This notice was received yesterday, and it says that Ancestry.com and FamilySearch is going to make a billion records available online over the next five years!
Ancestry.com and
FamilySearch International (FamilySearch.org),
the two largest providers of family history resources, announced today an
agreement that is expected to make approximately 1 billion global historical
records available online and more easily accessible to the public for the first
time. With this long-term strategic agreement, the two services will work
together with the archive community over the next five years to digitize, index
and publish these records from the FamilySearch vault.
The access to the global collection of records marks a major investment in international content as Ancestry.com continues to invest in expanding family history interest in its current markets and worldwide. Ancestry.com expects to invest more than $60 million over the next five years in the project alongside thousands of hours of volunteer efforts facilitated by FamilySearch.
“This agreement sets a path for the future for Ancestry.com and
FamilySearch to increasingly share international sets of records more
collaboratively,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com. “A significant part
of our vision for family history is helping provide a rich, engaging experience
on a global scale. We are excited about the opportunities it will bring to help
benefit the family history community and look forward to collaborating with
FamilySearch to identify other opportunities to help people discover and share
their family history.”
The organizations will also be looking at other ways to share content across the two organizations. Both organizations expect to add to the already digitized records shared across the two websites in addition to new record projects to be completed over the next five years.
“We are excited to work with Ancestry.com on a vision we both share,” said Dennis Brimhall, President of FamilySearch. “Expanding online access to historical records through this type of collaboration can help millions more people discover and share their family’s history.”
The organizations will also be looking at other ways to share content across the two organizations. Both organizations expect to add to the already digitized records shared across the two websites in addition to new record projects to be completed over the next five years.
“We are excited to work with Ancestry.com on a vision we both share,” said Dennis Brimhall, President of FamilySearch. “Expanding online access to historical records through this type of collaboration can help millions more people discover and share their family’s history.”
