If you are familiar with the 'old' family search, it was a huge resource for everyone with family trees submitted from all over the world plus lots of information extracted from records all over the world, such as births, marriages and deaths. You may recognize the terms 'IGI' and "Ancestral File' and others. Primarily, the value was in all the linked family trees and you could download portions and perhaps contact a submitter, if that was shown. It's a huge database. That's just what most people are familiar with anyway.
New Family Search takes all of this information and more and puts it in a more up to date format and aims to link those individuals and trees like never before. Over time, the database gathered loads of duplicated records; one person might have submitted an ancestor and only had their DOB, another might have only had the death date, still another may have had a different name spelling. As these records are combined, it becomes an even more valuable resource for every researcher out there. The search functions and result displays are light years beyond the 'old' family search. The LDS members have been working on the testing, combining records, and giving feedback to make the site the best that it can be. It is such a huge database that there will be plenty of clean up work for everyone to do on their own ancestral lines when it goes public. Family Search has not been ignoring the general public while working on NFS though! I think everyone is aware of the record search pilot, right? Thousands of people are digitizing records daily, mostly LDS but the general public is welcome and encouraged to be involved in this project as well; and lots of non-LDS people are doing this too. There are loads of US and foreign records on the site for everyone to search and use in their research FREE of charge as always. New collections are added to the database regularly as they are completed and verified. Many collections even have the images available for you to download FREE as well. There will be some databases that will have images linked to a subscription site because of the arrangements made between that site and the church in exchange for being allowed to index the records but those will be a very small percentage of the whole; I'm not even sure if there are any like that thus far. They've also redone the entire FS website and the Library search functions (this is where you search for the microfilm/fiche, etc. that you might want to view or borrow to be viewed at your local FHC) Borrowing a film does cost a small fee but use of any of the FH libraries or centers is free and they have loads of subscription databases that you can use while you're there too. The LDS genealogist is simply doing all the testing so that NFS will be ready for everyone when they are ready for public release; as stated, the number of people using the site is phenomenal and when they release the new version, it will be whatever ten-times-phenomenal is :-) And it will all be FREE. Please don't anyone think that Legacy is favoring one population over another; they are working to make it the best for everyone! Kathy On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 7:11 AM, James Cook <jc1...@gmail.com> wrote: > What does the statement 'publish your families and to collaborate with > others on your research' (from the 7.5 release announcement) mean in > detail? Please and Thank You! > > > Though interested for years, I've only been serious in genealogy > research for about the last 1 1/2. Before getting started, I had > become aware of the importance of sourcing and organization, knew I > wanted to do it computerized, and settled on Legacy. I realize that's > a short time period compared to many, so this may be just lack of > experience and ignorance on my part, but I'm really curious about this > pairing with FS. I've asked questions within my circle of genealogy > people, and sat down with 'experts' at the local research centers. > I've been routinely coached to start with Ancestry, then Heritage > Quest, then a PERSI search (also Heritage Quest I think), then FS. > > > So, with all the hype surrounding the integration with FS, I'm > wondering if I'm missing something and it should be a higher priority? > Is there some sort of close association/partnership between Legacy > and FS, or are there plans to integrate better with other parties, > like Ancestry.com, in the future? Are the powers that be a Legacy > trying to change the way research is done by preferring some over > others? > > > Basically I'm wanting the marketing that explains why this > announcement is important to me? Why so much hard work on this (vs > any other 3rd party integration)? I get the impression this should be > obvious, but it isn't to me. What am I missing? > > > Hope this doesn't come off as a complaint, it's not intended to be so. > The more integration the better in my book, so I'm not seeing this as > a bad thing at all. I plan to upgrade ASAP, but I'm not LDS so not > expecting much at this time. > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > > > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Etiquette.asp> > > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ > > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ > > Online technical support: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Help.asp> > > To unsubscribe: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp<http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp> > > > > -- Kathy Meyer "To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done." --Richard G. Scott, "Finding the Way Back," Ensign, May 1990, 74 Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~ Albert Einstein Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
