Is it free to research records at the New York Archives?
Can I just walk into the New York Archives and look through records (census, birth, death, marriage) of my ancestors? I wanna see these records in person instead of online on Ancestry.com. And possibly find ones that aren’t on the site.
What exactly is microfilm?
I can tell you that you can go into the records centers in the UK and view the records for free, you have to get a CAIN card, which you get there on filling out a form proving ID and that then allows you to use the card to go in any UK archives or records center..the card is free and is normally valid for at least 5 years, they also do day cards for visiting genealogists………..I would suspect that in the US you will have a similar system, if you go onto their website and look for visiting information it should tell you on there.
Records are filmed ad put onto film or microfiche and that is what you look at.
Film is a roll of film containing the pages of the records, which you put into the film reader to view and can stop and take a photocopy of the record you want or transcribe the information.
Microfiche or fiche is the same, but looks like an index card and like a photograph negative, which you put into a fiche reader and can then view the records.
In the UK if you wish to view the real records you would write out a card, give it to the archivist and they will go and get them, you go into another room, wearing white cotton gloves which are provided you can then view the real records…..which are very useful as you can often see more information on the real records that doesn’t show on the film/fiche especially if they are poor copies and many are
On ancestry and any other website if they show images it is from the film/fiche although many are just transcriptions or collections and you are right to go and view records yourself as you will find far more there than online, not everything is online, it never will be and you have to check everything you do find online back to records anyway to prove they are correct or like may who have only ever done online searching they have no idea what is really available or if hey even have their ancestors.
http://www.familytimeline.webs.com/ this website will help with records you already have at home ( page 20) and there is some good advice…read FAQ, documents, etc also has a good link page
New York State Archives http://www.archives.nysed.gov. Should tell you all the information you need for a research trip.
You could try the National Archives for the Census. You will not be allowed to see and touch the actual census only copies. The counties where the birth, marriages and deaths has copies of all the documents, actually the originals are maintained at the county level, and copies or reports sent to the state Vital statistics office. You might try a Family History Center near you, it is free to use the facility and many have copies of microfilms you could review.
References :
Genealogical researcher 35 + years
I can tell you that you can go into the records centers in the UK and view the records for free, you have to get a CAIN card, which you get there on filling out a form proving ID and that then allows you to use the card to go in any UK archives or records center..the card is free and is normally valid for at least 5 years, they also do day cards for visiting genealogists………..I would suspect that in the US you will have a similar system, if you go onto their website and look for visiting information it should tell you on there.
Records are filmed ad put onto film or microfiche and that is what you look at.
Film is a roll of film containing the pages of the records, which you put into the film reader to view and can stop and take a photocopy of the record you want or transcribe the information.
Microfiche or fiche is the same, but looks like an index card and like a photograph negative, which you put into a fiche reader and can then view the records.
In the UK if you wish to view the real records you would write out a card, give it to the archivist and they will go and get them, you go into another room, wearing white cotton gloves which are provided you can then view the real records…..which are very useful as you can often see more information on the real records that doesn’t show on the film/fiche especially if they are poor copies and many are
On ancestry and any other website if they show images it is from the film/fiche although many are just transcriptions or collections and you are right to go and view records yourself as you will find far more there than online, not everything is online, it never will be and you have to check everything you do find online back to records anyway to prove they are correct or like may who have only ever done online searching they have no idea what is really available or if hey even have their ancestors.
http://www.familytimeline.webs.com/ this website will help with records you already have at home ( page 20) and there is some good advice…read FAQ, documents, etc also has a good link page
References :
Microfilm is a rolled long strip of plastic, like what they used to have moving pictures on but has images of a record. It gets put in a machine, that enlarges it and illuminates it, so it can be read. It is not computerized or indexed.
Any IMAGE that you find on ancestry.com ie the census, is often a photographic image of the original page. It is digitized. As long as it is a digital image, you get the same thing without the physical work of reading it from film. The bonus is that if you use it at home, you can save the image to your computer, and since it is a jpg..you open it with the computer where you can zoom in on it, when hard to read. I have also taken "bad" images and used a photo editor to change the contrast, which sometimes makes it easier to read.
Yes, the archives may have records that are NY specific that you wont get at ancestry.com. You also might find after using other types of media..that the service you get from ancestry.com is REALLY saving you a lot of effort.
References :
Yes you should be able to work in any Archives for free. Although you may have to get a pass so that they know who you are and it should let you go in and out, so you can go to lunch etc. As some one all ready said it is microfilm and microfiche. Some original records maybe viewed depending on the condition of the record.
References :
32 years of experience, plus working among county records for a longer time.