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Archiver > ROOTS > 2005-07 > 1121352727
From:
Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] Ancestry.com
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 10:52:07 EDT
It seems they
have put thmeselves into the position of charging high
fees for data that should be free to researchers.
Why should it be free? Someone has to do all that work to input all the
data, scan the images, put together the indices, etc etc. Volunteers do
wonderful things for genealogical gains, but if we expected the databases to be free
then the organizations providing them would have to be all volunteer. As
great as they are, there wouldn't be near as many records available as there are
because people are paid to do the work.
Ancestry.com is rather expensive, but when I see all the material they have
and realize how much work it takes to put it all together, I can see why. The
"near-monopoly" it appears to many to possess will cease to be when enough
competition exists that provides the extensive material that Ancestry.com does
at lower prices. The competition that exists now doesn't meet these
demands, thus Ancestry.com maintains its hold.
In a way, though, Ancestry.com can be free if you access it via a Family
History Library that utilizes it, which I believe most, if not all, do. Check
and see if you have a FHL near you. No, it's not as convenient as doing it at
home, but you also won't have access to lots of other material they have,
either.
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