Is FamilySearch running out of collections it can add to its website?
I have just checked-out the Blog and only one major collection appears to have been added so far in 2023. Otherwise, none of these collections involve digitized images (i.e., are all "index-only") and all (but one or two) fall in the "Expanded collection" category.
It appears record repositories are turning increasingly to commercial websites in order to get their records online. Very sad, but perhaps to be expected when funds from other sources are now so difficult to come by.
One thing to bear in mind is there is still a lot of material available out there free of charge. I won't name the websites, but as long as you register with them, it is surprising how many transcripts and even images can be viewed FOC.
I'm not encouraging anyone to drift away from FamilySearch, just to consider using other websites (without having to pay a penny!) as an additional way of accessing details of your relatives.
Answers
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@Paul W I'm not entirely sure that the description of new items in the blog is correct. Or perhaps better to say the description might be misleading
Just choosing the first collection on the 30 April blog, Argentina, Catamarca, Catholic Church Records, 1724-1971, the blog listing shows 3,070 indexed records and 0 images. Clicking through that link takes me to an indexed collection with images.
I entered a random surname that I knew should be found in that collection, Salvador, and there are 53 records, with images, for that surname. https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=100&q.surname=salvador&f.collectionId=1974178
Since FS now adds records to indexed collections piecemeal, rather than waiting for an entire collection to be completed, it may be that what we see in the blog, as an expanded collection, is an update. Images were already online (browsable), and now more of them are indexed. The collection indicates 102,718 images.
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Thank you for advising that. In the past there was always a breakdown between indexed records added and images added, so I assumed the Blog was still providing accurate, detailed information. Not that the detail given has ever been of much use when it comes to additions to existing collections: have additional parishes been added to a county collection, or just coverage of additional years for ones already included? No, it appears the Blog notifications act more as press release items than being of much use to FamilySearch users.
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I tend to go to the "Browse All Collections" tab and sort by most recent additions rather than relying on the press release.
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