I have a full Ancestry membership so I don't know what part is "free" any more and what you have to pay for. I do know that I had to pay extra for the "One Family Tree." Ancestry has really changed their format in the last month or so and I can't say that I like it. They took some old information that I had on Rootsweb World Connect and mixed it with other researchers and now you have to go into each and every person to see the many databases that it came from. Then you have to open up that database to see if it has the contributor's name. They took very little information from my data base that I uploaded last Sept. It was the one with corrections and additions. I think they really shot themselves in the foot with this "improvement!"

That's very interesting Carole because it is pretty much the opposite of what they claimed they were doing in the new version regarding the family trees. I haven't tried it and the little playing I've done with the new version [about 15 minutes] was very frustrating. As far as I know, looking at the family trees part is still free. Personally I have never found anything useful on Ancestry. I think they make searching very difficult. Also, I much prefer to see the original, not three lines out of context from Ancestry's transcription of the original. However, I know some very good researchers who swear by it. The new version, at least is what is at my library, seems to be extremely limited, considerably less material than a couple months ago. I should point out that Ancestry does give us something for free -- this mailing list, the message board and space for the Sangamon ILGenWeb site for which we are grateful. Cheryl Rothwell

>>I know some very good researchers who swear by it.<< I think you should ask those researchers what they think of it now. Tell them to look up something that they themselves have put on Rootsweb's WorldConnect. We do thank Ancestry for everything they have made available to us. I've been doing research for over 40 years and when I first started there was practically nothing available locally. The few genealogies that were available where I lived in Eugene, OR, were written in the late 1800s and the earlier part of the 1900s. We had to drive to the state library to have access to actual records for other states. Genealogists were not welcomed in some libraries. We have since found some errors in some of those old genealogies. This is simply because we now have access to so many more records that weren't available 100 years ago. Now, thanks to Ancestry and Heritage Quest we have access...and indexes... of all of the census records plus many more. I still say that they shot themselves in the foot.

MY OPINION I posted messages when Ancestry was FREEE. Now when I am searching I end up at ANCESTRY. I have to go back or start my search over. The information I post is for sharing information and not to be used for profit or in books. I have messages posted on Gen Forum and since you have to register I quit them. Why isn't there a warning that the site requires a membership. Or that there is a fee. I do NOT LIKE THE CHANGES TO ROOTS WEB. My mail is coming bacck. Or there is no message. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carole Hammond" <carole.hammond@comcast.net> To: <ilsangam@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 10:16 PM Subject: Re: [ILSANGAM] Ancestry contest >>>I know some very good researchers who swear by it.<< > > I think you should ask those researchers what they think of it now. Tell > them to look up something that they themselves have put on Rootsweb's > WorldConnect. > > We do thank Ancestry for everything they have made available to us. I've > been doing research for over 40 years and when I first started there was > practically nothing available locally. The few genealogies that were > available where I lived in Eugene, OR, were written in the late 1800s and > the earlier part of the 1900s. We had to drive to the state library to > have > access to actual records for other states. Genealogists were not welcomed > in some libraries. > > We have since found some errors in some of those old genealogies. This is > simply because we now have access to so many more records that weren't > available 100 years ago. Now, thanks to Ancestry and Heritage Quest we > have > access...and indexes... of all of the census records plus many more. > > I still say that they shot themselves in the foot. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILSANGAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > -- > Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.0/439 - Release Date: 9/6/2006 > >