Updating/adding later records
Hello - I'm working in York Co, Pennsylvania - currently in deed records - and find that online availability only goes to about 1855 (Docket 3Y). The index for deeds available at another source covers the years to 1912, shows many more dockets (to 11S for 1899). By adding these approximately 200 dockets to about 1900 (still over 100 years ago) would add so much content to everyone's work, in an area that is very important to westward migration, and heavily populated by Pennsylvania Germans.
In research I've done onsite in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, the librarian advised me that when the records at the Court House were microfilmed by LDS, they provided the Historical Society with a copy (or they somehow did wind up in the Historical Society). This tells me when the filming was done, it was more complete than what is available online. Information there only goes to about the early 1880's.
Isn't it time to add more recent documents if possible. It would make this website so much more robust and offer so much more to your users. In the push to add online information with the change away from microfilm, I hope you would consider all of the possibilities.
Thanks for you attention.
Steve Staruch, Poland NY
Answers
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@Steve Staruch The availability of records on FamilySearch are determined by contract. It can become rather complicated. Sometimes another website has gone to the expense of getting something indexed, for example. At least for some time, they then have exclusive rights to their index and often to the record images too. Or a government entity uses access to records as a revenue generator and therefore is not interested in having the information freely available elsewhere. Well, you get the idea.
Be assured that FamilySearch does revisit contracts regularly and gives as much access to indexes and record images as contracts permit. We are glad you were able to find the more recent records elsewhere to aid your research. As contracts are revisited, we hope that more of the PA deeds will also be available on FamilySearch.
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