Greetings All. It never ceases to amaze me that people will bitterly complain about something they have never had in the past (i.e. online images of Canada's 1901 Census records), and when they get it they complain some more. Particularly when it is now provided without charge, unlike the images of England and Wales (when they get back online), or those of Scotland or Ireland, or the images provided by commercial enterprizes in the United States. So the Canada images are not indexed -- so what? Use of the online images is no different than searching through microfilm or printed listings of the Census in a library or family history centre. You have to have some idea of what you are looking for to begin with. Genealogy is all about RESEARCH, not having it all handed to you on a silver platter. The difference now is that you can do it from the comfort of your own home without having to send for a film, and reserve, or wait to use a reader when the film arrives. Many genealogical societies have had volunteers working tirelessly to index the Census records for their area. The BC Genealogy Society is in the final stages of indexing the 1901 Census for British Columbia. Have you volunteered to do your bit in providing these indexes? Be thankful for the effort that those people in the National Archives have put in providing the images without charge. If you have suggestions for improvement of the system by which they are delivered I am sure the NA people would be happy to receive CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Remember that the website clearly states that it is a PROTOTYPE, thus indicating that they are still working on it. Census records after 1901 in Canada are presently not available for research, and unless we are successful in our efforts to have things changed we will NEVER see another Census released in Canada. A great many people have been working for the past five years to see changes made. Have you done your part? -- even by simply signing a petition or writing a letter to your MP? It is easy to complain on these mail lists. To do something other than complain takes a little effort on your behalf. Be thankful for what you have at the present. Do not just complain. By all means make suggestions for improvement -- but make them to the people in a position to listen to them and possibly to act upon them. In that way we may see some improvement in the final product. Have a great day. Gordon A. Watts [email protected] Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Dennis Bell wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Bell" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 4:52 PM Subject: Re: [SCTCDN] 1901 Census Hi Shari: You're right. The good old Canadian government has, in its usual inimitable fashion, spent a few hundred thousand of our tax dollars setting up a 1901 census website that is absolutely useless. In order to find somebody, you must already know about 99.999 per cent of the census data you seek. Catch 22, magnified by the site's apparent inability to cope with any kind of modern computer , PCs or Macs. You cannot run a simple surname search, the common denominator of just about every other genealogy site in the world. So why in the heck are the pencilnecks at the National Archives so worried about their new site being swamped by excited, happy customers is utterly beyond me. Unless they think aliens from Outrer Space are trying to contact them. dennis bell in british columbia He also wrote: Hilda: Of course we have. What we haven't dealt with very much is the total craziness of our federal genealogy "experts." Read the notes that are coming in from those who have tried. NOTHING works at the site. Dennis Bell in British Columbia hilda wrote: Haven't any of you dealt with original census records before? When you borrow a microfilm of a census, you have to know what area of the country to look at, and there is no index.