Friday December 5, 2008
The first record collection indexed through the World Archives community indexing project was posted online today by Ancestry.com - nearly 60,000 records from the Wisconsin Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880. This index is searchable online for free, as will be all projects completed through the World Archives Project. While the indexes are free, however, any associated images are only available to Ancestry subscribers.
The next collections to go online are likely the ones currently in arbitration, which include Middlesex Criminal Registers, Alabama State Census, Marriages of the Deaf in America and Historic Postcards from Sweden and Italy. Projects currently being indexed by volunteers include Historic Postcards (France), Lubeck Marriage Banns (Germany), England and Wales Criminal Registers, Nebraska State Census, and Naturalization Indexes for New England, New York, NYC and Southern California.
Ancestry.com says that *soon* active contributors (those keying at least 900 records per quarter) for the World Archives Project will receive free access to all images associated with World Archives Project collections, discounts on their current Ancestry.com memberships upon renewal, and the ability to suggest/vote on which collections are indexed next.
