| genealogyADM |
I'd like to start off by welcoming our
special guest - Ancestry.com and thank them for coming tonight to
answer our questions. |
| genealogyADM |
Jake - are you ready? |
| Ancestry |
You bet.
Thanks Kim, I'll try and keep up... |
| Ancestry |
I'm Jake
Gehring, product manager at Ancestry. |
| genealogyADM |
Just holler if you need me to slow things
down |
| Ancestry |
I've
been working here for about five years now--which is long for a dot
com... |
| Ancestry |
Currently
I work on our database postings, search functionality, Images
Online... |
| Ancestry |
Though
I've done other things here, most notably a stint as editor of
Genealogical Computing. |
| Ancestry |
I'm
certainly happy to answer any questions -- you can get answers
straight from the horse's mouth. |
| Ancestry |
At least
I'll do my best. :-) |
| Ancestry |
There
was already one question about the indexing of our census images,
maybe I'll start with that... |
| Kak |
why is it so hard for me to find out anything
about my ancestors? |
| genealogyADM |
Why don't all of you type in a ? when you
have a question for Jake |
| genealogyADM |
I will call on you in turn |
| Ancestry |
As you
may know, Ancestry has started to post images of the U.S. Federal
Census... |
| genealogyADM |
Have your question typed in so that you can
just hit enter when I call on you |
| Ancestry |
Parallel
to this posting, we are also working on indexing those index sets
that need it (like 1920, for example) |
| Wil |
I'm new to chat rooms. New?!!!! This is my
first chat!!! |
| Ancestry |
We plan
to do head of household indexing for these years, and we hope to be
finished mid- to late- 2001. |
| spc |
I am against head of household indexing.
Think it a waste of time. |
| Ancestry |
The
images themselves will be posted by around the end of first quarter
2001, and linked to our existing census indexes where we have them. |
| genealogyADM |
That is all census images Jake? |
| Ancestry |
For
those without, we'll allow browse access by state, county, and
township/E.D. |
| genealogyADM |
For all years? |
| Ancestry |
All U.S.
Federal Censuses through 1920, yes. |
| Ancestry |
We also
plan to post and index 1930 when it becomes available. |
| genealogyADM |
If any of you want to get in line with a
question, be sure to type in a question mark (?) |
| Kak |
? |
| okie64 |
? |
| kybiog |
? I've been tempted to use Ancestry a few
times, but don't want to waste my 30 days free. Any chance of
offering a different deal, like 50 hours free or something? |
| Wil |
Is Hunterdon County, NJ, 1850 available? |
| genealogyADM |
kybiog - please type in a ? if you have a
question and I will call on you |
| Ancestry |
We have
thought quite a bit about alternative access, but nothing formally
in the works right now... |
| Kak |
my great grandfather was an orphan how can i
find info about his parents? |
| genealogyADM |
You too Wil :-) |
| Kak |
oh I'm sorry I did it wrong |
| Joan |
? |
| genealogyADM |
KAK - that's OK you were up first anyway |
| genealogyADM |
So Jake will answer your question next |
| Ancestry |
KAK--Generally
people begin at Ancestry.com with a search of all our databases at
once... |
| Ancestry |
KAK,
cont. -- Which is sometimes a problem with common names |
| Ancestry |
KAK,
cont -- But anyway, you can search our online database for possible
mention of your ancestor |
| Macara |
? |
| Ancestry |
KAK,
cont -- or perhaps even do some research at Ancestry about the area
in question (again, if we have an appropriate db to help... |
| genealogyADM |
Okie - you are up next |
| Kak |
thank you ancestry |
| okie64 |
I have a membership now 3 months if I were to
get the census index now after my membership runs out? |
| okie64 |
What would I have to do then? could I still
view the cenus without it? |
| Ancestry |
Okie --
The answer is yes, you can have access to census images without
access to our other data if you want to let that sub lapse... |
| shatys |
? |
| Coycault |
? |
| kybiog |
? |
| okie64 |
thanks |
| genealogyADM |
joan - you're up next |
| Joan |
Esactly what does a Premium membership
include? I couldn't tell for sure from the web site. |
| Ancestry |
Joan --
Good question. Premium membership is available for a quarter or a
year and allows access to our subscription databases (with the
exception of the census images). |
| Ancestry |
Joan,
cont -- We will probably be adding other services to the Premium
subscription as well, but nothing's been announced at this state. |
| genealogyADM |
Anything you can hint about??? |
| genealogyADM |
We like scoops ;-) |
| Ancestry |
Joan,
cont. -- These might be special functionality or features, |
| Ancestry |
Joan,
cont -- Sorry, hit the ENTER key early there... |
| okie64 |
Are the images of the census typed and easy
to read? |
| Ancestry |
Joan,
cont -- features like site personalization, alternative db access,
but we've not made firm plans in this area... |
| genealogyADM |
Okie - you have to get back in line with
another question mark :-) |
| okie64 |
sorry |
| genealogyADM |
That's OK!!! |
| genealogyADM |
Just trying not to overwhelm Jake with too
many questions at once |
| genealogyADM |
For those of you who just came in - if you
have a question, then just type in a question mark (?) and I will
call on you when it is your turn |
| genealogyADM |
Macara - you're up! |
| Macara |
I have a name, Amos Chesley York. I Iook in
the PERSI I get all people from NY. How can I narrow down the search
to just A. C. York? |
| Ancestry |
Macara
-- That's a good question. I'm just taking a quick glance at the
query template for PERSI now... |
| Ancestry |
Macara,
cont -- It's at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/periodicals/persi/main.htm |
| Ancestry |
You'll
need to filter your search, which is available in different ways in
different sections of PERSI. |
| Nana |
? |
| Macara |
OH is there.. Ok thank you very much |
| genealogyADM |
shatys - you're turn |
| shatys |
Could you give us tips about refining our
searches? |
| Ancestry |
You
should be able to use the "title keyword" at least, to
specify certain words that must appear...though that may filter your
search too narrowly... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys
-- I like that question. Yes. First thing, make sure to be familiar
with the advanced options we offer--both for the "GlobalSeach"
and for individual dbs |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- for example, check out http://www.ancestry.com/search/main.htm
to see an example of "advanced search features" |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont -- You may want to filter by locality, by adding more keywords
to the query, by using a SOUNDEX search, or... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont -- or, at the individual db level, whatever else is offered
(that PERSI screen is a good example).... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont -- Just one warning, and then a bit of inside info... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- Every time you filter, you may be inadvertantly excluding
legitimate hits, so you might be conservative (unless your ancestor
is John Smith!) |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- As far as the inside info is concerned, this is one area
where we are working most feverishly right now to improve the user
experience... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont -- by increasing search options (Boolean, wildcards, etc.), and
by providing more advanced search options for more individual
databases... |
| genealogyADM |
That sounds great! |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- We plan to make very great improvements in the next 12
months in this area. |
| shatys |
Ancestry, Thank you---don't have John Smith
but do have John Brown LOL |
| genealogyADM |
Coy - your turn |
| Coycault |
How much is it for the census? I have
Ancestry for a yr. and how long do we get it for? |
| Ancestry |
Coy --
If you are already a Premium member, it is just an extra $39.95 to
add census to your account. (That's annual pricing--quarterly census
is $19.95) |
| Coycault |
How long do we get it for? |
| genealogyADM |
kybiog - you're up next |
| kybiog |
I'm not sure how the pricing is structured.
Can you break it down a little more? |
| Ancestry |
Coy --
Your census access at that $39.95 price will run for a full year
from the time you sign up for it. |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog
-- Ancestry basically has several pricing options, starting with
quarterly access at $19.95... |
| Coycault |
Thx Ancestry =) |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog
-- To which you can add census images for another $19.95 (just under
$40 total). |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog
-- The next option is annual access, which is $59.95 ... |
| kybiog |
? |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog,
cont. -- again, to which you can add census images for $39.95
(annual total, $99.90). |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog,
cont. -- We've got some package offerings, too, where you can get a
subscription to our magazines, some helpful reference books, etc. |
| Joan |
? |
| genealogyADM |
Nana - your turn :) |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog,
cont. -- The best place on Ancestry to find out more about that is
at http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribeplanstx.asp |
| Nana |
There is very little about Tennessee and
Georgia on the sites. Will that change? |
| Ancestry |
Nana --
Absolutely. To be honest, it's a tough job to get people the data
they need, so we try hard to 1) flesh out good collections for all
areas, but also 2)... |
| Ancestry |
Nana,
cont. 2) collect data at a nationwide or international scope (like
the census, or vital records) so more can benefit... |
| Ancestry |
Nana,
cont. -- We certainly plan to please everyone with our content
offering--it's just the challenge of ... |
| katie |
Type Is there a guide ,for beginners ,to
learn how to best use ancestry.com? |
| April |
? |
| genealogyADM |
katie - and everyone |
| Ancestry |
Nana,
cont. -- Balancing the value of the records in question, cost to
convert, etc. |
| genealogyADM |
If you have a question, please type in a
question mark |
| genealogyADM |
And I will call on you in turn! |
| genealogyADM |
Katie - I put you on my list! |
| genealogyADM |
Nana - if you missed any of Jake's answer - I
am recording a copy of this chat and will have it up on my site
tomorrow |
| genealogyADM |
kybiog - your turn |
| kybiog |
Let me try it this way: assuming I got all
the bells and whistles, $99.90 is the most I would pay for complete
access for the year? |
| okie64 |
? |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog
-- That's essentially correct, not counting those
"packages" I mentioned. |
| kybiog |
thanks |
| genealogyADM |
okie - your turn :-) |
| okie64 |
What states are ready now to search? on the
census records? |
| Ancestry |
Okie --
Great question. At any time, you can check out http://www.ancestry.com/search/io/main.htm
for the "up to the minute" postings, but... |
| Ancestry |
Okie,
cont. -- Right now we have all of 1790 and are just getting
seriously into the 1920 postings. |
| Ancestry |
Okie,
cont. -- With which (1920) we hope to finish image posting by the
end of the year. |
| okie64 |
Wow that would be helpful |
| okie64 |
thanks for all you do |
| genealogyADM |
shatys - you're up |
| Coycault |
? |
| April |
?? |
| kybiog |
? |
| shatys |
Will you being working on the census in
order? Since you did 1790 first now 1920 whats next? |
| Ancestry |
Shatys
-- We haven't really published a set schedule since production has
been a very involved process, still not yet finished, but... |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- I can say that we should have all images for all states for
all census years up by March or April 2001. They probably won't go
in chronological order, though year groups are likely to be posted
as a group. |
| shatys |
Thank you |
| genealogyADM |
Coy - your turn |
| Coycault |
Is that just for 1790 or 1790 and up all
states? |
| Ancestry |
Coy --
We'll be posting all the census years to 1920 with the exception of
1890 (which is not available), though we have begun the creation of
a substitute... |
| Ancestry |
Coy,
cont. -- using city directories, state censuses, tax lists, etc. --
see http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/census/1890sub/main.htm
for details... |
| Coycault |
Thx =) |
| shatys |
? |
| genealogyADM |
April - your turn |
| April |
Do you have any future plans for any other
country's census - Canada to be exact? This would be after all the
US is done. |
| nels |
when will the census be available |
| Ancestry |
April --
Nothing in that area's been annouced formally, but in principle I'd
say this: census records, because of their scope and content,
tend... |
| genealogyADM |
Nel - they have already posted 1790 and parts
of 1920 |
| cja |
? |
| Ancestry |
April,
cont. -- to rank highly in our priority lists for new content--and
Canada has been identified by our content team as an important area
for improvement--so my guess is that we'll get to it relatively
soon... |
| genealogyADM |
All years (1790-1920 with the exception of
1890) will be published by March or April of 2001 |
| April |
thanks ancestry |
| genealogyADM |
kybiog - your turn |
| kybiog |
Is there any connection between Ancestry and
the USGenWeb on this? |
| Ancestry |
Kybiog
-- No, there isn't. |
| nels |
? |
| genealogyADM |
shatys - you're up |
| shatys |
Will slave schedules and mortality be
included as images? |
| genealogyADM |
Good question shatys!!! |
| katie |
I have belonged to ancestry for about a year
and don't feel I'm getting the most out of it. Is there a guide on
how to use it? |
| Ancestry |
Shatys
-- Good question. The current project involves the posting of
population schedules only. Of the various census schedules, they are
the most genealogically valuable for most people... |
| genealogyADM |
Jake - please answer katie's question after
Shatys :-) |
| Ancestry |
Shatys,
cont. -- There is legitimate research value in other census
schedules as well--manufacturing, agricultural, social, mortality,
slave, etc. These schedules may be included at some future date
depending on continuing evaluation of their value versus other
worthy genealogical document collections, cost to scan and index,
customer demand, and so on. |
| shatys |
Thanks |
| Ancestry |
Katie --
Excellent question. I have 2.5 answers for you: |
| cja |
I for one would like the slave schedules! |
| Ancestry |
Katie,
cont. -- The first is that we have recently revamped our help pages
and have added quite a bit of content. You might try there, or
perhaps you might ... |
| Ancestry |
Katie,
cont. --- subscribe to the Ancestry Daily News, as it often contains
tips and how-to info for the site... |
| kybiog |
Thanks to Ancestry for the information. Got
to go. Thanks for the newsletter, Kim. |
| Coycault |
Bye Ky |
| genealogyADM |
You're welcome kybiog :-) Glad you could make
it! |
| genealogyADM |
cja - your turn |
| Ancestry |
Katie,
cont. -- There has also been an Ancestry How-To video produced,
which you can order for $15 at 1-800-ANCESTRY... |
| cja |
I'd like to know of you can be a member of
Ancestry for less than a year. |
| April |
? |
| Ancestry |
cja --
There is a quarterly membership available for $19 (census access
quarterly available too for $19) see http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribeplanstx.asp
for details... |
| genealogyADM |
Your turn nels |
| cja |
Thanks! |
| katie |
Thanks so much. Hope I did jump ahead of too
many but have to go. Thanks. |
| genealogyADM |
Thanks for coming Katie |
| genealogyADM |
Nels - its your turn! |
| genealogyADM |
April - go ahead |
| April |
I'd like to know until there are indexes up
are there any maps of the larger cities that would break down into
districts to cut down on the time searching? |
| genealogyADM |
Good question April |
| Macara |
Thank you for having me.. Time to say
goodnite. and see you again. Thank you Jake |
| Macara |
And thank you Kim |
| Ancestry |
April --
We've considered that, and are in the middle of creating a
"prototype" for a few cities, which I hope will be ready
in a few weeks. If... |
| genealogyADM |
You're welcome Macara - thanks so much for
coming! |
| Ancestry |
April,
cont. -- response is good then we will likely expand to other
cities. Until then, we have created a browse structure for the
images that goes down to the E.D. level, with descriptions for each
E.D. where available. |
| April |
I didn't notice the browse feature when I looked
at the site |
| Ancestry |
April --
Go to http://www.ancestry.com/search/io/main.htm and click on the
appropriate census year, then state, then county, etc... |
| genealogyADM |
There are so few people left - I won't make
you guys do the ? thing anymore ;-) |
| genealogyADM |
Does anyone have anymore questions for Jake? |
| CAMurry |
I probably missed this since I'm late, but do
we know when the next |
| Laurie |
How does your site work with Myfamily and
Rootsweb? |
| CAMurry |
census online will come out and what State it
will be? |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- This has been a hot question not just tonight, but on our site
the last few weeks as well. We hope to finish 1920 in the next
several weeks, and finish the entire collection of images by the end
of first quarter, 2001. |
| CAMurry |
Great! sorry to make you repeat. |
| Ancestry |
No
worries. |
| April |
Thanks for all the info you shared with us
tonight, Jake. I've found a few good leads from your databases |
| genealogyADM |
There are other people who came in recently
who probably wanted to hear the same thing CAMurray :-) |
| shatys |
Jake, Thanks so much for all the good info
and your time. For those of you who are considering subscribing, I
have more than got my monies worth |
| genealogyADM |
Jake - did you see Laurie's question? |
| Ancestry |
Oh,
thanks--I hadn't seen it-- |
| CAMurry |
I can Ditto Shaty's comment, It was worth my
money to subscribe. |
| Ancestry |
Laurie
-- You could consider MyFamily.com and RootsWeb.com as "sister
sites" |
| genealogyADM |
Hey - I'm the Genealogy Guide for this site -
but I still subscribe to Ancestry ;-) |
| Ancestry |
Laurie,
cont. -- We are all owned by the same company. |
| Coycault |
Jake, just want to say Thanks for all the
work y'all do on Ancestry.com ....It has helped me out a lot ! ! ! |
| cja |
I subscribe to the newsletter and sometimes
feel that's just as good as subscribing to Ancestry for the year! |
| Ancestry |
I agree
on that--I love the ADN. |
| CAMurry |
I do have another question concerning the
census |
| Ancestry |
Thanks
very much for your kind comments -- we want you guys to be overjoyed
with the subscription... |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- shoot. |
| CAMurry |
Right now when you check an index, you will
see names in red |
| CAMurry |
will those names every be linked to the
images online? |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- For those census indexes we do already have on the site (like the
AIS indexes we posted in March of 1999), we will be linking them to
the census images, yes. |
| CAMurry |
Kewl that will be a great help |
| CAMurry |
also |
| genealogyADM |
CAMurry's question brings up one that I get a
lot. You have your census indexes in your premium subscription, but
not in your census subscription. Do you ever plan to change that and
put them together in a single subscription? |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- The 1790 images with their corresponding index is the best
current example of this |
| CAMurry |
is there any plan to say offer the image as a
PDF file? |
| Ancestry |
That's a
bit of a miscommunication unfortunately. If you are a "census
only" subscriber, you will get access to the corresponding
indexes also. |
| genealogyADM |
Thanks for clearing that up :-) |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- Right now we have no PDF plans -- mostly because we use a special
file format for compression |
| genealogyADM |
I wasn't able to check for myself since I
subscribe to both |
| CAMurry |
Mr. Sid does not always give you an
acceptable image that you can view well, thus my PDF question. |
| Laurie |
THANKS, JAKE! |
| genealogyADM |
Hey - I like the login name kinkollecter :-) |
| Ancestry |
Yeah,
sometimes the image quality is not as good as it should be--this
might be the original microfilm at fault, or perhaps even the
scanning process, though... |
| CAMurry |
I was thinking more on the line of options, I
have mR Sid, and have tried to print images and what I get is very
grainy and not readable |
| Coycault |
Thanks, Jake and Kim....good night to all :-)
see y'all soon! |
| Ancestry |
we have
a pretty extensive quality control process to try to catch most of
those. You can certainly bring the issue up with use through an
e-mail to our Customer Solutions, and we'll schedule the image for
rescanning (if rescanning will help, that is) |
| genealogyADM |
Night Coy - thanks for coming! |
| Ancestry |
I see
what you mean about options... |
| CAMurry |
I spoke with one of your techs, who suggested
an update to my printer software, which didn't help. |
| Ancestry |
If you
are using the MrSID plug-in you can right click on the images and
save it out as a bitmap, to print from some other program. That
might help. |
| CAMurry |
I tried that as well, I think he and I tried
everything we could think of, still to grainy to read . Might be a
problem with my computer and mr sid. |
| genealogyADM |
Can't you read the images without MrSID? |
| genealogyADM |
Have you tried that for printing? |
| Ancestry |
Yeah. In
the far future storage and bandwidth may allow better quality
images, but for now we have some constraints... |
| CAMurry |
Even without mr sid I can't view/print them
if I enlarge them even a tiny bit. |
| Ancestry |
Yes. The
images can be viewed in plain HTML w/o the plug-in, though I don't
know how that affects print quality. |
| shatys |
Goodnight all, Thanks Jake and Kim |
| CAMurry |
if not enlarged need magnifying glass to read
(LOL maybe I'm blind!) |
| Ancestry |
LOL |
| genealogyADM |
You're welcome shatys - thanks for coming! |
| dcat |
hi all |
| dcat |
where to begin |
| genealogyADM |
Hi dcat :-) |
| dcat |
my mom has dates of some of her ancestors
birth and death |
| genealogyADM |
We're just wrapping up here - so if you have
any questions about Ancestry then get them in! |
| April |
Thanks again Jake and Kim - have to go |
| genealogyADM |
Night April |
| genealogyADM |
Thanks so much
for coming! |
| dcat |
when r u going to be on again |
| kinkollecter |
just watching try to get in on time next time
thanks kinkollecter |
| CAMurry |
? have another quick one |
| genealogyADM |
We have genealogy chats on this site almost
every day |
| genealogyADM |
You can check out the schedule at http://genealogy.about.com/mpchat.htm |
| genealogyADM |
We are definitely here every Tuesday at
9:30pm Eastern time |
| CAMurry |
What if we find mistakes in some of the
information that you have posted, who can we notify to have it
corrected? |
| dcat |
great see u then |
| Ancestry |
CAMurry
-- We've got some feedback instructions at http://www.ancestry.com/search/io/feedback.asp |
| Ancestry |
Basically
e-mail and phone are your options. |
| CAMurry |
Great, I missed that some how |
| genealogyADM |
If there are no other questions, then we
should probably let Jake go |
| genealogyADM |
He probably needs to eat or something
<g> |
| CAMurry |
Thanks Jake |
| genealogyADM |
Thank you so much for coming Jake |
| Ancestry |
My
stomach grumbles as I type! Actually --Thanks very much. Very happy
to be here. I hope we do this again. |
| genealogyADM |
You did a great job fielding all of the
questions and I think people learned a lot! |
| kinkollecter |
thanks jake TTFN kinkollecter |
| CAMurry |
Very informative even though I was late |
| genealogyADM |
Bye kinkollecter - Thanks for coming! |
| genealogyADM |
You're welcome anytime, Jake |
| CAMurry |
Thanks for having Jake, Kim |
| genealogyADM |
You're welcome CAMurry |
| genealogyADM |
Thank you so much everyone for coming tonight |
| genealogyADM |
Especially, those of you who are new to our
chatroom |
| CAMurry |
See you all later in the Forum Good night |
| genealogyADM |
I hope to see some of you in our forum |
| genealogyADM |
Or at more chats :-) |
| genealogyADM |
Do any of you have any questions for me? |
| edna |
thanks for an interesting chat - good night
all |
| genealogyADM |
Thanks for coming edna! |
| genealogyADM |
Hope to see you again!!! |
