Yesterday the National Genealogical Society blog wrote "Reserve 6 February 2011 for Super Indexing Sunday"
Rather than rewrite the same thing I have posted this excerpt here for your information:
Ken Sisler, a family historian who lives in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada has put together a Facebook Group entitled Super Indexing Sunday to announce a grassroots effort to index genealogical records through the website indexing.familysearch.org. The goal is to break the record of approximately 1.9 million records indexed in 1 day which took place in January 2011.
My only addition is a plea that you prepare for this event by doing a batch before then to make sure you are warmed up and ready. https://giveback.familysearch.org/indexing
Also if you use Facebook be sure to add the event so a tally can be kept by Ken Sisler of how many participate.
27 January 2011
24 January 2011
Ancestry.com: Expert Connect Closing
The following is an e-mail from the Ancestry.com Expert Connect team:
Dear Expert Connect Service Providers,
In March of 2009, the newly formed Ancestry.com Expert Connect team mailed hundreds of invitations to outstanding providers of genealogical services like you, with a message to come join a new marketplace called Expert Connect. Since that time, thousands of people with a gift for research and a desire to make some money have signed up as independent professionals. Expert Connect has been a great place to engage clients, pick the work you like to do, and have all financial transactions handled for you.
Though this service has been a positive experience for many of you, Ancestry.com has decided to focus on other business priorities. As of March 18, 2011, Expert Connect will no longer be a service that Ancestry.com will offer to its members. New project postings, bidding and awards will be discontinued February 3, 2011.
We expect that many of you may still be working on current projects with clients that have come through the Expert Connect service. We fully encourage you to finish out these projects over the coming months, and if needed, continue relationships with the clients you have made connections with along the way.
As some of your research projects may take longer to complete than March 18, 2011, please use the Message Board to exchange direct contact information with your clients. Make arrangements to do your remaining projects off of Expert Connect, directly with your clients. You will, of course, also need to arrange an agreeable payment method directly with your clients. Then, use the 'Modify Terms' tab to cancel your project on the Expert Connect system.
To prevent engaging in new projects that will also take you past the March 18, 2011 date, do not post new projects, or bid on any projects as of Feb 3, 2011.
We thank you for your involvement in Expert Connect and for sharing your expertise with Ancestry.com customers.
If you have any questions or comments about please contact us at:
http://expertconnect.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/expertconnect.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Sincerely,
The Ancestry.com - Expert Connect Team
Dear Expert Connect Service Providers,
In March of 2009, the newly formed Ancestry.com Expert Connect team mailed hundreds of invitations to outstanding providers of genealogical services like you, with a message to come join a new marketplace called Expert Connect. Since that time, thousands of people with a gift for research and a desire to make some money have signed up as independent professionals. Expert Connect has been a great place to engage clients, pick the work you like to do, and have all financial transactions handled for you.
Though this service has been a positive experience for many of you, Ancestry.com has decided to focus on other business priorities. As of March 18, 2011, Expert Connect will no longer be a service that Ancestry.com will offer to its members. New project postings, bidding and awards will be discontinued February 3, 2011.
We expect that many of you may still be working on current projects with clients that have come through the Expert Connect service. We fully encourage you to finish out these projects over the coming months, and if needed, continue relationships with the clients you have made connections with along the way.
As some of your research projects may take longer to complete than March 18, 2011, please use the Message Board to exchange direct contact information with your clients. Make arrangements to do your remaining projects off of Expert Connect, directly with your clients. You will, of course, also need to arrange an agreeable payment method directly with your clients. Then, use the 'Modify Terms' tab to cancel your project on the Expert Connect system.
To prevent engaging in new projects that will also take you past the March 18, 2011 date, do not post new projects, or bid on any projects as of Feb 3, 2011.
We thank you for your involvement in Expert Connect and for sharing your expertise with Ancestry.com customers.
If you have any questions or comments about please contact us at:
http://expertconnect.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/expertconnect.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Sincerely,
The Ancestry.com - Expert Connect Team
23 January 2011
Second Life Review, Family Village Alpha release, and other techie thoughts...
In the past I have suggested to FamilySearch the benefits of game technology for genealogy, specifically suggesting that they create a stronger link between Facebook and FamilySearch Indexing. One of my suggestions was that scores could be compared with Facebook friends automatically by linking your Facebook and FS Indexing accounts. Thus initiating a healthy competition that has potential to increase participation in Indexing.
Recently I got a tweet from Dan Lawyer of FamilySearch regarding FamilyLink's new Family Village Facebook game. I've blocked almost every Facebook app invite I've received. There is too much to be done with genealogy for me to spend time on almost pointless games I think. Family Village is in testing stages, but if you search for the app on Facebook you can get added to a list of people they will consider letting help test the program. When I saw the ad from FamilyLink about the new app I was pleased with the creativity and happy to see a new audience being reached. It stopped there. After seeing a trusted professional give it a good review I'm on the list and will let you know what I think after I get a chance to play.
I'm usually against games that take hours of alone time to play, which includes all MMORPG, but I decided to check out Second Life this weekend after reading a recent article in APG Quarterly. Pres. Laura Prescott of the Association of Professional Genealogists was talking about the genealogy teaching opportunities available in Second Life. I made an avatar and went to the Just Genealogy castle where I took this picture. If you are already using Second Life I love the idea of discussing genealogy there. It took me so much time to set up my avatar and find the castle that I don't expect to use it much myself. I'm definately grateful for simple social media like Facebook and blogs.
Mailbox: PaHR-Access
The following are responses to questions I've recently received about PaHR-Access:
Was it in the backlog of state bills all last session?
Senator Robbins' vital records bill SB 683 was Referred to the Appropriations Committee as of October 12 of last year. To our disapointment this proved too late for it to make it to the floor before the session came to an end. An excerpt from the official PaHR-Access website explains further:
All bills routinely go through this committee so a cost analysis can be added. Fortunately for this bill there is no cost involved. If anything it would actually generate more revenue on a straight user fee basis. Next up is to get Chairperson Senator Jake Corman to bring the bill for a vote in this committee. If it is approved it would go back to the floor of the State Senate for a final vote by the State Senate. (Click for full article)
Do you feel like Senator Robbins’ written proposal will get PaHR enough co-sponsors to get it to the floor in the near future?
Under the last session SB 683 had 16 cosponsors. As of January 20 we already had 15 reported cosponsors for the new session. I'm uncertain how many more weeks Senator Robbins will choose to gather cosponsors. (Click for related article on official site.)
It seems like a win/win situation for everyone involved were it to become law. I find it interesting that this state hasn’t made it’s death certs open access; are they not even public domain? (This is the only thing I am confused about--unfortunately I do not know the semantics surrounding the term “open record”).
Legislators and PaHR-Access volunteers use Open/Public record interchangably. I am aware that there is an important difference in the words in some settings, but they seem to refer to the same thing here - the goal is simply allowing non-vital-records-office-employees to search the records.
The PA Health Dept. has this to say about the situation at their website: "Pennsylvania law protects and restricts the release of vital records; as such, vital records are not public records and cannot be searched online... IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING RIGHT-TO-KNOW LAW: Death certificates maintained by the Division of Vital Records are not public certificates and, therefore, cannot be released under the provisions of Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know-Law."
I feel like the state library & archives getting their death certs’ name/date data up on family search for free should have them banging on the governor’s door; however, they’ve been cut so bad from the budget that they probably can’t afford to do much of anything past operations in their current state of restructure, and I’m sure you’ve encountered this.
I'm a little frustrated as I think about the political problems of the PA budget. I suppose that frustration is among all PA citizens. My theory is that if something needs to be done, do it. When you have enough genealogists wanting these records you have a workforce larger than most people dare imagine. They would gladly volunteer countless hours at no cost to PA. I'd come make the changes myself if they'd let me.
What is PA’s (archives, library, legislature) primary conflict with the bill? Is it a case of “we’ve always done it this way,” or do certain people have specific problems? Also, wonder if it is a simple case of backlog, as mentioned above. The National PAHR bill http://www.archivists.org/pahr/ has died in the backlog of the house floor, despite heavy Senate support, for the past three sessions, I believe. This new session will be the fourth try, but the House majority under Eric Cantor is devoted to reducing federal spending http://majorityleader.house.gov/ and an agenda of impassioned budget cutting no matter the social costs.
Those who have contacted the Health Dept. last session and the previous session have been told of concerns such as the following:
Financial, Identity theft, sensitivity of information (cause of death), and social security numbers.
Volunteers at PaHR-Access have researched all of these issues and found them to be without cause.
As we have discussed, the bill proposed is designed to be low/no cost. It has also been pointed out that an index the public could search will increase orders of certificates if that is the path they choose to follow.
Health Dept. staff appear to be burdened by genealogy requests and they emphasize the inability to expedite them. It takes them 4 months expected time to process a genealogical certificate request. It seems like moving the older certificates to the PA State Archives would remove a significant burden on their staff.
All social security numbers of deceased are already free online and known as the Social Security Death Index. This tool is designed to help combat identity theft so that anyone can make sure a SSN being used is not for someone who has already passed.
On a national level, knowing the cause of death of our ancestors is recommended. Some states remove the cause of death from certificates copied for genealogy and if PA wanted to they could. I recommend that it is not removed from genealogical copies. The U.S. Surgeon General talks about the importance of people learning about their family medical history: http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/
I did a little work on the familyseach wiki a while back—not much, but I was impressed with it. When does everything merge?
Please browse FamilySearch.org to become familiar with the workings of FamilySearch. Historical Records can be searched from the home page. You can also browse the collections indexed or the image only collections. The FamilySearch Wiki is part of the Learn tab. They are two different technologies on the same site. The wiki discussed collections, the years they cover, where you can find them, what data is in the collection etc.
A enormous user base that can feed metadata to the original documents would be unprecedented, and an amazing use of crowdsourcing. Check out some of NARA’s recent initiatives http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/?p=144.
Was it in the backlog of state bills all last session?
Senator Robbins' vital records bill SB 683 was Referred to the Appropriations Committee as of October 12 of last year. To our disapointment this proved too late for it to make it to the floor before the session came to an end. An excerpt from the official PaHR-Access website explains further:
All bills routinely go through this committee so a cost analysis can be added. Fortunately for this bill there is no cost involved. If anything it would actually generate more revenue on a straight user fee basis. Next up is to get Chairperson Senator Jake Corman to bring the bill for a vote in this committee. If it is approved it would go back to the floor of the State Senate for a final vote by the State Senate. (Click for full article)
Do you feel like Senator Robbins’ written proposal will get PaHR enough co-sponsors to get it to the floor in the near future?
Under the last session SB 683 had 16 cosponsors. As of January 20 we already had 15 reported cosponsors for the new session. I'm uncertain how many more weeks Senator Robbins will choose to gather cosponsors. (Click for related article on official site.)
It seems like a win/win situation for everyone involved were it to become law. I find it interesting that this state hasn’t made it’s death certs open access; are they not even public domain? (This is the only thing I am confused about--unfortunately I do not know the semantics surrounding the term “open record”).
Legislators and PaHR-Access volunteers use Open/Public record interchangably. I am aware that there is an important difference in the words in some settings, but they seem to refer to the same thing here - the goal is simply allowing non-vital-records-office-employees to search the records.
The PA Health Dept. has this to say about the situation at their website: "Pennsylvania law protects and restricts the release of vital records; as such, vital records are not public records and cannot be searched online... IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING RIGHT-TO-KNOW LAW: Death certificates maintained by the Division of Vital Records are not public certificates and, therefore, cannot be released under the provisions of Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know-Law."
I feel like the state library & archives getting their death certs’ name/date data up on family search for free should have them banging on the governor’s door; however, they’ve been cut so bad from the budget that they probably can’t afford to do much of anything past operations in their current state of restructure, and I’m sure you’ve encountered this.
I'm a little frustrated as I think about the political problems of the PA budget. I suppose that frustration is among all PA citizens. My theory is that if something needs to be done, do it. When you have enough genealogists wanting these records you have a workforce larger than most people dare imagine. They would gladly volunteer countless hours at no cost to PA. I'd come make the changes myself if they'd let me.
What is PA’s (archives, library, legislature) primary conflict with the bill? Is it a case of “we’ve always done it this way,” or do certain people have specific problems? Also, wonder if it is a simple case of backlog, as mentioned above. The National PAHR bill http://www.archivists.org/pahr/ has died in the backlog of the house floor, despite heavy Senate support, for the past three sessions, I believe. This new session will be the fourth try, but the House majority under Eric Cantor is devoted to reducing federal spending http://majorityleader.house.gov/ and an agenda of impassioned budget cutting no matter the social costs.
Those who have contacted the Health Dept. last session and the previous session have been told of concerns such as the following:
Financial, Identity theft, sensitivity of information (cause of death), and social security numbers.
Volunteers at PaHR-Access have researched all of these issues and found them to be without cause.
As we have discussed, the bill proposed is designed to be low/no cost. It has also been pointed out that an index the public could search will increase orders of certificates if that is the path they choose to follow.
Health Dept. staff appear to be burdened by genealogy requests and they emphasize the inability to expedite them. It takes them 4 months expected time to process a genealogical certificate request. It seems like moving the older certificates to the PA State Archives would remove a significant burden on their staff.
All social security numbers of deceased are already free online and known as the Social Security Death Index. This tool is designed to help combat identity theft so that anyone can make sure a SSN being used is not for someone who has already passed.
On a national level, knowing the cause of death of our ancestors is recommended. Some states remove the cause of death from certificates copied for genealogy and if PA wanted to they could. I recommend that it is not removed from genealogical copies. The U.S. Surgeon General talks about the importance of people learning about their family medical history: http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/
I did a little work on the familyseach wiki a while back—not much, but I was impressed with it. When does everything merge?
Please browse FamilySearch.org to become familiar with the workings of FamilySearch. Historical Records can be searched from the home page. You can also browse the collections indexed or the image only collections. The FamilySearch Wiki is part of the Learn tab. They are two different technologies on the same site. The wiki discussed collections, the years they cover, where you can find them, what data is in the collection etc.
A enormous user base that can feed metadata to the original documents would be unprecedented, and an amazing use of crowdsourcing. Check out some of NARA’s recent initiatives http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/?p=144.
21 January 2011
FamilySearch: "a bajillion times faster... six months to a year away" by Dan Lawyer
Lawyer said one way to improve the chances of genealogical success is to stop thinking "My Tree" and start thinking "Our Tree." He suggested genealogical research could be something akin to Wikipedia, which is slowly gaining credibility as people add and subtract information from the popular website.
"People want to make the data right," he said. "But people feel better if they can see evidence that supports changes."
Lawyer sees a day coming when documentation can be scanned into the database that proves without dispute a particular date or place. That day is probably only six months to a year away, he said.
"The goal is to release as much as possible for the lowest cost possible," Lawyer said.
To facilitate that end, much more help is needed with indexing records. Currently, 2.4 million records are waiting to be done, with more coming online every day.
"That's one way you can help," Lawyer said. "That will make it go a bajillion times faster."
The above is copied from this Mormon Times article.
"People want to make the data right," he said. "But people feel better if they can see evidence that supports changes."
Lawyer sees a day coming when documentation can be scanned into the database that proves without dispute a particular date or place. That day is probably only six months to a year away, he said.
"The goal is to release as much as possible for the lowest cost possible," Lawyer said.
To facilitate that end, much more help is needed with indexing records. Currently, 2.4 million records are waiting to be done, with more coming online every day.
"That's one way you can help," Lawyer said. "That will make it go a bajillion times faster."
The above is copied from this Mormon Times article.
20 January 2011
Mailbox: PaHR-Access
Another one of our readers has asked about PaHR-Access and here is my response with his comments in bold. The interest in this bill is skyrocketing.
As you know the Pennsylvania State Library system's budget was cut by 44 percent last FY (or this FY?) ...
Genealogists are by far the primary users of archives, and if they are actually getting 11 dollar a pop from these people, ...
I posted to my blog to clarify the costs. I ought to have corrected this in my initial Mailbox post in which I quoted a comment from a person who gave misinformed information about cost.
then they will not provide open access content. ...
The attachment is a copy of a selection from Senator Robbins memorandum requesting cosponsorship from all PA senators.
or view the full memorandum here.
Digitizing is very expensive...
The bill to make the certificates open record does not require digitization. We are simply hopeful that FamilySearch will offer to do it for free as they have done. FamilySearch.org has countless collections of digitized death certificates for other states. The issue is that in PA they are not open record so they would not be allowed to do this until we get that law changed. It is different in each state, but most states have made them open record and many have already digitized.
and requires continuous upkeep...
FamilySearch Indexing ( https://giveback.familysearch.org/indexing ) is a program that anyone can get on and look at the digitized copies FamilySearch made and index. It is like your wiki idea in that thousands of people sit at home on their computers and type the information from original records. The typed index can be linked to the original certificate. The index will allow for name and date searches at FamilySearch.org. This will become possible when law allows public access. FamilySearch volunteers can have thousands of names done at no cost and it will become a free searchable online system. If PA doesn't want it to all be done for free and free online they can restrict it. PA can make FamilySearch only release a name and date index for example. That would skyrocket PA income for copies because the public could free and easy find the name of their ancestor and once they had a cert number they would mail the money to pa and get their cert in the mail. This is a good plan if they want to make more money.
Upkeep is a good point the health dept would have to ship a years worth of birth and death certs to the archive every year and the archive should then in turn microfilm a years worth every year. It is work, but most states already do this. It is a much better system than 50 year old certs rotting in the health dpt.
and the further you get from a paper record, the less reliable the new document will be...
The SB will require those certificates becoming open record 50 yr old death certs and 100 yr old birth certs to be transfered to the PA State Archive. Currently the PA Dept of Health keeps all of them, even the ones from 1906 - when PA started recording certs. on a state level. This will give the Pa Archive a better source of income as they will have completely new income based on the fees charged for copies. This is the way it is done in most states - older certs go to the Archive and become open record for genealogist while newer certs stay in the dept of health.
It seems like common sense to me that we don't want grimy genealogist hands :) all over the originals and most states microfilm all the originals and some states lend out the microfilm to FamilySearch to make copies. A microfilm copy could be kept at the Archive in PA and also in the famous Granite Mountain Vault in the Salt Lake Valley owned by FamilySearch. The bill does not require them to microfilm so the bill does not require any extra expense theoretically. It only requires whatever expense it would be to physically move the older originals to the archive building. Then it would be up to the building to use common sense in preservation.
Now data entry costs much less and a user generated wiki will save them money...
I believe that FamilySearch would be willing to make indexes and digital copies for free so that PA would incur zero cost for that.
PA will (sadly) loose a reference archivist or too, but they are facing restructuring as it is...
As I said none of the certs are held in the archive. This bill will actually require older certs to be moved to the archive and give theoretically more purpose for the archives existence. They really ought to be held there. It makes no sense for a health dept. to hold records for people who died 50+ years ago. Some Health Dept. employees have even been known to complain about genealogy requests and they refuse to treat them with the same priority as others. It has been known to take months before hearing back. Transferring them to the archive will remove a burden from the Health Dept. and is very likely to decrease wait time for copies.
As you know the Pennsylvania State Library system's budget was cut by 44 percent last FY (or this FY?) ...
Genealogists are by far the primary users of archives, and if they are actually getting 11 dollar a pop from these people, ...
I posted to my blog to clarify the costs. I ought to have corrected this in my initial Mailbox post in which I quoted a comment from a person who gave misinformed information about cost.
then they will not provide open access content. ...
The attachment is a copy of a selection from Senator Robbins memorandum requesting cosponsorship from all PA senators.
or view the full memorandum here. Digitizing is very expensive...
The bill to make the certificates open record does not require digitization. We are simply hopeful that FamilySearch will offer to do it for free as they have done. FamilySearch.org has countless collections of digitized death certificates for other states. The issue is that in PA they are not open record so they would not be allowed to do this until we get that law changed. It is different in each state, but most states have made them open record and many have already digitized.
and requires continuous upkeep...
FamilySearch Indexing ( https://giveback.familysearch.org/indexing ) is a program that anyone can get on and look at the digitized copies FamilySearch made and index. It is like your wiki idea in that thousands of people sit at home on their computers and type the information from original records. The typed index can be linked to the original certificate. The index will allow for name and date searches at FamilySearch.org. This will become possible when law allows public access. FamilySearch volunteers can have thousands of names done at no cost and it will become a free searchable online system. If PA doesn't want it to all be done for free and free online they can restrict it. PA can make FamilySearch only release a name and date index for example. That would skyrocket PA income for copies because the public could free and easy find the name of their ancestor and once they had a cert number they would mail the money to pa and get their cert in the mail. This is a good plan if they want to make more money.
Upkeep is a good point the health dept would have to ship a years worth of birth and death certs to the archive every year and the archive should then in turn microfilm a years worth every year. It is work, but most states already do this. It is a much better system than 50 year old certs rotting in the health dpt.
and the further you get from a paper record, the less reliable the new document will be...
The SB will require those certificates becoming open record 50 yr old death certs and 100 yr old birth certs to be transfered to the PA State Archive. Currently the PA Dept of Health keeps all of them, even the ones from 1906 - when PA started recording certs. on a state level. This will give the Pa Archive a better source of income as they will have completely new income based on the fees charged for copies. This is the way it is done in most states - older certs go to the Archive and become open record for genealogist while newer certs stay in the dept of health.
It seems like common sense to me that we don't want grimy genealogist hands :) all over the originals and most states microfilm all the originals and some states lend out the microfilm to FamilySearch to make copies. A microfilm copy could be kept at the Archive in PA and also in the famous Granite Mountain Vault in the Salt Lake Valley owned by FamilySearch. The bill does not require them to microfilm so the bill does not require any extra expense theoretically. It only requires whatever expense it would be to physically move the older originals to the archive building. Then it would be up to the building to use common sense in preservation.
Now data entry costs much less and a user generated wiki will save them money...
I believe that FamilySearch would be willing to make indexes and digital copies for free so that PA would incur zero cost for that.
PA will (sadly) loose a reference archivist or too, but they are facing restructuring as it is...
As I said none of the certs are held in the archive. This bill will actually require older certs to be moved to the archive and give theoretically more purpose for the archives existence. They really ought to be held there. It makes no sense for a health dept. to hold records for people who died 50+ years ago. Some Health Dept. employees have even been known to complain about genealogy requests and they refuse to treat them with the same priority as others. It has been known to take months before hearing back. Transferring them to the archive will remove a burden from the Health Dept. and is very likely to decrease wait time for copies.
PaHR-Access Update: Senator Robbins is Reintroducing his Bill
Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Robbins is currently circulating his vital records for cosponsors. Once he gathers more cosponsors in the next few weeks the bill will be introduced and a number assigned. So far (fifteen) State Senators Alloway, Baker, Dinneman, Eichelberger, Erickson, Folmer, Fontana, Gordner, Kasunic, Mensch, Piccola, Pileggi, Rafferty, Tartaglione and Yaw are cosponsors. We ask for your help in getting the other state senators to become cosponsors of this bill. A visit, phone call or email to their offices should help. Here is the list of the senators (click on the senator's name for contact information): http://www.legis.state.pa.us/
It is basically the same bill (with some minor alterations) Senator Robbins introduced in the last session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 2009-2010. It calls for birth records more than 100 years old and death records more than 50 years old to become open records and available to the public at large. The bill also requires the records be maintained by the Pennsylvania State Archives once they become open records.
Although his bill does not require they be made available online it is an absolutely necessary step that makes it possible for them to be made available online. Because of the expense of digitizing and data extraction it is our hope the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will then be able to engage an outside party to take on the expense and do the work such as the Genealogy Society of Utah which has already done the same thing for numerous other states.
Now that Tom Corbett is the Governor of Pennsylvania be sure to send him a message of support for this effort. He will not know unless we all tell him about it.
It is basically the same bill (with some minor alterations) Senator Robbins introduced in the last session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 2009-2010. It calls for birth records more than 100 years old and death records more than 50 years old to become open records and available to the public at large. The bill also requires the records be maintained by the Pennsylvania State Archives once they become open records.
Although his bill does not require they be made available online it is an absolutely necessary step that makes it possible for them to be made available online. Because of the expense of digitizing and data extraction it is our hope the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will then be able to engage an outside party to take on the expense and do the work such as the Genealogy Society of Utah which has already done the same thing for numerous other states.
Now that Tom Corbett is the Governor of Pennsylvania be sure to send him a message of support for this effort. He will not know unless we all tell him about it.
PaHR-Access: Cost Correction
In the last post I did not address the actual cost, but in order to avoid the spread of false information I am posting on the current official costs of death certificates in PA.
There are two very different prices depending on whether you know the exact year of death.
"There is a $9 fee for each certified copy. This fee may be waived for individuals who served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces or their dependents." PA Dept. of Health
"If the year of death is unknown, an applicant may request a multi-year death search. The fee is $34.00 for a search of two to ten years (this fee includes one certification). Additional years may be searched at a rate of $25.00 for a span of two to ten years." PA Dept. of Health
There are two very different prices depending on whether you know the exact year of death.
"There is a $9 fee for each certified copy. This fee may be waived for individuals who served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces or their dependents." PA Dept. of Health
"If the year of death is unknown, an applicant may request a multi-year death search. The fee is $34.00 for a search of two to ten years (this fee includes one certification). Additional years may be searched at a rate of $25.00 for a span of two to ten years." PA Dept. of Health
18 January 2011
Mailbox: PaHR-Access
Claudia's Genealogy Blog said...
They get $11 per request....the state of PA is not going to give up that revenue and put it for free on line. Not only that it takes weeks to months just to get your certificates.
It sounds good in theory and I would love to see it, but I do not think it will happen.
January 14, 2011 4:57 PM
I am aware of several problems with cost and time. I assure you that all of the problems have been considered and viable solutions have been found. Sharing those solutions at this time does not seem to be the crux of our problem. We are avoiding the problems of financial disagreement completely by focussing on only making them public record. They may continue to charge money for copies, but at least when they are open record genealogists will be able to search them. If they still want to charge for copies they can. The bill being introduced this session calls for transferring the records of death over 50 years old to the PA State Archive. The Archive could choose to still charge any fee they deem necessary for a patron to make a copy once they have found the certificate they are looking for. At least this removes all the problems with how long it takes. You'd be able to go look for the record yourself. Even though the bill does not require it, it is very likely that FamilySearch will make a deal with the Archive once they become open record and they will all be digitized for easier searching at no cost. FamilySearch does those kind of things for free. I have no doubt that this law will change and we will see a miracle happen in PA genealogy.
They get $11 per request....the state of PA is not going to give up that revenue and put it for free on line. Not only that it takes weeks to months just to get your certificates.
It sounds good in theory and I would love to see it, but I do not think it will happen.
January 14, 2011 4:57 PM
I am aware of several problems with cost and time. I assure you that all of the problems have been considered and viable solutions have been found. Sharing those solutions at this time does not seem to be the crux of our problem. We are avoiding the problems of financial disagreement completely by focussing on only making them public record. They may continue to charge money for copies, but at least when they are open record genealogists will be able to search them. If they still want to charge for copies they can. The bill being introduced this session calls for transferring the records of death over 50 years old to the PA State Archive. The Archive could choose to still charge any fee they deem necessary for a patron to make a copy once they have found the certificate they are looking for. At least this removes all the problems with how long it takes. You'd be able to go look for the record yourself. Even though the bill does not require it, it is very likely that FamilySearch will make a deal with the Archive once they become open record and they will all be digitized for easier searching at no cost. FamilySearch does those kind of things for free. I have no doubt that this law will change and we will see a miracle happen in PA genealogy.
14 January 2011
PaHR-Access News: Senator Robbins is Reintroducing his Bill
January 14th, 2011:
Senator Robbins is Reintroducing his Bill
Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Robbins is currently circulating his vital records for cosponsors. Once he gathers more cosponsors in the next few weeks the bill will be introduced and a number assigned. So far State Senators Alloway, Erickson, Folmer, Fontana, Kasunic, Pileggi, Rafferty and Yaw are cosponsors. We ask for your help in getting other state senators to become cosponsors of this bill. A visit, phone call or email to their offices should help. Here is the list of the senators (click on the senator's name for contact information): http://www.legis.state.pa.us/
It is basically the same bill (with some minor alterations) Senator Robbins introduced in the last session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 2008-2010. It calls for birth records more than 100 years old and death records more than 50 years old to become open records and available to the public at large. The bill also requires the records be maintained by the Pennsylvania State Archives once they become open records.
Although his bill does not require they be made available online it is an absolutely necessary step that makes it possible for them to be made available online. Because of the expense of digitizing and data extraction it is our hope the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will then be able to engage an outside party to take on the expense and do the work such as the Genealogy Society of Utah which has already done the same thing for numerous other states.
Senator Robbins is Reintroducing his Bill
Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Robbins is currently circulating his vital records for cosponsors. Once he gathers more cosponsors in the next few weeks the bill will be introduced and a number assigned. So far State Senators Alloway, Erickson, Folmer, Fontana, Kasunic, Pileggi, Rafferty and Yaw are cosponsors. We ask for your help in getting other state senators to become cosponsors of this bill. A visit, phone call or email to their offices should help. Here is the list of the senators (click on the senator's name for contact information): http://www.legis.state.pa.us/
It is basically the same bill (with some minor alterations) Senator Robbins introduced in the last session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 2008-2010. It calls for birth records more than 100 years old and death records more than 50 years old to become open records and available to the public at large. The bill also requires the records be maintained by the Pennsylvania State Archives once they become open records.
Although his bill does not require they be made available online it is an absolutely necessary step that makes it possible for them to be made available online. Because of the expense of digitizing and data extraction it is our hope the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will then be able to engage an outside party to take on the expense and do the work such as the Genealogy Society of Utah which has already done the same thing for numerous other states.
13 January 2011
Help Change PA Vital Record Availability Law - PaHR-Access
Every year since I started blogging genealogy there has been a post about PaHR-Access. This didn't happen by accident. I am very interested in helping this movement and am requesting that you read about it, inform your friends and take action.
Please visit this website to learn the issues and how to help.
http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access
It is a new session in PA (2011-2012). The bill to make vital records open to the public was about to be voted on last year, but with a new session we must start over. Since 2007 PaHR-Access has been working as a grassroots organization made up of volunteers like you who find out the issue and write to PA representatives asking for their support.
The main goal is to get death certificates 50 years old to become public record so genealogists like us can use them to trace our tree. Currently they are possible to order, but there are no public indexes, and you are not permitted to expedite genealogical searches. The people who do the searches are government employees and not interested genealogists. If they "don't find" them they will simply keep your money and send you a letter months later saying it couldn't be found. If you want to try again you have to send more money.
Please visit this website to learn the issues and how to help.
http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access
It is a new session in PA (2011-2012). The bill to make vital records open to the public was about to be voted on last year, but with a new session we must start over. Since 2007 PaHR-Access has been working as a grassroots organization made up of volunteers like you who find out the issue and write to PA representatives asking for their support.
The main goal is to get death certificates 50 years old to become public record so genealogists like us can use them to trace our tree. Currently they are possible to order, but there are no public indexes, and you are not permitted to expedite genealogical searches. The people who do the searches are government employees and not interested genealogists. If they "don't find" them they will simply keep your money and send you a letter months later saying it couldn't be found. If you want to try again you have to send more money.
FamilySearch changes with 2011
The previous FamilySearch sites such as FamilySearch Pilot, Beta, and Wiki are now all at FamilySearch.org
Genealogist have been expecting such consolidation and a list of improvements to the site for some time. A 10 January 2011 news release from FamilySearch to Consultants, Directors and other leaders has confirmed plans to continue with website updates. It came under the heading: "FamilySearch Accounts for the General Public"
The new.familysearch.org website will, sometime in the future, become integrated into the familysearch.org website and become the “Family Tree” menu option. The new.familysearch.org website will then go away. Since the general public has access to familysearch.org, there needs to be a way to distinguish between members of the LDS Church and those who are not LDS Church members. Therefore FamilySearch accounts were created. Anyone who is not a member of the LDS Church can register for and get a FamilySearch account. Members of the LDS Church can register for and get an LDS Account. Familysearch.org accepts both LDS Accounts and FamilySearch accounts. Consultants need to know the difference in the two types of accounts and be able to help members and the general public register for the appropriate accounts. Clicking the Create a New Account link on the familysearch.org website will allow anyone to register and choose either an LDS Account or a FamilySearch account. Once Family Tree is moved to familysearch.org, only those with LDS Accounts will be able to see information about temple ordinances.
Other policies of interest to family history consultants were included in the e-mail.
Genealogist have been expecting such consolidation and a list of improvements to the site for some time. A 10 January 2011 news release from FamilySearch to Consultants, Directors and other leaders has confirmed plans to continue with website updates. It came under the heading: "FamilySearch Accounts for the General Public"
The new.familysearch.org website will, sometime in the future, become integrated into the familysearch.org website and become the “Family Tree” menu option. The new.familysearch.org website will then go away. Since the general public has access to familysearch.org, there needs to be a way to distinguish between members of the LDS Church and those who are not LDS Church members. Therefore FamilySearch accounts were created. Anyone who is not a member of the LDS Church can register for and get a FamilySearch account. Members of the LDS Church can register for and get an LDS Account. Familysearch.org accepts both LDS Accounts and FamilySearch accounts. Consultants need to know the difference in the two types of accounts and be able to help members and the general public register for the appropriate accounts. Clicking the Create a New Account link on the familysearch.org website will allow anyone to register and choose either an LDS Account or a FamilySearch account. Once Family Tree is moved to familysearch.org, only those with LDS Accounts will be able to see information about temple ordinances.
Other policies of interest to family history consultants were included in the e-mail.
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