The next 10 years

[coombs]

I want some Pennsylvania electoral rolls online for the 1890s and early 1900s. I might find my 3xgreat grandfather listed. That is if he voted. I know his address in 1900 in PA.

[Lal]

Sadly I think a lot of the archives and the services we use will be sold off, the current Government isn't just about saving money, they have a philosophy of letting the private sector run things. You might have the Ancestry National Archives or the FindMyPast General Register Office in a few years! Plus Libraries sponsored by Waterstones and Amazon...

I'd like to see more available online as it's not so easy for someone with a child to get into archives!

An interesting one for me would be a site which has maps through the ages, rather like Google Maps but with a feature which allows 'layering' so you could see how a neighbourhood developed through the ages. I'm sure this could easily be done?

And online estate records for those of us with lots of agricultural workers!

[Redroger]

Absolutely right Lal, It is just dogma driven,who will pocket the profits from the privatisations of services? Not us the tax payers, the profits will go to those who wrecked the economy, the  greedy bankers and their  pals! Non profitable services will just cease to exist, and what a mess the 2021 census will be, reliant on information held by credit agencies, HP companies and others of that ilk.

[Nick29]

There won't be a 2021 census - it will be axed to save money.   The government already know far more about us than that, through tax and NI records, driving licences, tax credits, TV licencing, DVLA, NHS, etc.

[Mark1973]

I'd like to see records of what schools my ancestors attended.

And of course the 1921 census

[Lydart]

If you know where your ancestors were living, then the local record office for that area will most probably have school log books; ask to see them for the period of your ancestors childhood !

[newburychap]

Why shoiuld you pay again Lydart, you have already paid, it's called council tax!

1. My council tax only supports one record office - there are four more within an hour's drive that I use as well.

2. Without some additional funding even my local record office will be far less available as the seemingly inevitable cuts will probably result in them being open less.

I hope they continue to be free as this encourages more people to use them, but I am worried that they are an easy target when cuts are in the air.

[Mark1973]

If you know where your ancestors were living, then the local record office for that area will most probably have school log books; ask to see them for the period of your ancestors childhood !

Thanks will look into that, also i'm sure the LMA were going to do something like that as well

[Archivos]

If you know where your ancestors were living, then the local record office for that area will most probably have school log books; ask to see them for the period of your ancestors childhood !

This is why I want more catalogues and local indexes online, as it is cheaper than going down the digitisation route (which also poses it's own questions - why keep the original if there's a digital copy...?  But that's a whole other topic!)

I know things like A2A, Scottish Archive Network, Archives Hub and the National Register of Archives are supposed to help by having lots of catalogues in one place, but it takes a lot of effort to keep them co-ordinated and updated.  Also, people aren't particularly aware of them.  But if there was a better link between local societies and their local archive(s), then this would better assist research I think. 

Localise rather than centralise!