You may have read the recent press releases regarding the launch of the World Archives Project, sponsored by Ancestry.com.  We are very pleased to announce that SCGS was one of the first genealogical societies to join in partnership with Ancestry.com to sponsor one of the indexing projects.

On Saturday, February 6, the first SCGS file -- Naturalization Index Cards of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1915-1976 (NARA series M1525, 114 films) -- was completed. SCGS will join several societies who are sponsoring California, U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972. As of February 8, 2010, the file was about one-third finished due to the efforts of volunteers from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, the California State Genealogical Alliance, Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogical Society, San Diego Genealogical Society and the South Orange County California Genealogical Society, as well as SCGS.

Information on the new file can be found on the World Archives Project page.

Why did SCGS choose to partner with Ancestry.com in this important project?  According to SCGS President Pam Wiedenbeck, “The World Archives Projects presents an opportunity for SCGS members to contribute to a worldwide indexing initiative. Our members can be involved in this important activity, regardless of where they live.  Also, by partnering with Ancestry.com, we have an opportunity to introduce SCGS to the hundreds of thousands of Ancestry’s subscribers.”

What’s in it for researchers today and in the future?All indexes will remain free to the public on Ancestry.com.

• All indexes will remain free to the public on Ancestry.com.
• Images and indexes will be available for free to patrons at thousands of libraries across the U.S.
• Threatened records will be conserved and made available for use.
• More records will be made available as armies of indexers work to add content to the project.

What’s in it for SCGS?

• Ancestry.com will donate copies of record indexes and images from the project to SCGS. The Society will be able to place the digital images in its members-only section of the website. The index will be free and SCGS members can access the actual images. It’s a way for SCGS to earn revenue through its website.
• Ancestry.com will provide free advertising to partnering genealogy societies. Ancestry will add the SCGS logo to the Southern California Naturalization Index project page and will link back to the SCGS website. Ancestry’s hundreds of thousands of users can learn about SCGS.

What’s it in for active program contributors* who do the work?

• Vote on which records to index in the future.
• Have free access to original images in the project's databases.
• Receive a 10% discount off an annual U.S. Deluxe subscription renewal or
• Receive a 15% discount off an annual World Deluxe subscription renewal.

*To be classified as an active contributor one must index a minimum of 900 records per quarter.

"As a global society, we are falling further and further behind when it comes to digitizing historical records," said Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com. "The World Archives Project allows us to work collectively as a community to preserve and to digitize records that will otherwise surely be lost to the wear and tear of time. By providing free access to these indexes on the world's most popular family history website, we will provide millions of people with access to records that might help them unlock new clues about their ancestors."

Sullivan noted the valuable contribution made by genealogical societies like SCGS. "…genealogy societies…are absolutely critical to the continued health and growth of genealogical research. We've been searching for years for the right way to partner with genealogy societies, and we think this project will allow us to help them attract new members by leveraging the popularity of Ancestry.com…”
To read what the bloggers and industry leaders have had to say about this World Archives Project, see:

Comparison of World Archives Project versus FamilySearch indexing project
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/09/generations-net.html
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/4rlcv2

A nice discussion of the project and the idea of “genealogy karma points” can be found at http://www.gentedimaregenealogy.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=14201
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/5smgj3

Articles on Ancestry’s blog regarding the World Archives Project
http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/category/community/world-archives-project/
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/554ktu

Watch the tutorial on the Ancestry website:
http://c.ancestry.com/Affiliate/Knowledgebase/Video/Ancestry/key_indexing_tutorial.html
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/5v6883

To learn more about the project or get involved, go to www.ancestry.com/worldarchivesproject and choose the Southern California Naturalization Index file. Other projects are also available and you are free to participate in any, all, or none of the projects.