Friday, October 18, 2013

Will FindMyPast.com Images be Available Through FamilySearch?

I was away at appointments when the DC Thomson Family History (which includes FindMyPast) partnership with FamilySearch was announced on Thursday.  The full press release can be read at DC Thomson Family History and FamilySearch.org to Make Billions of Records Available for People to Search.  There are also Frequently Asked Questions (with answers) in Frequently Asked Questions about the DC Thomson Family History/FamilySearch Press Release.

Inquiring minds want to know what FamilySearch.org will get from this partnership.  The press release says:

"DC Thomson Family History, formerly known as brightsolid online publishing, is collaborating with FamilySearch, which has the largest collections of genealogical and historical records in the world, to deliver a wide range of projects including digital preservation, records search, technological development and the means to allow family historians to share their discoveries. "

That's pretty nebulous as to the benefits that accrue to FamilySearch in this partnership.  I have many questions:

*  Will they receive access to more indexes and records images currently available on FindMyPast? 
*  Will the FindMyPast record indexes be searchable on FamilySearch?
*  Will the record images be available to FamilySearch users at home, or only at FamilySearch Centers?
*  Will FamilySearch access include all branches of FindMyPast, or only FindMyPast.co.uk?

I decided to check to see the current status of English Census records on FamilySearch.  Here is a search in the 1851 England and Wales Census for John Richman:



The search results in FamilySearch provides 23 matches:


I clicked on the first match on the list, and saw the record summary for John Richman, age 35, birthplace of Hilperton Marsh, Wiltshire:



On the screen above, the outlined box on the right side notes: "The image is viewable at findmypast.co.uk. By clicking here you will be leaving FamilySearch.org (fees and other terms may apply."  There is also a blue "Visit Partner Site" button to click on.

I clicked on the blue "Visit Partner Site" button and saw:


I have a free account at FindMyPast.co.uk but not a subscription.  So at this time, I would have to pay credits or a subscription fee to see the record at home.  I know that patrons at FamilySearch Centers can find the record images using the links to FindMyPast.co.uk for free.

However, I have a paid FindMyPast.com subscription - as shown below.  I'm signed in, and can search any database, and see record images, in the FindMyPast collections (US, UK, Ireland, Australia, etc.) with this subscription.



However, I cannot use that FindMyPast.com subscription to access content through the FamilySearch link.

I realize that FindMyPast and FamilySearch have just made this partnership and they have issues to work out between them.

Some concerns:

*   The search in the 1851 England and Wales Census was a very primitive search - only names and birth year are allowed.  Not even a location field is available.

*  The search result  I found on FamilySearch doesn't even tell me where this enumeration occurred, or what other persons are in this family.  I hope that FamilySearch improves the indexes for this census and any other England and Wales census that does not include more indexed information (especially critical information like family members and location of the enumeration).

*  Mu hope (and desire!) is that FamilySearch will be provided access to the FindMyPast indexes for England and Wales Census records (and other databases unique to FindMyPast).

*  My hope (and desire!) is that FamilySearcj will make access to FindMyPast.com available so that I can search all FindMyPast records on FamilySearch and am able to access record images on FindMyPast using my FindMyPast.com subscription.

Obviously, I could use the search fields at the FindMyPast.com website, but I was hoping to use the source citations at the FamilySearch site to add source links to persons in the FamilySearch Family Tree, ideally with the UK record terminology included.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/10/will-findmypastcom-images-be-available.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


1 comment:

Tara said...

Hi Randy,

I've been considering subscribing to findmypast.com. Can you please tell me if they offer access to all of the U.S. censuses?