I have really enjoyed following this discussion.  The Lincoln Archives digital
project is, in fact, digitizing all records from the National Archives which
were created between Nov. 1860-April 15, 1865, with a few exceptions.  All
records related to the assassination, all records related to the capture, trial
and execution of the conspirators, the capture and imprisonment of Jefferson
Davis, and finally the trial of John Surratt.

We are digitizing all executive, legislative, judicial, and military records.
 All in color, no microfilm whatsoever.  The researchers at the National
Archives have been battling with the partnerships between the Archives and
Ancestry, Footnote, now Fold3, and the Family Search.  Family search is
digitizing the Civil War widow pension records in black and white, even though
we have screamed that they must be in color to maintain their authenticity.

Ancestry and Fold3 are simply looking for "cheap and dirty" ways to enlarge
their databases, which are indexed by foreign countries.  Their search engines
and databases are so bad, that the thousands of records they are putting online,
are in many cases, floating out there in internet land because of the poor
indexing.  We challenged Footnote and Ancestry on their choice of indexing in
foreign countries, and they stated that they got better quality indexing in the
foreign countries vs. in the United States.  We all disagree.  They prefer to
pay slave wages, vs. hiring American labor.  Until people stop paying
subscriptions to inferior products, they will just continue on with what they
are doing.

The Lincoln Archives project is made in America and is staying in America.  We
scan in color, we are transcribing the documents because they are handwritten to
provide full search capabilities.  This is a serious project, and projects such
as this should be fully supported by communities like yourself.  If not, you
will continue to get poor quality.

One other thing you should know, is that once Ancestry digitizes records, the
National Archives is telling their customers that they must access the digital
record from the Ancestry website.  They will not pull the original record again,
unless the digital image is not readable, or there is something missing from the
original, like cutting off numbers, or margins where there is writing.

It is going to take your voices to get the Archives to fully understand just
what huge mistakes they are making with poor partnerships.

Best regards,
Karen Needles
Director
Lincoln Archives Digital Project
http://www.lincolnarchives.us


On March 20, 2012 at 10:33 AM Rondina Muncy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'd like to add that lack of color can also affect analysis of a document
> that has been digitized. The Sanford Fire Insurance Map Collection is a
> particularly good example. The early originals were created using colored
> paper which indicated what material the buildings were made of. This
> information is lost if they are not scanned in color.
>
> The original discussion was addressing the reason why so many databases are
> no longer being updated and questioning whether genealogy was on a downward
> slope. I believe that the wealth of original documents online is the
> reason. (Although it represents only a small fraction of the material we
> need.)  While online images have the same problems as Barbara stated, and
> as microfilmed copies have, I still believe that this is why there is now a
> lag in databases being maintained (sans those on major sites).
>
> Rondina
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 2:36 PM, Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > You might want to take this one step further. What about original
> > documents with marginal notations made after the filming? To make matters
> > worse, often the digital image is made from the film---not the original.
> > Thus even though created at a later date the, digital image contains no
> > updated information. And then there are always those corrected copies filed
> > later with no notation made on the original.
> >
> > Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
> >
> > PO Box 1273
> > Orange, VA 22960
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 540-832-3473
> >
> > CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for
> > Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified
> > genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in
> > the US Patent & Trademark Office.
> >
> >
> >
> > On 3/19/2012 2:34 PM, Alexander Colvin wrote:
> >
> >> Greetings:
> >> If I may, I would caution against a too-heavy reliance upon digitized
> >> sources found on the Internet. They are ubiquitous, true, but IMHO, best
> >> used as a reference to find the originals. I have found this particularly
> >> true when working with older documents such as some types of 19th century
> >> mortgages and leases; for example, clerks often indicated a satisfaction
> >> of
> >> mortgage on the reverse side of the document, a leaf which is sometimes
> >> missed by digitizers and even sometimes by microfilmers. Also, much was
> >> expressed in marginalia, which is sometimes omitted in digitized
> >> renditions. I can think of half a dozen "professional" genealogy databases
> >> who routinely cut off document margins where relevant data is sometimes
> >> found.
> >> Kindly,
> >> A. Colvin
> >> The Colvin Study,
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >> On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 11:12 AM, Rondina Muncy<[log in to unmask]>*
> >> *wrote:
> >>
> >>  Eric,
> >>>
> >>> My point was that you do not need a database if you can look at digital
> >>> or
> >>> microfilmed images of the original documents. Derivative sources are
> >>> helpful, but reliance on them often leads researchers to overlook
> >>> documents
> >>> that will answer their questions.
> >>>
> >>> While everyone's tree being online is an ideal, it is only so if the
> >>> information includes the sources it is based on. Looking at online trees
> >>> is
> >>> a low priority for myself and the use of information posted should be
> >>> followed with research to document the discoveries. The opportunity is
> >>> there to achieve what you want, but with millions of hobbyists re-posting
> >>> someone else's inaccurate and undocumented conclusions with no analysis,
> >>> I will not see this in my lifetime.
> >>>
> >>> I do not post to the Muncy tree. My husband was a descendant of Francis
> >>> Muncy of Virginia.
> >>>
> >>> Rondina
> >>> _______________________
> >>> Rondina P. Muncy
> >>> Ancestral Analysis
> >>> 4008 Linden Avenue
> >>> Fort Worth, Texas 76107
> >>> 682.224.6584
> >>> [log in to unmask]
> >>> www.ancestralanalysis.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 9:01 AM, Huffstutler, Eric S.<
> >>> [log in to unmask]>  wrote:
> >>>
> >>>  True to a certain point because not all databases are available for
> >>>> Internet use.  Not everyone's tree is online.  To that we still need
> >>>> volunteers for lookups and people to post lineage someplace where others
> >>>> can share and connect to or someone like me, who figure by now certain
> >>>> branches would have been filled via scan documents, have no way of
> >>>> knowing if people don't post their finds somewhere.   By not sharing
> >>>> only creates new brick walls for others.
> >>>>
> >>>> Now, I see you are a Muncy.  Have we corresponded before on a Muncy tree
> >>>> here in Virginia?
> >>>>
> >>>> Eric
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> >>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]**VA.US <[log in to unmask]>] On
> >>>> Behalf Of Rondina Muncy
> >>>> Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 11:26 PM
> >>>> To: [log in to unmask]
> >>>> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Genealgy Future
> >>>>
> >>>> Eric,
> >>>>
> >>>> I believe you are correct in your observation that some genealogical
> >>>> websites that five to ten years ago were very active don't seem to be
> >>>> updated. From this we cannot tell whether it is from lack of interest in
> >>>> the sites by visitors or from lack of interest by persons or groups in
> >>>> keeping up the sites.
> >>>>
> >>>> My theory is that the abstracts and databases that used to be uploaded
> >>>> and added to on a regular basis have been replaced by digital images of
> >>>> the original records by repositories of all sorts. It used to be written
> >>>> in stone that a trip to the library for derivative sources was the first
> >>>> item in a genealogical research plan. My first step is to now search the
> >>>> Internet for both derivative and original sources.
> >>>>
> >>>> Rondina
> >>>> _______________________
> >>>> Rondina P. Muncy
> >>>> Ancestral Analysis
> >>>> 4008 Linden Avenue
> >>>> Fort Worth, Texas 76107
> >>>> 682.224.6584
> >>>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>> www.ancestralanalysis.com
> >>>>
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"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is
doing it."   Karen Needles

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than
any other one thing."
Abraham Lincoln to Isham Reavis, Nov. 5, 1855
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2, p. 328

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