You can find the site at:

http://www.ellisisland.org/

As it is currently planned, visitors (whether online or in person) will be given the opportunity to receive a printout of their family's data as well as a scanned reproduction of the original ship's manifest on which their ancestor's entry appears, and a picture of the ship on which they arrived for a nominal fee.

The database will also contain information on a wide variety of immigrants in addition to those who came through Ellis Island. It will include approximately 50 brief multimedia presentations, providing a broad overview of immigration patterns from specific countries and regions. This historical information can help fill in the context of your ancestors' immigration to the United States and can greatly enhance the richness of your family's story.

The first phase of the Center is planned to be completed in late 2000. Future plans call for making the Immigrant Arrival Records accessible via the Internet, and expanding the database to include additional years and ports of entry. The ultimate goal of the foundation is to catalog and database all immigration information pertaining to ships and passengers on the eastern seaboard, thought that is a long-term goal and will, obviously take time.

In addition, the Center plans on becoming the REPOSITORY of family information by allowing people to submit copies of their family documents to the center. They will be entered into the database so that others who arrive at the center, whether online or in person, can find those documents, helping them to find related ancestors and additional material and to link up with other family members.

In order to raise the remaining $3.5 million necessary to complete this $15 million project, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation invites you to become a Charter Founder of the Center. In return for your financial contribution, your name will be placed in the computer Register of Charter Founders when the Center is officially dedicated and kept on permanent display for all to see. As with previous Ellis Island projects, funding will come from the private sector, with no government funds employed.

In preparing this article, I was granted an interview with Peg Zitko, Director of Public Affairs for the Ellis Island Foundation. We discussed several aspects of the Center's operation, including how it will be paid for. She had expressed the view that the Center would probably have to charge a nominal fee for access to the database and for copies of the documents and photographs related to ships and passengers. I expressed the view that the best approach might be to do as the Bureau of Land Management has done with their Land Patent Grant site (see articles 13 and 14), allowing online searchers unlimited access to the database of records, but charging a nominal fee for the actual documents.

Another idea might be to allow those who contribute funds for the building of the Center to have free access to the Center's databases once the project is completed. The Foundation is considering ideas like these in its quest for adequate and stable funding to cover construction and maintenance of the Center. Your ideas and input can help. You can e-mail the Center to express your views and contribute your ideas by e-mail. Just go to the Ellis Island Foundation Site, at the address given above, and press the "Contact Us" link. A page will open where you can make your suggestions and express your views.

I was going to write about this exciting new database resource next month, but I recently found out there is a bit of a time limit to this information, so I thought I'd better let you know about it as soon as possible.

The Church of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church) has been involved, for some time, in the business of putting their extensive genealogical resources online.

I recently received an e-mail letter from the director of a LDS Family History Center, who has received notice from Salt Lake LDS FHL, announcing the beta testing of "Family Search Online", LGS's online database. For those of you who are not familiar with the term "beta testing", let me explain that beta testing is essentially putting your product out there for people to use so that they can try it out, allowing users It is not up at the moment; apparently due to a problem with a piece of equipment, but will be starting soon and will be up only a few weeks as a test run.

Although the extent of the online library has not yet been announced, it is said that the Ancestral File and Family History Library Catalogs will be included.

"Family Search" is the name of the program on CDs in all LDS Family History Centers (FHCs). Some public libraries also have this program. Family Search includes the International Genealogical Index, the Ancestral File, the Family History Library Catalog, Social Security Death Records, Korean and Vietnam war death records, and Scottish Church Records.

International Genealogical Index
For those of you who are not familiar with the Mormon church's holdings, a few words about the International Genealogical Index or "IGI" may be in order. The IGI is a catalog, in alphabetical order, all of the names that have been sent to Mormon Temples to have ordinances performed on these names.

Names in the IGI are usually, but not always, submitted by members.
Non-members can also submit their family names to be entered in the IGI.
Some of the marriages in the IGI have been entered as part of extraction programs. These extraction programs are performed by volunteer church members as part of ordinance research. The names are taken from courthouse records. They are checked and rechecked by several volunteers before being accepted as fact and entered into the IGI.

The information in the IGI is intended to point you to the time and place in which a particular ancestor or family group may be found and it should be used that way. As I have repeatedly pointed out, compiled information, such as that found in the IGI and other abstracted, extracted and compiled works cannot be assumed to be correct. The extraction and compilation processes are performed by human beings and are therefore prone to error.

You should NEVER accept such information as fact. As a researcher you MUST seek out the original documents, for only then will you KNOW that a particular ancestor is yours. In addition, these original documents often contain invaluable clues that point to other evidence that can aid you in your quest.

The Ancestral File
The Ancestral File consists of GEDCOM files of group and pedigree sheets sent in by both church members and non-members.

(GEDCOM, for those of you who are unacquainted with this term, is a format for storing family information in the form of computer files. If you use a genealogy program on your computer, you can create GEDCOM files and you can read the GEDCOM files of others.)

The Ancestral File allows you to search through these GEDCOM files for those which contain ancestors belonging to you. The name and address of the submitter is included with each file, so that if you find a common ancestor you can contact the other person(s) working on your line. The GEDCOM files are sometimes old enough that the submitter has moved. If the address is out of date, you can sometimes get the correct address by sending a letter to the Membership Dept. of the LDS church in Salt Lake City. They can only update the address if the person is (or was) a member of the LDS church.

You can also add corrections to a file that you examine and find incorrect information in. You are also allowed to submit files of your own to be included in the Ancestral File. You do not have to be a church member to submit material.

The Family History Library Catalog
The Family History Library Catalog is a listing of every book, microfilm and microfiche available at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This catalog enables you to find what works are available for each and every locality, around the world. It includes the FHL call numbers and a description of what is included in the film/fiche or book.

The material from these books, microfilms and microfiches will not be online, since the amount of material in these works is massive. It is possible that, if the online approach works out well, that these materials may be added in the future.

Try to access this site. I've been told that if there is not a lot of interest in the site, it will be taken offline and not put back on. So spread the word and keep trying to get through. When it's online, you'll find it at:

www.familysearch.org/

© 1998 by Byron C. Bray. This, and all "Computers and Genealogy" articles, are copyright Byron C. Bray and may be copied for personal use but may NOT be otherwise reprinted or reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the author.