Indexed records only available to research on subscirption

Janet Dunne

I have indexed for many years and generally try to select records nearest to my location to more easily identify places and names. I also assist members and others in their family history research and so it is helpful for local records to be indexed. A few years ago i concentrated on the Lancashire Parish Registers as I live in the next county. When these became available on Ancestry I was saddened to learn they could only be viewed upon payment of an added subscription. I did not feel this fitted well with the hours of free input by researchers. I note the Lancashire Non-Conformist records are now appearing on the indexing list. I feel competent to index these but reluctant to do so if they too also will not be available as part of my LDS Access. Please can you confirm if this will be the case

Áine Ní Donnghaile

https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/projects/uk-england-lancashirenonconformist-church-records-16471996-part-b?type=IDX#!/

"Records Access

The completed index and images may have restrictions."

Melissa S Himes

Hello Janet. You can usually tell how the records will be used by looking at the beginning of What to Remember About This Project.

For the UK, England, Lancashire—Nonconformist Church Records, 1647–1996 the project instructions say:

The completed index and images may have restrictions.

This has been a long-standing situation with the partnerships. I am not a member of the Church, so there is no LDS Access for me. I hear you on the "hours of free input", but, had to come to terms with it in 2014. I came to the conclusion that when I love a project, and know it will help others, then my volunteer time is worth bringing happiness to someone else, somewhere in the world!

I don't even work on my tree right now. I am waiting to subscribe someday and do a significant amount of work to justify the expense. But, I do enjoy getting those Thank You messages: "I found this record today that helped in my family history research. Thank you for indexing it as it made a difference for me and my family."

Hope that helps a little.

Melissa from Ohio

Janet Dunne

Thank you for your prompt reply and I must admit I had not looked at the "restrictions" message. The "Thank You" messages I understand to be system generated and I receive several each day. The issue regarding the Lancashire records is particularly annoying as previously these records were available free to all on the Lancashire Archives Web Site. They are now no longer available. Although I only use them when I am assisting others with their family tree, it seems that in this instance to index the records has resulted in less availability than previously.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

@Janet Dunne, a few years ago, I indexed over 18,000 names on a project near and dear to my heart. I recruited others to index and arbitrate so that it could be completed as soon as possible. At the time, the project was scheduled to be available to all.

In the 2+ years between completion and publication to the site, the contract changed, and the records are only available at FHCs, not even at affiliates.

I was very disappointed, but I just had to take a deep breath and move on. My FHC has been closed for 18 months with no plans to reopen. I am able to obtain images from that database through the lookup service. I manage.

A van Helsdingen

This is why I have drastically reduced my indexing for FamilySearch. The results of the indexing for some projects is shared with for-profit companies and I feel that these companies should pay their indexers rather than relying on free labour. I also strongly disagree with user's religious beliefs (i.e. their membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) being used to decide the level of access they get. So I now index for VeleHanden, a Dutch organisation, because all the records indexed are made freely accessible to everyone regardless of their religion or ability to pay.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

@Janet Dunne some indexing projects are contracts for other sites, with a short-term exclusive. I've seen some with a 3-year term. After that time, they became available on FS.

Janet Dunne

I have learned so much from all the comments to my query, so many thanks to all who replied. I have taken part in indexing for around 15 years and will continue to do so, but will now select my projects with more care to ensure the records I work on are available freely to everyone.

Janet Dunne

Thank you for the information regarding the contract terms, I was not aware of that.