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An era for genealogists will end next week when the world’s largest repository of genealogy-related microfilms will switch to digital technology.
On Aug. 31, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will no longer offer the public its microfilm rental service, long familiar to genealogists who have visited the church’s many family history centers, the nearest of which is in Clarks Summit. Instead, researchers will find the material available for free on www.familysearch.org, the genealogy website sponsored by the church.
There is a catch, though, according to Diane Haddad’s newsletter “Genealogy Insider.” While 1.5 million rolls of the church’s microfilm have been digitized, there is a lot more that will take until 2020 to get on the website.
In the meantime, “Genealogy Insider” suggests, researchers should seek alternative means of finding what they’re looking for, whether digitized or microfilmed or in original records. Of course, there can also be a last-minute rush to get those LDS microfilms before Aug. 31.
The LDS switch to digital is just a part of a general trend in that direction on the part of libraries, historical societies and genealogical societies. Besides being bulky to store, microfilm wears out, breaks and can become so brittle as to be unusable. All further recording by the church is done via digital camera.
An added benefit, of course, is digital’s ease of access via a computer, making trips unnecessary.
The central repository of all LDS records, of course, is the great Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Despite the increased value of the website, genealogists may still visit the centers for help. The Clarks Summit center is at the church on Griffin Pond Road.
Hopefully, genealogists will thank the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its tireless efforts at worldwide records preservation and its generosity in making those records available to all.
Genealogy on TV: The popular genealogy TV series “Finding Your Roots” is scheduled to resume on Oct. 3 on PBS. Hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., it helps famous people trace their often-surprising family histories. “This season’s celebrities include Ana Navarro, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Larry David, Garrison Keillor, Mary Steenburgen, Scarlett Johansson, Ted Danson, Aziz Ansari, Bryant Gumbel, William H. Macy, and others,” Dick Eastman reported in his genealogy newsletter.
Consult your local TV listing for times.
U.S. Census: The 2020 U.S. Census is nearly three years away (April 1, 2020), but one major news site sees problems developing. Funding problems are threatening the Census Bureau’s ability to conduct field tests, open field offices, and develop better methods of verifying household addresses, the website Politico said recently.
Also, says Politico, crackdowns on illegal immigrants could mean less cooperation in immigrant and minority communities when they receive their materials from the census office, leading to an undercount of those populations. Amid the funding dispute, census Director John H. Thompson resigned.
Once the 2020 census is under way, the clock begins ticking for the release of the 1950 U.S. Census, the rule being that 72 years must elapse before a given census is made public information. The date for release of the 1950 census will be April 1, 2022.
News Notes: The Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society’s research library will be open this Thursday and next Thursday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information on membership and costs, visit the society’s Facebook page. The library is in the caretaker building on the grounds of the Hanover Green Cemetery, Main Road, Hanover Township.