The next 10 years

[johnxyz]

It struck me that we are now about 10 years into the age of widespread Internet genealogy. Familysearch.org was initially launched in 1999, and the 1901 UK census relaunched in Autmn 2002. There has clearly been an explosion of available data in that time.

It prompts 2 questions:

What would you like to see in the next 10 years, and

What do you think we are likely to see?

[Nick29]

This has been discussed several times in the past.  I don't think there will be anything to match the last decade, because not only did we get the 1911 census earlier than invisaged (due to the work of Guy Etchells, another RC member), but we also had the release of the London Parish Records from the LMA on Ancestry.  Unfortunately, unless there's a change in the law, the next big thing to look forward to is the 1921 census, which unfortunately is more than a decade away 

[Plummiegirl]

I remember long before I got into this genealogy game when the 1901 census came on line & the system crashed regularly as it could not cope with the vast amounts of hits it got.  Thought to myself, oh those sad people.  Little did I realise just how immersed I would become in less than a year.

I think that over the next 10 years, more old newspapers will come on line, especially some of the long lost off our streets,  more Parish Records will be available on line and my big wish that the GRO will find some way around the law and issue certs. on line.

More of the records held in county archives become available online, and the LMA releases more of its extensive collections online.

Well I could go on and on an on........

[Nick29]

I think that over the next 10 years, more old newspapers will come on line, especially some of the long lost off our streets,  more Parish Records will be available on line and my big wish that the GRO will find some way around the law and issue certs. on line.

More of the records held in county archives become available online, and the LMA releases more of its extensive collections online.

Although I sincerely hope that you are right, I wouldn't like to take a bet on it 

When you are in a library, you can whizz through microfilms to find what you want, but you can't do that on a computer online.  To be able to access stuff online, it has to be digitised, indexed, transcribed, and stored, and all these things cost money.  The records on the LMA pre-1813 are very difficult to photograph and transcribe, because of the condition of the originals.  I'd love to see local newspapers online, but unfortunately these would also need to be digitised, transcribed, and cross-referenced, which again would be time-consuming and costly.

Your suggestion re the release of online certificates specifically for genealogists might become a reality - the government are looking for new ways to make money, so this could happen if it can be proved to be profitable.  I'm not sure how much of the GRO's revenue comes from private family tree researchers.

[Archivos]

Unfortunately, it all comes down to money which as we know is rapidly reducing.  Local authorities simply don't have the cash to spend on digitising a collection which might only be of use to a small band of researchers.  And then there's the issue of charging for access, when the originals could be viewed for free. 

However, in the next 10 years what I would like to see are more archive catalogues online.  That way people will find it easier to search collections and then get in touch with the repository to find out more.  More indexing projects with family and local history societies to increase access to archives which people may not have known or thought about. 

That's what I would like to see, more of a return to what societies and archives did before the internet and commercial companies came along.

[Deb D]

*sigh!*

Within the next ten years, I'd really ... REALLY ... like to see The National Archives website turn into something I can actually find my way around!  And maybe they'd organise things so that I can find information online - because I really don't think I could row from Oz to England to look it up in person 

[johnxyz]

A question prompted by Nick29's original reply. The last decade has seen the release of 1841-1911 census. A quick addition of census headcounts suggests that is about 200 million records.

Does anyone have any idea / guess /estimate how many records are contained within parish records, and what proportion has been indexed?

[Redroger]

I am very fearful that the next ten years will see a mass closure of record offices to the public, or at the very least greatly reduced opening hours, with similar things happening to the National Archive and other repositories, all in the great chase to save money. The only services available will be those paid for. Hope I am wrong.

[Archivos]

I am very fearful that the next ten years will see a mass closure of record offices to the public, or at the very least greatly reduced opening hours, with similar things happening to the National Archive and other repositories, all in the great chase to save money. The only services available will be those paid for. Hope I am wrong.

Yes, but there is also an increasing reliance on records found on the internet which record office and archives perhaps can't provide.  That's why I'd like to see a return to the production of locally produced indexes and extracts and an increase in the availability of archive catalogues which will aid people and guide them towards other records held in record offices and archives thus helping to justify their existance. 

I really hope these places don't close, as it's only within the last 15 to 20 years that many of them have been able to persuade the powers that be that they need more staff in order to catalogue, open to the public and answer enquiries.