Wanted to pass this on to all of you! -----Original Message----- From: Rosemary Kimble <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 11:33 PM Subject: Fw: Genealogy bounty coming to Web >This was sent to me by a friend. I thought it might be of interest to the >rest of you. > >>> Genealogy bounty coming to Web >>> >>> Mormons set to bring part of vast collection of records online >>> >>> By Margie Wylie >>> NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE >>> >>> March 3 - Much to the delight of genealogists, the Mormons are preparing >>to >>> make some of their vast holdings of family records available on the World >>> Wide Web for the first time next month, if not sooner. >>> >>> FamilySearch site (not yet live) >>> Rootsweb >>> GENTECH >>> Pioneers Online >>> Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints >>> Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation >>> >>> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collects genealogical >>> records of all kinds because the Mormons believe it is important to >>perform >>> religious rites on behalf of dead ancestors. It has the world's largest >>> collection of such data. >>> >>> THE NEW WEB SITE (www.familysearch.org) won't officially launch >>> until mid-April, but it is expected to "go live" for testing any day now. >>> Church officials originally planned to leave the site open to all during >>the >>> test period. But for fear of being swamped, they now may limit access to >>> official testers with assigned passwords. >>> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collects >>genealogical >>> records of all kinds because the Mormons believe it is important to >>perform >>> religious rites on behalf of dead ancestors. It has the world's largest >>> collection of such data. >>> Genealogy is one of the most popular subjects on the Internet. As >>> more information goes online, it seems to create more genealogists. About >>> 100 million Americans have at least dabbled in it, and 19 million >>actively >>> research their family history, according to a 1995 Maritz Marketing >>Research >>> study for American Demographics magazine. >>> Rootsweb (www.rootsweb.org) has more than 200,000 subscribers to >>> 3,000 e-mail lists about genealogy. The number of subscribers is growing >>> rapidly, according to John V. Wylie, a professional genealogist from >>Grand >>> Prairie, Texas. Wylie is a co-founder of GENTECH (www.gentech.org), a >>> non-profit society to help genealogists use technology. >>> Mormon Church officials are vague about what Web surfers can >>expect >>> to find on their new site, but that hasn't dampened genealogists' >>> enthusiasm. >>> >>> >>> >>> "I think the reaction is probably going to be unanimously, 'Wow! >>It' >>> s about time!"' said Marthe Arends, editor of the newsletter Pioneers >>Online >>> (www.eskimo.com/~mnarends), based in Bellevue, Wash. The newsletter helps >>> genealogists use the Internet. >>> With 2 billion rolls of microfilm, 700,000 microfiches and 280,000 >>> books, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (www.lds.org) is >>the >>> ultimate source for many genealogists. Anyone can use the materials at >>the >>> Family History Library in Salt Lake City free of charge. They may also >>> borrow materials for a small handling fee at any one of the library's >>3,200 >>> branches. >>> A tiny, but important portion of that is available by computer. In >>> 1978, the church began computerizing some of its records in a program >>dubbed >>> FamilySearch. The program is currently only offered at libraries and >>branch >>> libraries. >>> The church won't sell FamilySearch to individuals because it can't >>> afford to offer everyone support for DOS, the older operating system the >>> program requires. That makes it the perfect candidate for putting on the >>> Web. >>> With 2 billion rolls of microfilm, 700,000 microfiches and 280,000 >>books, >>> the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (www.lds.org) is the >>> ultimate source for many genealogists. >>> >>> One of the first FamilySearch databases expected to be offered >>on >>> line is Ancestral File. The simple database lets surfers type in names >>and >>> find family trees compiled by other researchers, mostly amateurs. >>> "As useful as that can be, the information is only as good as the >>> person who submitted it," said Arends. "I'd personaly like to see more >>> primary sources being put online." >>> The International Genealogical Index, also part of FamilySearch, >>lets >>> researchers search millions of marriage, death and birth records taken >>from >>> records in the United States and abroad. The church won't say if the >>index >>> will be offered on the Web site. >>> Even with thousands of church volunteers typing the information >>from >>> original records into computers, "We can digitize only a tiny fraction of >>> what we capture each year," said David Rencher, manager of public >>outreach >>> for the Family History Department of the Mormon Church. >>> Still, the output is impressive. >>> Over the past year, the church not only updated FamilySearch, but >>> also released five sets of CD-ROMs reaching back 450 years and ranging >>from >>> Australian Vital Records to the 1851 British Census. In 1999, it will >>> release the full 1880 U.S. Census and the 1881 British Census, both on >>> CD-ROM. >>> Church volunteers are also working on a 17 million-person database >>of >>> Ellis Island immigrants that will be released on CD-ROM by the church, >>> posted online by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation >>> (www.ellisisland.org) and made available at the new American Family >>> Immigrant History Center due to open late next year on Ellis Island. > >