Why are so many records locked?
I've been researching at FamilySearch for years. I"ve always loved going through the category section finding the states and cities my ancestors came from and researching the published but non searchable documents (vital, newspapers, probate ect). These past few months I've noticed a considerable amount of those records from the states I search in are locked. and can only be viewed from the Family History Library center. This a nightmare for those of us who cannot get out to the libraries, if there is one close by. I thought familysearch's mission is to get records published so that we can search for what we need for free. Is that no longer a mission? Why are all these records locked?
Laura
Best Answer
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For European records, we tend to blame the GDPR, but another reason is changing contracts due to archives and other record custodians getting on the digitization bandwagon for monetary gain. (That is, if the archive decides to make its materials available online for a fee, then they will not want those same images available for free on FS.)
But before you despair completely, make sure you're logged in when you look at the catalog page, and reload the page a few times: sometimes for some catalog pages, it takes it into its head to show film reels or locks everywhere until I reload. In other words, you can't always believe what the catalog is saying.
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