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Digital Microfilm on Docs Online NEW (Sep 08)

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  • Digital Microfilm on Docs Online NEW (Sep 08)

    I was just look ing to see whether there were any changes to the Docs Online repertoire (only a couple) when I found this new category :D:

    For full info, look here:
    The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Digital Microfilm

    but here's some of the critical stuff:

    Introduction
    Digital Microfilm is a project piloting a new way to deliver records online. The National Archives has a large collection of microfilmed records, and by making these available online we hope to increase their accessibility. This will ultimately allow the microfilm readers used at The National Archives, Kew to be retired.

    We have digitised four records series of military and naval records. If the project is successful, we intend to add a wide variety of record series covering many different areas of interest. Many of the records are indexes and we hope that these will be helpful in locating other relevant records.

    The new way of delivery is by using very large pdfs, each of which contains a whole piece, which could be up to 800 pages long. This means that Digital Microfilm is only available to online users with a broadband connection, and to users in the Reading Rooms at The National Archives.

    These records have not been indexed, and so you will need to scroll through the pdfs, much as you would when using a microfilm. However, we would be more than happy for users to transcribe any of the Digital Microfilm content, and post it on Your Archives, The National Archives' online community of records users.

    These documents are free of charge to download. If you try out the Digital Microfilm pilot, we would be grateful for your comments.
    What's available?
    ADM 142 Navy Board, Navy Pay Office and Admiralty, Accountant General's Department: Registers of Seamen's Wills 1786-1909
    ADM 175 Records of service of the Coastguard 1816-1947
    WO 144 War Office: Inter-Allied Armistice Commission: War Diary, and Despatches of Chief of British Delegation 1918-1920
    WO 338 War Office: Officers' Services, Index to Long Number Papers, 1870-1922
    Note that I don't think that these are the detailed info - it's mainly indexes - but it means you can prepare much better before going to Kew.

    Christine
    Last edited by Christine in Herts; 26-09-08, 19:08.
    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

  • #2
    OOOH. Nothing there of any use to me, but promising of future treats!
    ~ with love from Little Nell~
    Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

    Comment


    • #3
      Trouble is, I saw a whole lot that might come in useful. So I went for the lot.

      This appears to have been a BIG MISTAKE! These files are enormous, and when you click on Download My Images, you can't select which ones you download... :o

      Christine
      Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

      Comment


      • #4
        The thought of negociating ADM 175 on my little laptop fills me with dread! These are huge volumes - I saw them before them before they were microfilmed - and they never fitted adequately on a microfilm screen. I should have thought they'd be impossible to scroll and very difficult to magnify. Interesting to hear comments.
        Phoenix - with charred feathers
        Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Christine in Herts View Post
          Trouble is, I saw a whole lot that might come in useful. So I went for the lot.

          This appears to have been a BIG MISTAKE! These files are enormous, and when you click on Download My Images, you can't select which ones you download... :o

          Christine
          The files are up to 400MB in size (a CD will normally take about 700MB), so if you haven't got Broadband for starters, I'd forget about it! A good idea, but did the files have to be so big?

          Chris

          Comment


          • #6
            double post

            Comment


            • #7
              Ooh, sounds interesting - I might go and look at them on the library computer next week. Thanks.
              KiteRunner

              Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
              (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

              Comment


              • #8
                I downloaded some of the 144/1 etc. series - they vary between 150 and 500 pages per PDF. They make fascinating reading!!
                Caroline
                Caroline's Family History Pages
                Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Nothing for me in the recent changes but i have found some stuff for my chap who was awarded the OBE, now they have listed his recommendation for Officer of the British Empire in 1957.

                  Strangely his recommendation for the DSO once downloaded was actually for his OBE, just wonder what if anything the new document might reveal....

                  drums fingers till payday :D
                  http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                  Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                  My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                  My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by chrispaton View Post
                    The files are up to 400MB in size (a CD will normally take about 700MB), so if you haven't got Broadband for starters, I'd forget about it! A good idea, but did the files have to be so big?

                    Chris
                    It does actually warn you on the site that the files are very big - and that you might want to check with your ISP that you are allowed to download anything so large... I just didn't take it in, at first, and rushed after all the things I thought might be useful! I guess it was partly because that set is all free at the moment. Don't know if they'll stay like that.

                    Christine
                    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by chrispaton View Post
                      The files are up to 400MB in size (a CD will normally take about 700MB), so if you haven't got Broadband for starters, I'd forget about it! A good idea, but did the files have to be so big?

                      Chris
                      Have been in touch with them about some particulars, and received this very helpful - and explanatory - reply:

                      from the reply
                      Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to me as the project manager for the Digital Microfilm pilot.

                      One of the key drivers of this pilot has been to explore low cost solutions to getting records online. Most of the cost of online records projects is creating the online indexes and transcriptions. This pilot eliminates that cost by using the existing description of the records from our Catalogue, i.e. the description that applies to the whole of ADM 142/3.

                      If we were to break these files into smaller parts, we would have to create descriptions for each part, which multiplies the cost of putting the records online.

                      We haven't done any work to 'clean-up' what is in the record, we have simply digitised the whole microfilm, duplicate pages and all, again to keep the costs to a minimum.
                      When I asked for permission to post the reply, I received this additional info:
                      I am quite happy for you to post my reply on the forum. It would also be helpful to point out that the intention (if the pilot is judged a success, and resources permitting) is to digitise those microfilms in the reading rooms at The National Archives that are not likely to be digitised by a commercial partner (i.e. we would not put the census or WW1 army service records up on this service as they have been made available by Ancestry and findmypast).
                      Christine
                      Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I also asked about the indexes to the certificates of competence, and received this reply:
                        BT 129 and BT 130 are on microfilm, but they are both in the low usage category, and so would be quite low down on a prioritisation list.

                        However I believe that a lot of merchant navy records are about to be digitised in a commercial project, but I do not know if it covers certificates of competency.

                        thanks again for your interest.
                        Christine
                        Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Interesting to read the replies Christine, thanks for posting the info.
                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                          Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                          My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                          My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I also asked about the indexes to the certificates of competence, and received this reply:

                            Quote:
                            BT 129 and BT 130 are on microfilm, but they are both in the low usage category, and so would be quite low down on a prioritisation list.

                            However I believe that a lot of merchant navy records are about to be digitised in a commercial project, but I do not know if it covers certificates of competency.

                            thanks again for your interest.


                            That's something I wouold be interested in. Lawrence Ll-B's 19th. century sea-captain has whetted my appetite to discover a bit more about my merchant navy and RN ancestors.
                            Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Can I be really thick please, where are the links to download these pdf's. Been on the website from earlier link, cant see anything!??!!!

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Originally posted by Uncle John View Post
                                I also asked about the indexes to the certificates of competence, and received this reply:

                                Quote:
                                BT 129 and BT 130 are on microfilm, but they are both in the low usage category, and so would be quite low down on a prioritisation list.

                                However I believe that a lot of merchant navy records are about to be digitised in a commercial project, but I do not know if it covers certificates of competency.

                                thanks again for your interest.


                                That's something I wouold be interested in. Lawrence Ll-B's 19th. century sea-captain has whetted my appetite to discover a bit more about my merchant navy and RN ancestors.

                                They are probably talking about this

                                FamilySearch.org - News

                                It says that FamilySearch are in partnership with TNA and Findmypast to digitise them and that its a 3 year project. I would imagine that its like the census project where you can search on FamilySearch but have to use Findmypast to view the images.

                                I'm interested in merchant navy records as well but the dates involved in the project (1835 - 1844 and 1918 - 1941) might not be the ones I want.

                                Jackie
                                Jackie

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Jogan View Post
                                  Can I be really thick please, where are the links to download these pdf's. Been on the website from earlier link, cant see anything!??!!!
                                  The route I take, instead of the usual DocumentsOnline search, is this:
                                  On the right of the window is this message:
                                  Read about our Digital Microfilm pilot project. More
                                  where "More" is a link to...
                                  The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Digital Microfilm

                                  Then I scroll to the lower part of the page and decide which record interests me, say the ADM 142 Register of Seamen's Wills
                                  The National Archives | The Catalogue | Browse

                                  Then I decide which name I'm after - GOULD, say...and I guess that 142/5 might have G (not least because I'd already discovered that 142/6 has H!). In fact it's F-G. Then I click on the link for that piece:
                                  Detecting your browser settings

                                  Above-right is a Request this button, which brings up a Your Options window, which offers three ways of acquiring a copy of the document, one of which is via Documents Online.
                                  Clicking on Go next to that option brings me to the usual Documents Online Image Details window, with its option to Add to shopping.
                                  From there on, it's just the usual, except that you won't have to pay anything - for a week or so, anyway.

                                  Christine
                                  Last edited by Christine in Herts; 04-10-08, 11:42.
                                  Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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