Progress on digitization of microfilms
The last update I saw concerning the digitization of the microfilms said it was expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Is this still true? The stake may have inadvertently destroyed our centers microfilm scanner/printers and I am trying to determine how much of an issue this really is.
Answers
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Hi, can I ask, where did you get the information from that the process would be completed by the end of 2021. the only information I can find on this process is:
As of 7 September 2017, FamilySearch no longer distributes microfilms to family history centers. Much of the microfilm collection is available online. However, we anticipate it will take a few more years to digitize the remaining microfilms for you to view online.
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Does this help?
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It was from a 1 Feb 2020 article at https://media.familysearch.org/update-familysearch-digital-records-access-replacing-microfilm/
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I am unconnected with Family Search. I am aware that some microfilms have not yet been digitised, but they are probably regarded as rather obscure, specialised records.
If the microfilms your Center holds are more mainstream, the chances are they have been digitised.
You could check a few of the microfilm numbers as a sample, in the Catalog to see what their status is.
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I have check all of the films we have. About half have been digitized. I would not consider many as being mainstream. Most had been ordered by patrons as extended microfilms. I guess my question really is ... do they intend to digitize the remaining films.
Allan
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I believe they are digitizing virtually everything, and when a film has been digitized there is a number in the DGS column in the Catalog.
But FS is not able to publish everything that they digitise. Films with any records less than 100 years old usually cannot be published. In some cases the contract that FS (or the GSU as it was once called) has with the record owner only gives them permission to publish physical microfilm, so FS has to contact the record owner and renegotiate the contract. Some record owners do not agree to the films of their records being published digitally.
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Several months ago, I asked the question directly to a very high-ranking officer at the FHL. The response I received was that they would probably not finish by the original target date and that they would probably complete the next year. The library was closed for many months and has just reopened to the public. There was earthquake damage that had to be repaired in addition to the closure for health reasons. I have not asked the question again, but a further delay would not surprise me.
There is an all-day online expo with FamilySearch tomorrow, 24 July. I understand that Q&A will be part of the program. You might get the answer to your question by following the Expo.
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Thanks, I will check it out. In taking another look at which films are digitized, I did find out that the filter on FamilySearch is not always correct and searching with the online box checked, sometimes does not correctly show films which are really available online.
Allan
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You will also get different results by searching when you are at an affiliate library or at an FHC, compared to when you are searching from home.
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Why is that? Searching from home still shows the films that you can only view at a Family History Center, you just can't view them from home
Allan
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In the opening session of the FamilySearch expo, David Rencher, CGO, said the digitization of microfilms will be finished later this year.
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thanks. I saw that
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If anyone would like to see a running count of images being digitized, check out this place on FamilySearch.org.
When you are on the home page, choose "Search" and then Images.
Explore Historical Images
Search groups of images in the world's largest collection of historical documents, with over 4,693,167,139 images and counting.
View the most recently added images.
This clip is as of 28 July at 9:50 am CDT.
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