Author Topic: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie  (Read 15848 times)

Offline chrispaton

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #9 on: Tuesday 27 March 12 21:22 BST (UK) »
If you don't shout, you won't be heard!  :)

The more this change generates bad publicity for them, and the more pressure it might put them under from users, the more it might force a rethink. But being heard is crucial - some comments already online at http://irish-genealogy-news.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-to-kill-off-goodwill-in-one-easy.html and http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/adding-to-rootsireland-chorus.html Plenty of others around I am sure!

Chris

Genealogy - www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk www.BritishGENES.blogspot.co.uk (British Genealogy News and EventS) * Ruhleben internment camp - http://ruhleben.tripod.com

Offline frostyknight

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #10 on: Tuesday 27 March 12 21:41 BST (UK) »
I fully agree with the previous posts. I certainly won't be doing any more searches on the site either. I think its a disgrace that we can be held to ransom by these people. They're OUR ancestors after all! A masterclass in how to lose friends and alienate people. frostyknight

Offline hallmark

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #11 on: Wednesday 28 March 12 14:26 BST (UK) »
I've nothing to do with them, don't use them  but nobody is holding anyone to ransom...they have records, they are selling them if one wants to buy them! They want to be paid for all the work they have put in!

Irish Census records are free but I'm being held to ransom if I want Scottish ones for MY ancestors.....

Up to this people could put records together using the "clues" but anyone who has could be putting 1 + 1 together to make 3....

Regardless of recent changes the problem was that people were buying records in the hope that they were for the person being researched..it is the lottery aspect that is the problem!! The bottom line will be their annual accounts which will probably show a decline in income, which might change their minds.

You can also just search the registers yourself which will cost you as the clergy are required to supervise your search and there is a fee for this activity.

Fees for searches in Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
The following scale of fees was approved by the General Synod in 2002:-
Searches up to one hour €20 / Stg£12
For each additional hour or part of an hour €20 / Stg£12
Each additional certified copy €10 / Stg£6  from  http://ireland.anglican.org/information/64  so these are your ancestor's records, are they also holding people to ransom???

How much will it cost you to go to the church to look at their registers, plus the above fees?

If you employ someone to go for you then they have to be paid too...on top of fees! Root's fees aren't bad IF you knew you were getting the correct ones!!
Give a man a record and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to research, and you feed him for a lifetime.

Offline chrispaton

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #12 on: Wednesday 28 March 12 14:53 BST (UK) »
Regardless of recent changes the problem was that people were buying records in the hope that they were for the person being researched..it is the lottery aspect that is the problem!!

That, plus the fact that they have restricted the search criteria to that offered just a week ago - you can no longer target a search for a couple's children to a known parish and religious denomination, only by county now. They have therefore reduced the ability to effectively search on the site, which will force more false positives, which were (more) easily avoided before. That may generate more money for them, but I suspect a lot of people will be throwing their porridge at their computers the more it happens!

You can also just search the registers yourself which will cost you;

Fees for searches in Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
The following scale of fees was approved by the General Synod in 2002:-
Searches up to one hour €20 / Stg£12
For each additional hour or part of an hour €20 / Stg£12
Each additional certified copy €10 / Stg£6  from  http://ireland.anglican.org/information/64  so these are your ancestor's records, are they also holding people to ransom???

Absolutely!!!! It is working out cheaper for me to go to PRONI by ferry on a day trip and look up the records myself on microfilm (albeit not all are there). I live in Ayrshire, so ferry just down road, and once taken it now virtually arrives at the doorstep in the docks at Belfast - so I am absolutely looking into a visit. PRONI's microfilmed church holdings are listed at http://www.proni.gov.uk/guide_to_church_records.pdf whilst NLI's RC listings on microfilm are listed at http://www.nli.ie/en/parish-register.aspx


If you employ someone to go for you then they have to be paid too...on top of fees!

Indeed - hence why I will go myself! :)

Their fees aren't bad IF you knew you were getting the correct ones!!

And there's the issue. When records for Antrim first went online, as supplied by the Ulster Historical Foundation, I noticed that the date given for birth/baptism on the civil records returned on the site were actually baptism dates. I knew this because the UHF's own site had also made the records available and they returned both birth and baptism dates in an entry (obviously compiled from 2 sources). Having matched up a couple of records on the RootsIreland site to that I had previously obtained from the UHF, I knew there was an issue, and so alerted RootsIreland, who informed me that they had mistaken uploaded the baptism dates to their site instead of the actual birth dates - it was quickly changed. So I would rather see an original record than a transcript, as you can never know what you are seeing.

GRONI has apparently now digitised all its BMD recs, with a view to doing a 'ScotlandsPeople' in the near future, and the GRO in the south certainly makes them available at 6 Euros each as photocopied extracts, including pre-1922 for the north. 5 Euros for a transcript or 6 Euros for a photocopy is a no brainer - the copy any day! NB: For those in Scotland, civil birth indexes for Northern Ireland from 1922-1995 are available in the ScotlandsPeople Centre (but not marriages or deaths).

With church records the National Library of Ireland is planning at some stage to digitise all of its Roman Catholic records and place them online for free - this appears to have taken a step back recently, but I believe is still an aspiration. So as in the past, when Roots Ireland charged 10 Euros a time, the simple option at this end is to bide my time again, because I suspect other options will present themselves.

Again, to reiterate - my bigger concern here is the regressive step applied to the search criteria, and the misconception that the site is now cheaper - only if bulk buying, and as I've illustrated, for casual users the costs may significantly increase. So potentially more expensive in certain cases and much harder to use for certain basic tasks - doesn't that warrant a protest?

Chris
Genealogy - www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk www.BritishGENES.blogspot.co.uk (British Genealogy News and EventS) * Ruhleben internment camp - http://ruhleben.tripod.com


Offline hallmark

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #13 on: Wednesday 28 March 12 17:47 BST (UK) »
Yes it might warrant a protest but it will fall on deaf ears.

The accountant might get through to them.....I know I could have spent a fortune on a particular Surname in a particular county, trying to find the right one. It is only a "lucky dip" one is buying into!

It's no wonder they're offering 750 credits for €60.00..one would need that just to try and find someone as there is Zero service!!


The wording of their "special offers" speaks volumes about what is going on behind the scenes......Yes, there is less there but there will be less customers!!
Give a man a record and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to research, and you feed him for a lifetime.

Offline chrispaton

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #14 on: Wednesday 28 March 12 18:02 BST (UK) »
Don't quite agree on deaf ears bit - reluctant, obstinate ears perhaps! :) If so, just might be a case of shouting louder and more often!

On your last line - I could not agree more!  :)

Chris
Genealogy - www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk www.BritishGENES.blogspot.co.uk (British Genealogy News and EventS) * Ruhleben internment camp - http://ruhleben.tripod.com

Offline brennan1

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #15 on: Thursday 29 March 12 12:55 BST (UK) »
I will no longer use this facility. Having registered my protest with them and pointed out how much more costly it will be just to do searches I recieved a

reply which simply stated that the cost of obtaining the record would be greatly reduced. this ignores the fact that by then one would have spent a fortune

on the searches in order to hopefully obtain the correct one. It is already difficult enough to do family research in Ireland and this is just another 'nail in the

coffin'. I had no objection to paying the 5 euro for info, having done the research and found what I hoped would be the correct info.

Brennan1

Offline simmonstown

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #16 on: Thursday 05 April 12 18:50 BST (UK) »
Just today I got an email from Rootsireland telling me of their wonderful revised terms and conditions. They did mention of course their much more expensive costs and how I could save money by bulk purchases???!!!. No mention of the fact that this makes no sense as it will now cost to search for a person where it used to be free. This email arrived even though I already told them I won't be using their service anymore because of these changes. Maybe they are feeling the pinch, perhaps if we all continue to boycott the site, they may see the error of their ways and go back to the old ways.

Offline brennan1

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Re: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie
« Reply #17 on: Friday 06 April 12 01:04 BST (UK) »
I have also had the same email today, despite as I said in my previous post that I had contacted them to say that I would no longer be using their facility

because of the changes to their terms.

I know that these emails are sent as mass emails but it shows that any protest about these changes are falling on deaf ears. Although I recognise that this

site provides a valuable resource (particularly for people who are unable to visit Ireland to do their own research) the cost of obtaining the information with

these changes will be prohibitive for many people.   

regards
Brennan 1