The relationship of Ancestry.com with the content provider of the New York Birth and Baptism databases has ended, and Ancestry is sorry to say that it can therefore no longer provide these databases to its subscribers.Â
Ancestry does have a growing collection of vital records from New York still available to members. Click here to view the entire list.
It would have been nice if Ancestry.com would have let their paying customers know BEFORE this was gone so we could take one last look. It also begs the question as to how many other databases are disappearing? and WHY? Someone else has reported elsewhere that Southeastern Pioneers, 1770-1823 was added then removed a month later. Is this true?
How about Ancestry providing a list of sources to replace this source and other disappearing sources? That might be very helpful for their paying customers ! ! ! !
Who is the Content Provider and where can they be found.
Curt Miller
I agree with Judy of 29 Sept. With a fairly expensive world subscription to ancestry.com I would expect pro-active notification of imminent database “disappearances”. Obviously these are not one-week contracts or one-month contracts! These are at least one-year contracts or longer, and as such can easily be folded in to ongoing notification to paying subscribers. It is a matter of internal organization and communication for ancestry.com.
With as much as you charge for a full subscription, you should include notice at least a month in advance that you are stopping service of certain information.
I quite agree with Scott that subscribers should get notice well in advance that a particular database is being terminated. The termination may have been unavoidable, but the subscribers have a right to know about it in a timely fashion.
Many of the criticisms directed at Ancestry.com in recent months, particularly with regard to the Search changes, could have been avoided if Ancestry had focused on better communication with its subscribers.
Definitly better communications by Ancestry with their subscribers is needed.
We should get advanced notice of any impending database loses and get where we can find these databases after they are no longer available on Ancestry.
I agree with the comments by other subscribers. Your memberships are far too expensive for databases to be pulled without sufficient advance notice. Statements to the effect that: “our relationship to the provider of this information has ended, so the information is no longer available effectively immediately”, are definitely unexceptable. Had I been notified I could have finished my research in those databases.
I am curious as to why the relationship ended. When will the book or CD be available for sale?
I had a membership at Godfrey as well as Ancestry. When Godfreys “Heritage Quest” service was going to be dropped, we were notified many, many months in advance and then you could still use the service until the end of the year.
While its sad to lose a valuable service, your provider has enough advance knowledge to share this info with you as subscibers in time for the subscriber to consider if it will make a difference in their decision to renew their subsription.
And theirs no question you should be given this courtesy.
I agree with the others concerning notification. As a long-time subscriber, and while Ancestry is still a great place to research, I’ve been wondering whether I will re-up next year. Off topic, the huge transcription errors in the various census years that have shown up are frustrating enough. I’ve lost confidence with using the search forms and have had to go back to page by page searching.
Back on topic, PLEASE inform us of any databases that are being removed. And inform us of any sites that could pick up the slack.
I think Ancestry should provide a notation when a new database is provided that the information may only be available for a short time. Perhaps something similar to our subscriber account could be included showing the length of time the database will be available. When we as subscribers pay for a subscription we do so thinking that databases posted on Ancestry are there to stay, not that they will only be there for a short time. I also agree with other posters that Ancestry does a very poor job of communicating with subscribers. When we ask for an explanation we get a “form reply” that does nothing except add to the frustration.
I agree that with the cost of an Ancestry subscription being high as it is, the provider of Ancestry should alert subscribers about databases being removed. I like, the others, would have liked to have had advance notice since many of my ancestors were from NY and covered in the database removed. Please, Ancestry, when deciding to “drop” other databases, give your subscribers timely, advanced notice.
In the future, you should sent email notifications to your subscribers, or post a “flashing urgent message” somewhere very visible when we log into ancestry. I pay too much money for my subscriptions, am not happy with the recent changes to the website. This just lowered my satisfaction level a bit more. fyi,, I am a longtime ancestry subscriber and have referred alot of subscribers to you.
Read the above notes. Now you know why I cancelled my subscription to Ancestry.com
I agree with all the posts made so far.
1)There needs to be better communication with subscribers about changes to the site.
2)There are way too many transcription errors in the census records.
3)The subscriptions are too expensive for such poor customer service (although I will say I had good service over the phone when I upgraded my subscription.)
4) The subscription options are much too difficult to compare or decipher. (I find the same problem with MyFamily.com, which I believe is run by the same parent company).
5) There should be advance notice, as soon as possible, when databases are removed.
I’m wondering now if there will be any response to the concerns listed here.
Ancestry had advanced warning of the cancellation; and betrayed their paid subscribers by not notifying them. I will definitely remember this when my subscription comes up for renewal !!!!!
I agree with the other comments you have received about this topic as well as other changes that have recently been made. I too will give these changes great consideration when it is time to renew my subscription.
Our ignorance is ancestry.com/MyFamily.com Inc.’s bliss. Genealogy is now BIG business and what we don’t know can not hurt their bottom line.
I get tons of emails and phone calls regarding my subscription that is to be renewed this month at least 3 months in advance but, not one notification of deletion of files/available records.
I am a person who does a lot of research in southeastern NY and the Mohawk Valley. I noticed almost immediately that these databases had disappeared, without any advance notice.
Ancestry touts their new databases, including some that are “10,000 vital records from …” (various titles). What they do NOT tell you is that you have to have the deluxe membership to access these new databases. (Please send us more money—)
I am really annoyed. I have posted to some of the NY counties’ message boards about this. What a ripoff.
The material in these databases was compiled by Arthur and Nancy Kelly. I found their website and sent them an e-mail about the situation, but I received no reply.
I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE WITH EVERY SINGLE COMMENT HERE. OF COURSE THERE WON’T BE AN EXPLANATION POSTED FOR THE SUBSCRIBERS TO READ BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T EVEN TAKE THE TIME TO TELL US AHEAD OF TIME THAT THIS WOULD OCCUR!!!
THERE DOES NEED TO BE BETTER COMMUNICATION. FOR THE PRICE WE SUBSCRIBERS PAY, THERE IS NO REASON THAT WE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED THAT THE DATABASES WOULD NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE. NEW YORK HAPPENS TO BE THE STATE WHERE MOST OF MY ANCESTORS LIVED AND NOW THIS!!
I ALSO AGREE THERE ARE TOO MANY TRANSCRIPTION ERRORS AND SOME INDICES ARE NOT COMPLETE. I HAVE IDENTIFIED SEVERAL MISSING FAMILIES IN THE INDICES AND NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE ABOUT IT EVEN THOUGH IT HAS BEEN SEVERAL MONTHS.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS DEFINITELY LACKING IN RESPONSE TO PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS. THEY ARE READILY AVAILABLE AND MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP IF THE ISSUE IS RENEWING A SUBSCRIPTION, BUT NOT THE CASE FOR OTHER ISSUES OR PROBLEMS!!!
THE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS ARE CONFUSING. SO MUCH SO THAT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS HAVE DIFFICULTY EXPLAINING THEM WHEN I HAVE TALKED TO THEM. IF THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THEM, WHO DOES?
AGAIN – AS WITH SO MANY COMPANIES THESE DAYS, THE BOTTOM LINE IS “THE BOTTOM LINE”. ANCESTRY.COM HAS MADE CHANGES TO THE SEARCH PAGE THAT IS NOTHING MORE THAN DISAPPOINTING. iT IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND THE INFORMATION WE NEED. wHY THE CHANGE? SO IT WILL TAKE LONGER AND WE WILL BE MORE APT TO RENEW OUR SUBSCRIPTIONS. HOWEVER, THESE RECENT CHANGES AND THE OUTPOURING OF OTHERS’ COMMENTS ONLY MAKES ME LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT WHETHER I REALLY NEED TO KEEP MY SUBSCRIPTION.
ANCESTRY.COM – SHAME, SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!!!!!!!
I have been a longtime subscriber and am very dissatified with the the new changes and the lack of communication with subscribers. I never received credit for any of my subscriptions when I changed to the most expensive subscription. When you try to contact them about it, they pass you on to someone else and this continues until you give up. The New York databases were from Kinship Publishers. You can get the CD’s from their site for $30 each. I am beginning to think it is better and cheaper to purchase CD’s and microfilm from other companies than have a subscription to Ancestry.com.
Every year I reevaluate whether or not my subscription is worth the cost. I dropped the UK/Ireland databases because nothing was ever added from Ireland. I always told myself that the subscription was worth having because so many databases were constantly being added. Now with the dropping of the NY databases (which I used quite a lot), I seriously wonder what else will be dropped, rather than anticipate what will be added. With every new piece of family info I get, I want to revisit older databases. That’s the main reason I hold subscriptions.
As for lack of notification – there’s absolutely no excuse for that – not with all the technology available. Shame on you.
New York genealogy is difficult enough to research online without losing this type of resource. A good portion of my family came from overseas into NYC. It is a shame that with so many of our ancestors immigrating into NY through Ellis Island & Castle Garden, the state/city has not made more of their information available online. Hopefully the LDS website will continue to add to their NY databases and we won’t be totally left out in the rain.
Hear, hear,
I couldn’t agree with above comments more. I too have mulled over dropping the service.
Lets see some amends made. A discount, an extension of service or a return to last year’s format and services.
Thanks,
Harvey
Being one who cannot afford to subscribe to Ancestry, I am very frustrated with the number of websites whose links go directly to Ancestry! Seems Ancestry, even after partnering with Rootsweb, refuses to give up any information without getting paid. It’s almost as if they have a monopoly on certain information.
Therefore, I am a volunteer at http://www.raogk.com. for the county in Florida where I live. (That’s Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.)
Also, when I researched my own name on Ancestry, way back when, they had me married to my own father… Just goes to show that no one really checks the information they burn on CDs. Enough said.
My father’s family came from ny state, and into pa,back to new york state,and now you have taken inportant information away.
I to may have to think about if I am going to renew.
I am sure I can find another web site.
shame on you
Once again, Ancestry.com has proven that nothing is second to the dollar in their eyes. They are the greediest outfit in genealogy and, once again, have treated the customer like dirt. The only time they care is whe it’s time to renew.
I have looked through these comments hoping to find a response to the overwhelming statements re don’t tell anything to anybody replies from Ancestry.com…..It never fails to amaze me how my work which has always been sent to RootsWeb has now appeared on Ancestry and they have the gall to ask me to pay for my own work…..Tha’s digusting as I NEVER gave Ancestry.com approval to take my work and present it as their own.
At least I don’t have to consider about renewing as it far, far to expensive for me to even consider, and its surprising how you can battle on with other sites, CD’s, BDM’s, etc….
David Cheek – Adelaide – Australia
My wife & I are currently serving as World Wide Support missionaries in the Family & Church History Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is amazing how often we get scathing e-mails and phone calls demanding that we cancel their subscriptions. After we get them cooled off and explain that the Church does not own Ancestry, they have had a chance to vent, but go off with the determination of cancelling their subscription. It is sad to see because we were full subscribers almost from the inception. We convinced many folks that even though Ancestry could be accessed for free at our Family History Centers, it was well worth having the capability of doing research at home in the pj’s. Ancestry, you are making it a hard “sell.” If my neighbor, the VP of Customer Relations is reading any of this, you have better get your thinking cap on to prevent the flood of current customers headed in other directions.
As with everyone else I am sorely disappointed that I was not advised of the removal of any database on Ancestry. After considering the yearly deluxe world subscription I have now changed my mind. What else is going to disappear before we have a chance to finish our research?
This is a decision that isn’t going to sit well with your subscribers!
I started with buying Family Tree Maker V.7 then 9, then 10, then 11, then 2005 and finally 2006. Two weeks after buying V. 9 I received mailings for special offers on V. 10. Each purchase came with free weeks or one with 4 months because I paid $99.00 for boxed set. I also bought 3 months of subscription and my point is……..I NEVER USED ANY because I had to give a credit card number when I logged on. This time when I gave in and bought a years subscription I was told SORRY we can’t give you any credit for the previous short term subscriptions you bought but didn’t use. My Social Security check doesn’t allow me to be so foolish with my money anymore.
Ancestry may have been forced to remove the databases due to copyright infringement. I believe the New York Birth and Baptisms were published by Kinship, and are still being sold via their website. I purchased one of the CD’s several years ago, and still use it frequently. Kinship owner, Arthur Kelly, is also the author of the Beekman Patent series, and many other NY books. One way around Ancestry!
http://www.kinshipny.com/kincd.htm
This does not make me very happy either; especially since I’ve only recently subscribed and had’t begun in New York yet where my ancestor was to have arrived in the 1600’s. It would be interesting to know exactly WHY the “relationship” of Ancestry.com with the content provider of the New York Birth and Baptism databases ended.
The situation is really a shame. So many of us who can’t get into New York City for reseach have come to depend on this website and any other links it has to offer, free or paid. The guys at Ancestry.com want to get rich just like the other sources, I suppose. I guess I’m going back to the LDS Family History Library grind, which is a blessing, but a whole lot more time consuming and costly in the end.
Ancestry – I don’t know what you are thinking, but your REALLY need to relook at yourself and straighten out the mess you have created. Removing databases without prior notice is totally unacceptable!! And what in the world did you change the search engine for????? I used to be able to find people. You created a monster with this new search engine and you need to put back the old one or fix the new one. I have a full subscription and have had for years now, but you are making it harder for me to want to keep it. I am now searching manually more and more. I can order CD’s and do that!! So do we need you? I am not so sure any more. The old way of doing things, may be slower, but at least the items we are searching can be found.
I am a long time subscriber to Ancestry.com and totally agree with ALL the comments. Changing the search forms were bad enough – I can not find anyone anymore. Your searches do not make sense. I am seriously considering NOT renewing.
I am a long time subscriber to Ancestry.com and totally agree with ALL of the comments. I do not like it that almost all websites go directly to ANCESTRY.Com and you cannot research certain databases without paying extra money. Ancestry is greedy!!!! I will not be renewing my subscription to Ancestry.com this year. There are a few websites that have great databases. I don’t want to put them on the spot by listing there website. I live within two miles of two places that have Ancestry online. I can drive that far. To heck with there pajama research philosophy.
Welcome to the WONDERFUL world of MyFamily.com, INC, which includes (but may not be limited to) the following KEY web sites:
–Ancestry.com
–Ancestry.ca
–Ancestry.com.au
–Ancestry.com.uk
–Genealogy.com
–MyFamily.com
–RootsWeb.com
Source of this info: The “About US†page on Genealogy.com AND the “Corporate Info†page on Ancestry.com
Please note the “INC†at the end of the above mentioned LARGE corporation’s name. This “service†has become strictly a large business that is obviously more concerned with PROFIT, PROFIT and more PROFIT than they are with actual genealogical research or their customer base. If they actually cared about the research or their customers, there would be better communications and they would not implement changes in the subscriptions, the rates or the functionality (such as the horrid change in the search engine) of the sites.
For each and every reason already mentioned in the comments above, it is obvious that this corporation simply does not care about its customer’s opinions anymore.
We have a choice to either continue dumping our money into a corporation that does not care about us or finding other (possibly more limited) resources and services.
What do they say? Necessity is the mother of invention? Perhaps our discontent (I totally agree with most of the above comments) should motivate some entity to compete with Ancestry in a more friendly, more user friendly way. I think most of us would be willing to pay for a really good competing website that was responsive to our concerns! Where are you?
I agree with all of the comments. I just started using ancestry.com to research my family. I haven’t even gotten into the New York database. So what are you going to take away anymore databases? If you do please let all of your subscribers know well in advance about the situation. So that they can decide if they need anything within that particular database.
39 comments–I hope your stat. people will apply a sufficient # of additional people who are just as upset with this as we are, but aren’t writing comments. So I’m adding my 2cents! It doesn’t differ from any of the above comments. I am upset that there was no prior warning. My husband’s father was from New York so I still have a lot of reseaching left to do there. Now I can’t!!! Thanks!!! I guess I must have been the stupid one…I assumed all the info. on Ancestry belonged to you…it NEVER occurred to me that databases could or would disappear. What a disappointment. I am a full subsciber (well, not the World version yet–and now I’m not so sure I would want to spend that much money)The fees are expensive, but I have found so much wonderful information that I have always renewed. I just didn’t think I needed to approach this like a full time job and devote 8,10 or 12 hours every day 5 or 6 days a week to researching so I was sure I had gotten everything I needed out of every database immediately because it might disappear! I agree with everyone else that you need to immediately put into effect a way of warning us that databases will be removed several months in advance. It would also behove you to try to renegotiate with the supplier of the New York database to bring that info back for a period of time to let those of us who need to work with it the chance to try to finish our research!
Judy Rosen
Ancestry.com is a business and does not have genealogy on the web just because they are “good guys”. They have a huge collection of data available that is very convenient to access, any time day or night. If you want free genealogy, go to a library or Family History Center. Yes, they are expensive, but many libraries offer access to ancestry.com for free. The reason that so many free sites link to ancestry is because they pay for the link or own the site. If you find a name error in a census index, just take the time to send in a correction. It is easy to do and will help others. I have personally corrected around 100 name errors on the census indexes. Some of them were transcription errors and others were made by the enumerator. I personally am not interested in New York data bases and would not want to receive an email informing me that they were being removed. I’m sorry for all you people that are annoyed, but I guess the moral of the story is to get all possible information from a database when you find it.
It’s amazing that it took until the 42nd post for someone to point out that this is America, a capitalist country. People who complain about the cost don’t seem to consider the amount of effort, both human and monetary, that Ancestry.com expended to get all of the information digitized, not to mention the huge costs involved in the technology that makes it available 24/7. And don’t forget, they also cleaned up many images to make them more legible. Yes, you can go to many libraries and fight for an hour slot on a computer during the hours the library is open, you can take advantage of the wonderful work of the LDS and all that they make available free of charge or for a small fee at your local Family History Center during their limited hours (my local FHC is only open 18 hours per week, most of which are during the working day), or drive for two or three hours or more to visit a library with a large genealogy collection, but nothing beats sitting down and going on line at home when I have a moment or when something occurs to me to check out.
As for databases disappearing, I joined the Ohio Genealogy Society in the end of May of this year to take advantage of Heritage Quest, only to discover shortly thereafter that Heritage Quest was not honoring the sociey’s renewal and would no longer be available. No personal notification, just a note on the web page which I did not visit until it was too late. It can happen.
I do agree that the indexing of the census records leaves a lot to be desired, and if it weren’t for the fact that I had done much of my research the old fashioned way – hours cranking the microfilm, reading the census line by line, I would not have been able to find some of my ancestors using the Ancestry indexes. That’s where we can help make the indexes better, by submitting corrections. For those of you who say your corrections were ignored, perhaps, you, like I did before I figured it out, used the wrong area to submit the transcription error.
Genealogy and family history research is not a free hobby/obsession. Whether it’s gasoline for travel, postage costs, copies, mail order, vital record fees, microfilm rental, etc., there is a cost.
I plan on purchasing the World Deluxe (or whatever it’s called) version when my current free subscription expires at the end of this month. Yes, it’s expensive, but having driven for hours and miles and gone half-blind from looking at bad microfilm at libraries and FHCs, I prefer sitting at home. I figure that it pays for itself.
And by the way, 95% of my US research from the late 1700s through the 1900s is in New York State.
I am adding my comment in the hope that ancestry will “notice” the number and realize that for every comment there are hundreds more who are just as discontent; a response would be nice. Is this the wave of the future now that you have initiated your new exorbitant pricing system? Did your relationship with the provider end without warning. If not then you owe it to your subscribers…those that are paying the bills…to give them some advance warning not just a notification that the database no longer exists.
Yoou have sure knocked out Senior citizens on a fixed income.
You were to expensive to begin with and now you keep charging for other sites and dropping the one stat I am interested in, N.Y, enticed me with Ireland but then asked for more money.,which I would not ask the children for after I touted you people as the best site for them to buy me My children paid for this and I am sorry I will have to tell them not to do it anymore. I was so tired of your offering me a site requiring more money.
I am glad that I took the time to read all the comments. I have little use for NY information but am glad to find out how little Ancestry really cares about their “customers”.
I will not subscribe to their service (I had planned to do so).
Thanks for opening my eyes to their total disregard for paying customers. I do not think services should be free but to be asked for more money every time a link is added is excessive.
People on a fixed income: FORGET IT.
Judy
I received a sales call yesterday to renew my subscription and to upgrade to the expensive world ancestry plan. I asked the saleswoman about Ancestry dropping the NY Birth and Baptism Registries. She knew nothing about it and asked me to tell me how I heard since Ancestry did not tell their phone sales force. She asked me to look up the reporting website, but, unfortunately, I was not in front of my computer and could do so for her. So any of you who expected advance notice, be aware that they did not even inform their sales people! Needless to say I did not renew or upgrade.
Ancestry—get the message??? Membership costs too high to alienate subscribers. This cavalier approach suggests a confidence that you can do as you chose without significant consequence; could it be that since so many ”
history sites” find their way back to Ancestry that you exercise inordinate control in this field of endeavor? That could be dangerous for you.
The service provided by Ancestry.com simply falls short. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to access a page from the newspaper collection only to get an error message. The tech support people apologize and say “we’re working on it”, but the problems persist. While it is true that America is a capitalist country and ancestry is in business to make money, they make their money by providing a service, i.e., making databases available for a fee. When they abruptly remove the database without at least a 30 day notice to customers, the company is not providing the service customers are for which their customers are paying. It is unfair and fraudulent to sell a customer a database service on an annual basis and they part way throught the membership remove all or part of the database you promised when the customer made payment. I was going to ask my husband for the World Memebership for my birthday next month, but I am now re-evaluating whether I want to support a company that cheats it’s subscribers. Ancestry has the largest genealogical collection available on the net; as such, they think subscribers will stay with them if they act badly because “geneaolgy nuts” will do just about anything to break through to the next generation. I want to trace my roots as much as they next person, but I am not willing to support a company that thinks its okay to sell a service and then renege on it’s promise once they’ve collected my money. Part of family history is solidifying traditions and values. I have taught my children that to cheat is wrong. If I support a compnay that cheats it’s customers I will be a hypocrite and I am better than that. I would rather look something up the old fashioned way than compromise my morals.
I, too, am a long time Ancestry subscriber. I have been irritated several times in the past with changes and new charges and worthless hype about how good this or that new feature will be – for an added fee, of course. Please understand – I fully understand and appreciate that it costs money to provide services, and more money to do the necessary research to enable those services to function, so my complaint is not about the cost. My complaint is about the cavalier attitude corporation management appears to have donned, and the apparent amatuer supervisory people they hire to save money.
I have also noticed, as reported by an earlier writer, a good bit of my family history research on their One World Tree. I don’t recall giving permission for it to be published, and it is currently incomplete. Fortunately, two of the branches they have published contain major errors which I did not correct because I became suspicious of some of their other info. Anyone doing legitimate research will quickly find the errors, but my info appears to be used as a ploy to entice new subscribers. I don’t even want to go into the “how they got the info” mode because my suspicions are very upsetting.
To conclude: MyFamily.com, Inc. needs to rethink their policies and corporate attitudes. Judging by the large number of previous mails, I suspect we are seeing only the tip of the ‘berg.
Don Ridgway
I too am on a fixed budget and have been trying to figure out how I would pay for my subscription renewal when it comes up in April 2007. I have been with Ancestry from the beginning. I have noticed “missing” information that I found earlier. I thought that once you acquired a database, it stayed. Knowing that a database can be withdrawn without any advanced notice is making me think over my decision to try and stay online with Ancestry. I started doing my genealogy BC [before computers] and I still know how to write letters and research in libraries. Perhaps I will just save myself the trouble involved in coming up with the money and exit with what I have.
One of the marks of good research is that others can duplicate our findings. When we cite an Ancestry.com database, we should be able to expect that others would be able to double check our work. When they are unable to find our source, they automatically think that we are not being thorough in our research. It is therefore a very good idea to add a date to anything you quote for any internet source just in case it is removed.
Regarding errors found in the census databases: They are often being transcribed by people who do not have the common name associations that we take for granted. My father was transcribed as Lean S. instead of Lewis so I took time to add the correction – which shows on the first screen as an alternate possibility now – but it does not appear in the index so it is still “unfindable” without a line by line search or other family. I am more interested in database maintainance than all kinds of new material – but that doesn’t usually bring new subscribers.
Incidentally, even though I can use Ancestry for free at my local Family History Center – generously providced by Ancestry.com – I still have my subscription at home. It is worth it to me to be able to work at night and when I am away on research trips. For people like me who use it alot, it is still a bargain!
We were never given a reason that the databases provided by Kinship were being pulled from Ancestry.com. They included CD 401 Marriage Index: Selected Ares of NY 1639-1916 (information from all of the marriage records I have transcribed and indexed), CD 160 State Index: Upstate New York: 1685-1910 (Every Name Index with volume & page of information published over 15 years in the VALLEY QUARTERLIES for Columbia, Albany, Renssellaer, Schenectady, Saratoga, Montgomery Herkimer and Fulton Counties) CD 132 Military Records: Selected New York Revolutionary War Records 1775-1840 (including HETRINA and tax lists)
Also the New York Births and Baptisms Series which were in three parts: Southeastern, Eastern, and Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys 1660-1916.
Please see our website for information about ordering this material. http://www.kinshipny.com
Thanks for your interest.
I have been a full subscription member since almost the beginning. I too am displeased with the new search format, as well as all the separate prices for specific databases. I am recently retired, and have taken a slash of income beyond half of what I used to make. When my subscription comes up for renewal, I will have to think about it seriously. I used to enjoy the idea of not having to drive to a library or other repository to find information. When databases just drop off the face of the earth, without notification, then we are not allowed time to do critical research that we might have done if we were told about it in advance.
I believe I should pay a certain amount for the luxuries of not traveling, and not worrying about hours of operation, and being able to search for information in the wee hours of the night. However, these last two years I have seriously wondered if it was all worth it to me.
I would like to see that ancestry makes a decision to cut their subscriptions down to where a lot more of us that are on fixed incomes can enjoy the site as well. Sometime the greed set in, and it appears to me it was in the last two to three years. Let’s be more fair with the prices, okay? I’ve been able to afford the full subscription all these years because I was working a lot of hours. Now, I won’t be able to do this.
I have also found transcription errors, and I’m constantly getting “frozen” or kicked off the system when I’m in the middle of research. I have broadband, so this shouldn’t happen, and it does not happen on any other site I go to.
Thanks for letting me put in my own $.02!
Ancestry may be saying that it’s relationship with the provider of the New York Birth & Baptisms database has ended, but it is miraculously available for purchase from Ancestry at the cost of $26.00.
I’ve been a subscriber for two years and am not pleased with the “new” search engine. It is much harder to find people, especially in the census records, who I know are there (because I have the hard copy!) It is only common courtesy to let us know when a database is deleted, especially one as important as NY, which is where every one of my immigrant Greek ancestors arrived at and lived. Doing research on immigrant ancestors is tough enough, and I expect that Ancestry will do all it can to add to its collection of “port of entry” cities – losing the NY database is a huge, disappointing loss for many of us!
I am upset about Ancestry dropping the NY databases. The NY databases are very important for me and I imagine a large number of members since New York City is so important for the histories of our forefathers. Ancestry should refund all of their members the cost for these databases. Also, there are a number of people who have commented on the new search engine and that they are not very satisified with it. My complaint is about the information that has been complied. Some of it is extremely incorrect and I understand from other members that when this is pointed out to Ancestry they never correct the information. It is a shame to be paying so much money for such bad service.