’re extremely excited to bring this comprehensive collection of U.S. Census records and images that have been enhanced by the FamilySearch volunteer community to Archives.com. We’re dedicated to bringing users new and compelling content, and that’s why we’re happy to contribute at least five million dollars to similar ongoing community projects. Archives already provides members with exceptional value for an extremely low price—adding the U.S. Census and other unique collections as part of this initiative with FamilySearch will be a game changer.”
Archives has integrated the full set of U.S. Federal Population Census indexes from 1790 to 1930 consisting of over 500 million names along with 3 million images from census years 1850, 1870, and 1900. In the near future, the full set of census images will be accessible. Leading the effort is former FamilySearch veteran Anne Roach AG®, CGSM as Director of Content Development.
Jay L. Verkler, president of FamilySearch, said, “U.S. Census records are the most searched collections for North America. We are pleased when companies like Archives.com join in the collective goal to make more historic records available online quickly and cost effectively. We look forward to working with the entire industry to facilitate these types of contributions.” Verkler noted that the daunting challenge to digitize and provide access to the world’s genealogical records can only be accomplished with community support and participation from dynamic companies like Archives.com.
While the addition of the entire U.S. Census and the ongoing digitization projects will bring enormous value to Archives members, the company plans to maintain its low annual fee. Already one of the highest trafficked family history websites, the company anticipates massive growth as a result of these enhancements, which clearly makes Archives.com the premier destination for low-cost subscription-based family history research. For regular updates about the census integration and digitization project, visit http://www.archives.com/census.
About Archives
Archives.com is a leading family history website that makes discovering family history simple and affordable. The company has assembled more than 1.5 billion historical records in a single location, and makes them available at a price that’s up to 80 percent less than the leading competitor. Archives also partners with other leading family history websites to provide integrated record collections, discounted memberships, official certificates and other special promotions. Archives.com is free to try for seven days, allowing anyone to explore the benefits of membership without risk or obligation. Archives.com is owned and operated by Inflection, a fast-growing data commerce company. Find more information at www.Inflection.com.About FamilySearch
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Searching for Meitzlers in the census records currently posted at Archives.com:
I decided to look for Meitzlers in New York.
I found 104 folks with the Meitzler surname. This included my father, grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins, and some unrelated people.
Clicking on Chas H Meitzler, I got a Record Details page about my cousin. Following is a screen shot. Note that on the right-hand side of the page, you can click on a link that allows you to attach the record to someone in your online tree at Archives.com, save the document to your drive, or print the document. Links are also available to jump to Chas H Meitzler in other census records at the site, as well as newspaper records. Other links on the page will take you to the Record Details of other family members who lived within the Charles H Meitzler household. You can also bring up maps by clicking on links. Finally, you can click on a link that will bring up the original image of the document. Also note that there was more data below that shown here.
I next clicked on “View Image” and got the following document. On this page I can zoom in, and adjust the brightness and contrast. I can also print, download and save to my online tree from this page.
Following is a screenshot for the data on the family of Charles H Meitzler. This is reduced to fit on this blog, but I could have blown it up to the point where I would have only had a few extremely clear words on the page.
I liked the “Searching for Meitzlers” experience at Archives.com, and I look forward to the additional images, and databases that will be posted at the site. As I noted above, Archives.com does offer a 7-day Free Trial of the website. This might be a good time to check it out.
GenealogyBlog.com has an affiliate relationship with Archives.com.
I’m still unclear about this offering. The Archives.com press release says states that they have “integrated the full set of U.S. Federal Population Census indexes from 1790 to 1930.” But it is my understanding that the FamilySearch indexes, while excellent, are still a work in progress.
What is the full story?
They are in the process… They can only post what’s available – and as you say, that’s still being done.