free ancestry.com weekend search has an
unfortunate twist
brenda kellow
march 9, 2014
I have just discovered something negative about Ancestry.com’s Free Weekend search. Dave Duff notified me that he was unable to access Ancestry.com to take advantage of the free weekend. He called the company who told him because he had a free trial back in 2009 he “could not access Ancestry.com for a second time because there was only one free trial subscription per lifetime.” Per lifetime? I find this disappointing. I have not seen that in their advertising previously. Nevertheless, the free access would not have helped him anyway because Dave wanted to access the Canadian records from the Province of Quebec that is on Ancestry’s World Explorer site—an expensive subscription site. He had accessed the free library edition at the library, but the library edition does not have World Explorer, just most records for the United States. Yes, even the free library edition has limits on its search. We knew that. I have stated it in my column and librarians Cheryl, Tom and Doug at the Genealogy Center have told users about its limitations. One access free per lifetime seems a little extreme to me.
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY EXTENDS HOURS: They just announced that the library would be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. the second Saturday of each month. Besides access to Ancestry.com, Fold3 and Heritage Quest, the Reference and Information Center houses almost two million federal and Texas state agency publications and maintain the official history of Texas government. The State Archives includes archival government records dating back to the 18th century, as well as newspapers, journals, books, manuscripts, photographs, historical maps, and other historical resources. Go to their website to read more at www.genealogyblog.com/?p=30706.
MORE GERMAN RESEARCH SOURCES: Recently, I wrote about accessing German records on Ancestry.com. There is another place to access these wrote Joanne Corney, Plano Legacy Family Tree User Group leader. She says the German Genealogy Group has large amounts of record access to New York Municipal Archive information that they have transcribed over the years. Better yet, she says it is free to access, but suggests supporting the Group’s labors by joining, or through a donation. Their upgraded website is www.germangenealogygroup.com. She relates that she has gotten many of her New York City certificates by using the numbers their volunteers provided. Thank you, Joanne for passing that along.
DO YOU HAVE CORNWALL, ENGLAND ANCESTORS? Another reader, Jean Funk, notified me about this find from the FamilySearch.org blog hoping it could help my husband’s and my research in Cornwall. The blog says:
“Features include articles on each of Cornwall’s 350+ Anglican parishes loaded with descriptions of records available online at major websites Ancestry.co.uk, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks, Cornwall Parish Register Index, FamilyRelatives, FamilySearch.org, FindMyPast.co.uk, FreeReg, TheGenealogist.co.uk, Google Books, and Internet Archive.
Most Cornish parish registers are now available online, if you know where to look for them. Genealogists will find tables describing where to find parish registers online, maps to pinpoint places Cornish ancestors lived, and learn how to find and use major Cornwall archives and libraries, such as the Cornwall Record Office, The National Archives, and the Society of Genealogists Library.”
Unfortunately, our parish is not yet on the sites. I did bookmark all the sites mentioned to return and search in six months. Thanks Jean for passing this on. Hopefully it will help us and others.
USE ANI-MAP AND CENTENNIA FREE AT LIBRARY: Researchers in the Genealogy Center may use Ani-Map Historical County Atlas Software and Centennia Historical Atlas—a map-based guide to the history of Europe and the Middle East from the beginning of the 11th century to the present—free while researching on library computers. They are both available at the desk. The librarian is happy to check these out to you to use on library computers thanks to the generous gift from Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc. back in 2009.
NEW JERSEY OPENS ADOPTION RECORDS: Mari Steed of Levittown, Pennsylvania is founder of the adoption rights group in Ireland. Recently she was mentioned in the film “Philomena” and began her quest urging the state Assembly to approve a bill letting those who were adopted to acquire their birth certificates. She was successful in her quest. Read more about this on Genealogy Blog.com, www.genealogyblog.com/?p=30701.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
