Ancestry and Geneological Records?

Question

How is it that Ancestry.com can charge you to view records that should be free to the public? I dont get i beleive there is a law called something like freedom to information act or something like that, im just wondering how can they do that? If my last name is on it, that means it is part of my family and there for part of me which overall means i own it technically, so how do they do it? also can someone give me a website i can use to search census records for free?

Answer 1

Ancestry.Com is charging you for the convenience of viewing those records on the internet from your home on any day or at any hour.



You can still see those records without going through Ancestry.Com. This means you will have to travel which means GASOLINE expense, motel or hotel expense, eating out expense and go to vital records offices, county courthouses, state libraries etc all over the country and see them yourself for free??



Ancestry.Com has paid people to obtain all the records, program a computer system, feed all the information into their computer system. They have to pay salaries and benefits, I would imagine. The census records are available at various public libraries on microfilm and at various Naitonal Archives offices. If you can find one nearby you can view them for free.



Another thing, your public library might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com that you can take advantage of during their hours.



Now, you might say why doesn't your county or state vital records office put the info out for you to view. That would mean the taxpayer would be paying for it. There are lots of taxpayers who are not interested in genealogy and certainly would resent having to pay for something like that so that you and I can look them up for our special interest.

Answer 2

You can walk into any courthouse in the country.. and VIEW records, as long as they are not sealed. Take the book to the desk for a copy.. and you will pay a fee. The reason is that the govt "owns" the records.. but also, has to pay not only for personnel to maintain them, but money to maintain the court building(s) in which they are stored.

The main repository for census records is the Natl Archives, and there are a number of branches across the country, where again.. you can go to view those records. And again.. if you want COPIES, you will pay for that. Last I looked, you may also purchase a copy of the microfilm reel with your family records to use at home, assuming you have purchased a microfilm reader. Since they are not indexed by the govt.. hopefully, you won't buy the film only to find your family did not live in that county after all.

Various companies have paid fees for copies of those records, putting them on cd's OR like ancestry, they have paid for them and indexed them as well.

You often can use ancestry at your local library for free.. assuming you can go when they are open, and hoping that you don't live in a rural area (gas is expensive).

Even if you request records from the govt. under the Freedom of Information act.. the actual translation is that they are OPEN TO the public. You will still pay for copies.

Enough said.

Answer 3

The Grand Canyon is Federal/public property, but hotels charge for their rooms. Similar thing. Ancestry is charging for the (extremely expensive and time consuming process of) digitizing and organizing the information.



Eventually the Federal government may digitize this information but I seriously doubt it will be anytime soon. I used to work for their publishing office (the GPO) and digitization of "legacy" documents (i.e. those over a few years old) is extremely low-pri and their budget is always being slashed, so private companies like ProQuest (which owns Ancestry) and LexisNexis have done the majority of the digitization- so much so that the government itself uses their services because it's cheaper than doing it themselves.

Answer 4

The National Archives charges you for copies of these records, as does Cook County Illinois. You don't own your birth certificate, the state where you were born owns it and has complete control over it. Ever try walking in there and telling them you want to change parents? They're not going to take out a bottle of White Out, retype it and just hand it back to you.



States, counties, shipping companies, and National Archives around the world COOPERATE with Ancestry...but they're paid for the access to their records. You CAN find many of these databases online somewhere else for free. But you have to know where to look for them. The convenience of having them all in one place comes from licensing fees that Ancestry pays. It's no different than your local radio station playing songs by artists from around the country...and paying a royalty to that artist for the privilege of playing that song on their airwaves.



Ancestry had a long, hard road to get to where they are right now. For about 4 years I walked away from them altogether. They didn't have their act together and they didn't have many good datasets. But they persevered and worked on those federal and state contracts. They also had to pay for those contracts. Some comes from advertisers, but most comes from membership fees. I remember the annual membership used to be $49.99/year. That changed as their costs went up. Like any other business, they can't operate on goodwill. They have to pay to play, so we have to pay to play.



If you want to search census records for free, go to the nearest LDS Family History Center. If you want it from the Internet, only 1880 is "free". Bits and pieces of others are available, but not with a nice cushy index and all the bells and whistles you're used to. It took many of us YEARS to transcribe all of those records. You might find a local county's records on GenWeb, but don't look for 80 years worth of records for free anywhere. There were hundreds of thousands of hours put into that project and they still haven't recouped their costs.