Sent: 23 July 2002 19:19 1901 Online service: Latest statement from the PRO "Unfortunately we still cannot give a firm date when the 1901 Census Online Service will be fully functional. However, QinetiQ, who are responsible for setting up the site and providing the online service, have continued to make technical improvements to it. QinetiQ have been testing the site and the Public Record Office has also carried out its own independent test programme. Now these tests are completed, we are planning to move to a phase of testing of the online service by public users. Details of this will be available shortly. We hope to complete this public testing phase by mid to late August. However, the nature of testing is such that it throws up issues that need to be addressed, and sometimes requires tests to be re-done. This could happen in the public testing phase so it will still not be possible to give a firm date for general Internet access until the public testing phase has been completed and fully evaluated. We do realise that the lack of a precise timetable has caused much frustration to our customers, frustration which we share, and for which we apologise. We want to ensure that, when the 1901 Online Census is re-launched on the Internet, it successfully handles the initial demand, which we expect will again be extremely high, and provides a consistently reliable service to users. We are committed to expanding online access to our most popular records and are continuing with our other online projects." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ So folks there is still hope, so don't give up on it yet. Regards Barbara Mallyon Basingstoke, Hants, UK BarbaraMallyon@lewmal.co.uk