OHLICKIN-L Archives

Archiver > OHLICKIN > 2001-01 > 0979172007


From: Sandra Streitberger <>
Subject: Re: [OHLICKIN] Free Database access, Licking Co., Farm Directory
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 19:13:27 -0500


Denny--
AMEN!! I agree wholeheartedly. I have had many problems with databases
but being a newcomer to genealogy research blamed it on myself. I, too,
have been somewhat disappointed with ancestry.com. Have found a couple of
tidbits of info but hate their census data. You're absolutely right when
you suggest they call it a census index. I've spent many hours in the
Orlando library genealogy room, which has all the census films ever created
and available for free and none of the info I have found as to book, page,
etc. ever matches up. I end up having to go to bound index books at the
library to find what I am looking for.

I think there is great potential for genealogy info sharing on line but it
certainly isn't with commercial companies. Most of the best info and
greatest leads I have found have been offered by gracious other "family
historians" (non-professionals) like myself who get excited when they find a
tidbit and are willing to put it on the web to share.

Thank you, in return, for the opportunity to respond. Good luck with your
research.

Sandy from Deltona, FL

Denny Shirer wrote:

> You people are making me feel I'm nuts or something. The database does
> not work. I have tried it every waking hour since it was made available.
> It acts like it works in that it will return a number of hits. If you
> click on the "View Search Results" it brings up a window that should
> have the data, but there isn't any. All the other links for navigation
> are there but there is no data.
>
> Some of you think we ought to give them a break. Believe me when I say,
> this is not the only database this is happening to and the consensus on
> other lists is that those that do not have memberships do not want to
> join as they think this is a common occurrence and why waste their money
> for data they can't get to. Many who are members are thinking of
> quitting or not renewing their memberships because it is not just the
> free databases that are having problems.
>
> If you offer something and say that it works then by God it should work
> or take it off, fix it, and offer it again when it is working. This is
> inexcusable. It is bad business and promotes unfavorable public opinion.
> I have gotten much information from ancestry but have always felt it
> didn't quite hit the mark. Most of the census records, not including the
> census images, do not contain anything more than the name, location and
> page where it can be found on the census roll. They would be better off
> calling it a census index instead of the census records. Some so called
> complete census records for instance some years for Pennsylvania, are
> missing many counties. When they were contacted about it they said it
> was a programming error and they would fix it. That was six months ago
> and it still doesn't work.
>
> I, more than anyone, would love to see Ancestry.com work as they have a
> lot of data that is unavailable anywhere else. The PABERKS list is
> currently discussing this same topic as there are a few Berks CO., PA
> databases that are not working. It seems the more databases Ancestry.com
> adds, the more problems they incur. I don't know what the answer is but
> at least if everyone that is having a problem lets them know, then they
> would be aware how wide spread it is. Don't expect to get a real person
> to respond. In the past, when they have responded, they acted like they
> did not know what the error reported was. Their customer support stinks.
> If you are thinking of contacting them, do so from the "Contact Us" link
> on the main page. For some reason when you get to a page that doesn't
> work, the "Contact Us" does not work either. Cuts down on the harassing
> email don't you think? Actually the two problems may be related. They
> may have a bad javascript library or their link to it's location might
> be wrong. Both the displaying of the results and the contact functions
> are called from the javascript library. None of the databases that work
> use a library, instead, the javascript is embedded in the file itself.
>
> I know this is beyond non-programmers level of understanding but it is
> probably the reason they are not working. If anyone has had success with
> this database, let me know. I want to try what you did. For anyone
> wanting to prove me right or wrong, just search for "Stanton". You
> should get two hits. You won't be able to see either of them after
> clicking on "View Search Results."
>
> I do this stuff for a living and it really bugs me when one person says
> it works and I can prove it doesn't. Sorry for letting off some steam
> but it seems many people really want to get into this database,
> including me, and it is very frustrating when you can't
>
> Denny Shirer -
> Shirer Family Genealogy Project
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysong
>
> ==============================
> Search over 900 million names at Ancestry.com!
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.as

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