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| View here - Uncovering Ancestry's New Membership - Club 1890 (Is it worth it?) |
Ancestry's new Club 1890 (currently offered to only a few by invitation) claims to be a premium experience. Amy Johnson Crow uses her video platform to highlight the various perks and advantages of the "vibrant community of like-minded individuals" in this video - Uncovering Ancestry's New Membership - Club 1890 (Is it worth it?). She also points out some shortcomings and concerns.
How do you feel about this up and coming "new flavor" of Ancestry? Would you use these services? Do they really enhance your experience enough to justify the price of $5K per year?
Reflecting on all this, I have to say this is not for me. It seems a little slim on the personal service, attention and return on investment offered. Once a month. Really?
For that yearly price, I would expect someone to do all the research for me and present a massive, beautiful book at the end of a year.
I hear Amy's concerns and share them with her. Listen to the end of the video to hear her concerns. I truly hope that more paywalls, steep costs, and exclusive advance access (for some...) is not the future direction that Ancestry plans to take our wonderful pastime.
There is one thing nagging me that Amy did not mention.
Imagine how many state and local genealogical societies you could support in the areas that you need to do deep research with that Five Thousand Dollars per year!
You would get access to topics, records and collaboration with folks who know the area. They know where to look and how to find the obscure information that you need to solve your family history mysteries. Collaborating with these folks builds expertise, social bonds and research skills and most importantly friendships! Will Ancestry consider Club 1890 folks friends if they see them at the archives or walking down the street? Will they only be friendly when it comes time to rejoin "the Club"?
Club 1890 is a non-starter for me. I have been scrapping around researching my genealogy for so many years now that I know where to look for what I need to find. Overpaying others for the services described is not going to push my research or story that much farther ahead and would not feel nearly as satisfying as making the discovery myself.
I would rather experience the thrill of discovery with the knowledge I have gained by seeking out quality sources - i.e. my local and state genealogy societies, webinars from Legacy Webinars, FamilySearch, and RootsTech. We should add the National Genealogical Society into the mix, too.
I hope this does not signal an era of more and more information silos and paywalls. If so, I will be spending my genealogy dollars supporting the societies who thrive on community, preservation, education an
d service. The ones who took such a hit during Covid. Perhaps we can prevent a few more from fading out of existence. I might not be the $5k to spend. You might not either, but if we all support our areas of concern we can make a huge difference.
Just think of how many state and local genealogical societies you could support, save, and gain benefit from for that Five Thousand Dollar price tag.
Thinking of my favorite Societies to support!
I'll be adding a few more to my list...
Thanks Ancestry, but no thanks.
Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Contact - info(at)wakecogen(dot)org
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