I have to agree with Caroline with regards to Ancestry. I just renewed my subscription and note they have changed their packages. If you go to their site you can see the various subscriptions offered and what you get for your money. I also have a subscription to Findmypast.com which has different options. I like the "Ships leaving the UK" option which is helpful to me. It is also a boost when you can't find a b/m/d in the civil registration on the free bmd site (which I think is the best free thing to the world of Genealogy since the IGI)! If I had to make a choice it would be Ancestry.com. Don't forget to keep an eye out for the LDS' new site that they are working hard on putting lots of new things on-line , check it often as it is a pilot program. I have found many things on there. http://pilot.familysearch.org Pity you didn't ask before Christmas Santa might have answered your prayer ;-) Shirley in Florida ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Bradford" <caroline.bradford@btinternet.com> To: "'Sally-Ann Jay'" <sally-ann@chairwoman.plus.com>; <Essex-UK@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 6:44 AM Subject: Re: [Ess] Which subscription? > Hi Sally-Ann > > You are absolutely right that, unless you are absolutely determined to do > your family history the "old fashioned way" - i.e. purely through using > original sources in archives around the country (or even the world), you > will need to use at least one of the commercial sites. And unless your > requirements are very small indeed (and this is unlikely as family history > is such an addictive pastime!), subscriptions are very much more > cost-effective than pay-per-view units. > > So far, so uncontroversial (I hope!). But the choice of supplier is > trickier, and does rather depend on the nature and scope of your > particular > research. It would probably be fair to say that Ancestry is the "market > leader" in the field, and with some justification. They certainly have > the > largest collection of data (though it is probable that you may not need a > good percentage of it). The quality of their indexing and transcription > is, > in my view, no better or worse than any other. But the flexibility of > their > search facilities is extremely good, and this is an important > consideration > - but you will get the best results by applying your brain to the exercise > rather than relying on their dubious claims to find your ancestors for you > based on typing in "as much as you know". If you have interests in the > London area, you should be aware that Ancestry will be rolling out > digitised > data from parish registers at the London Metropolitan Archives starting at > some point in 2009. > > FindMyPast has some good stuff too - as well as alternative census > transcriptions which can sometimes be helpful, the facility to search by > address in certain years, and the ability to use wildcards at the start of > names. They will be the first site to provide access to the 1911 census, > though to begin with at least this will only be on a pay per view basis on > its dedicated site - a FMP subscription with not, I repeat, not, give > unlimited access to the 1911 transcriptions and images when it is released > early next year. > > The Genealogist is less comprehensive, but has a wide range of different > subscription rates, which can be useful if you don't want to commit > yourself > for too long. They are also the only site which has the non-conformist > registers available to subscribers - a very valuable resources if you have > dissenters in your family. > > There are other useful sites (notably British Origins) where you may need > to > spend some time and money from time to time. > > So, if I had to stick my neck out, I would say subscribe to Ancestry, but > accept that it does not have everything you may need and be prepared to > spend elsewhere when necessary. > > Hope this helps > > Caroline > > > -----Original Message----- > From: essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] > On Behalf Of Sally-Ann Jay > Sent: 30 December 2008 11:06 > To: Essex-UK@rootsweb.com > Subject: [Ess] Which subscription? > > Hello list > > > > Have decided I really do need a subscription to one of the family history > sites and would like your recommendations. Which do you think represents > the best value for money, which has the widest range of info and which has > the best search facilities? Suspect I will get a lot of differing answers > but I would appreciate your input/experience. > > > > Regards > > > > Sally-Ann Jay > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ESSEX-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ESSEX-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message