RootsChat.Com
Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: southportgirl on Thursday 30 March 17 21:56 BST (UK)
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started researching my father's english relatives a few years back but for different reasons gave itup. am now wanting to get back into it and was wondering is it better value for money to do amonthly subscription to one of the research sites or the"credits" option? i remember paying for a photocopy of a record from an office (can't remember if it was a census) but when it came it was illegible.
so basically i'm wanting advice on how best to dip my toe into the waters again.
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It really depends how much you are going to use it. I've always found that credits work out more expensive unless you are 100% sure that you have the correct record.
It might be a good idea to watch out for the frequent offers from sites such as Ancestry and FindMyPast when they offer a month at a reduced price, often as cheap as a £1.
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also check your local library to see if they offer free in-house access to Ancestry and/or FindMyPast.
That would be even cheaper if you can do your research at a convenient time.
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Paying by credits means you're always umming and ahhing about whether to look at the record. Having the freedom to just give it a bash is worth a lot.
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Agree Stevie,
Also, when I tell people I love my genealogy, some tell me they do it for free!
I tell them it costs me £'s for different sites such as SP (scotlandspeople)/Fancestry/Blindmypast & they ask how much a yrs sub is.
When I tell them they think I'm nuts until I say 'divide it by 52' & they look at me in a strange way!!
So, bottom line is, if you spend (just using a figure) £200 per yr ÷ by 52 = less than £4 p/w & sit in comfort too ;D
Annie
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Rosinish, that's a great way of looking at it! Since I have retired, I've stopped paying annual subs. Fortnightly now for some, 20 credits when I need them on SP - (who will also try to improve the actual images if you are not happy) Pay as you go for others - easily cope with those with my Superannuation fortnightly budget. 😄
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Good way at looking at it Annie. It's a hobby, and most hobbies cost money to do properly - even a free one such as going for walks, needs money spent on the proper clothing and footwear.
To be able to follow your tree and be sure that you are as corrrect as possible, at some point you do need to spend money - on access to a paying site, certificates or visits to record offices. I'm afraid I don't see how anyone can do it for free, even by using the many free sites such as FamilySearch and Freebmd, at some point you have to put your hand in your pocket to confirm what you've found as not everything is on line.
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As you don't know how much you will be using the commercial sites it may be better to wait for a free weekend type offer from Ancestry or FindMyPast. Somebody usually posts on here about free access so keep watching this site. Free access use will give you an idea whether you want to spend more time or not researching a particular line.
Blue
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The problem with pay-as-you-go is that there is a financial incentive, when faced with something that you're pretty sure about, to say "nah ... I won't pay to check the record that will confirm it ... what I've got is good enough"; and then you can be led astray if it turns out to be wrong.
With a subscription, the more things you look up, the better value you're getting for your money ... so there's a financial incentive to check, check and double check, and always to look at that record just to be sure.
So I would say subscription is better, if only because it incentivises and therefore encourages good research habits rather than poor ones.
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Take up the free 14 day trials that both of the big boys offer. You could also take up the odd month subscription rather than paying for an annual fee of that fits in with your budget. Time it so you have plenty of time to get your money's worth. Eg a week off work with nothing to do. ;) It is more expensive than paying an annual subscription, but it depends - it might fit how you search, time available, budget etc ....
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I can get an awful lot done in a 14 day free trial and when I take up the FindMyPast offers of £1 months I can get huge amounts done. :D I just wish Ancestry offered the same monthly offers, I usually have to wait for one of their free weekends but if you plan beforehand what you want to do then even 4 days can be incredibly productive.
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I'm going through the same process of deciding which websites and desktop software to pay for too. Just adding my 2 cts. on this question based on my experience so far. In my opinion, the choice depends on things like:
1. Whether you expect to be regularly (weekly/monthly) active about tracing ancestors or whether (like me) it's a 'now and again' activity that you dip into for a couple of weeks and don't do anything for many months on end. If you expect to be regularly active, you'll get more out of an annual subscription than if you just dip into it now and again (when a pay-as-you-go option may be more suitable).
2. How much value you place on an 'integrated' (one-stop) solution. There are some good free websites but if you use these, you have to manually integrate the information you find somewhere else. Either on one main website or using a desktop program (and preferably both).
3. Where (geographically) you expect your research to take you. Some websites (like Ancestry) have truly global search capabilities. Others are more oriented towards the UK and Ireland.
4. Whether you prefer to work through a desktop program or online. Most of the big 4 websites have desktop programs that synchronise trees with a desktop program. There are also desktop programs (like Legacy, RootsMagic) that allow you to search through multiple websites (if you have a subscription there).
5. How much 'consistency checking' you want/need on your family tree data. MyHeritage (for example) automatically flags errors and warnings on data. The best desktop programs do too. Ancestry doesn't (as yet).
I started out about 5 years ago with Ancestry.com. I later added the desktop program 'Family Tree Maker' which synchronises with my Ancestry data. In general, I like the presentation and ease of navigation of both of these. But Ancestry is relatively expensive and the further you go back, the less accurate its search function is (in my opinion). I also use Findmypast to locate data for specific counties, cities and towns. I do this on a pay-as-you-go basis (per month).
Googling 'best genealogy websites 2017' wil give you some reviews of the pro's and con's of different websites. Doing a similar search with 'best genealogy software' will give you reviews of the desktop solutions.
As previous posters have said, the best way to proceed is to do a trial period with the 'big four' (and the related desktop programs). Evaluate how comfortable they feel to work with and whether they include the records that you're interested in.
A final point is that the choice you make now isn't forever. The data (not the website/program) is your most important asset. Whichever website/program you choose, export a 'Gedcom' file to your desktop. And store all 'images' (census records, BMD records) on your desktop too. If you decide after 6 months to switch to a different website/program you'll be able to import your Gedcom file to a different website/program.
Hope this helps more than it confuses!
Mike