I used to enjoy looking at the actual documents and adding the ones I could verify as belonging to my family. Now, all the images are gone.

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Coronavirus Access to Images normally only available in local FHCentres.

Arlene G Miles

I used to enjoy looking at the actual documents and adding the ones I could verify as belonging to my family. NOW, all the images are gone, did I miss something? YES, give something for free until money can be made, then hide all the good stuff under a heavy, expensive rock.

Both Family Search and Ancestry must have some kind of relationship with the holders of all these documents, and now they are holding them hostage.

😡 Arlene

Gordon Collett

Unfortunately, it is the owners of the records that controls how they can be viewed. This is not FamilySearch but is those archives and other record custodians who actually have the original records that determine the terms of use.

This is actually quite understandable. Maintaining and preserving records must be very expensive. Governments have to pay for their archives somehow either through taxing the people in their communities who never look at the records or charging the people who actually use them. If the choice is charging for access vs. throwing all the records away because you can't pay any archivists to take care of them, then we better pay for what we use.

A van Helsdingen

To add to the useful and accurate information that Gordon gave you, Ancestry.com is sometimes a record custodian. Ancestry and FamilySearch have a partnership. In some circumstances, Ancestry will direct FamilySearch not to publish certain records ,so that people cannot use FamilySearch as a way of avoiding Ancestry's subscription fees.