Len Swindley and I create about 99% of the "*FREE*" records on CoTyroneIreland.com. We often receive requests for specific records and comments about obtaining "*FREE*" records. In this light, I wish to make the following comments: - - *NOTHING appears online at NO COST!! * - Someone pays for the server, the domain name, and the storage on the site - Someone has to transcribe the information into a suitable digital format - Someone has to supply to create the html file, as well the labour and effort to place it online - Someone has to volunteer their own time to do all of this - FamilySearch.org is a prime example of a huge site with millions if not billions of records... all *FREE* - The true cost of maintaining this site day-to-day must by huge without considering the labour costs of creating all the data - Who funds FS? Although I am not of Latter Day Saints faith, I would suggest it is funded by the Church organization with an army of volunteers - There have been comments that PRONI should put all their records online at *NO COST*. - Who would fund such an effort? The taxpayers of Northern Ireland? - Seems to me the taxpayer in USA, Canada, Australia or any other country would be reluctant to fund placing all of their historical records online *FREE*?? - Enough said! - *CoTyroneIreland.com (CTI)* is a community website totally reliant upon the contributions of volunteers. If you want to see more records online* FREE*, I would suggest *YOU* begin transcribing data to put online. How can you do this?? - - Find a need which has not been filled - Obtain access to the records - Transcribe them........ (but only after determining a proper format in which to store the transcription) - If the foregoing is not possible, go to FamilySearch.org; click on INDEXING and begin assisting their transcription efforts - And don’t forget to regularly check the CTI Links page where there are links to many record repositories and family history societies Respectfully Jim McKane