Monday, August 31, 2009

Ancestry and the Drouin Collection

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog: Ancestry in arbitration over the Drouin Collection:
"According to reliable sources the Institut généalogique Drouin took The Generation Network Inc. into arbitration over the lack of full and proper indexation of the Drouin Collection previously put on-line by Ancestry.

On the 12th of August 2009, the judge named to arbitrate this case sided with Drouin, and declared that Ancestry has failed in its contractual obligation to properly and fully index the database prior to publication and since publication. The decision grants 60 (days) to Tje Generations Network to remedy the situation. Should they fail to do so, the license granted by the Institut Drouin will lapse.

The parties must still meet on September 9, 2009 to decide on the amount of damages caused by this breach of contract. Following this decision, Jean Pierre Pépin has asked that Ancestry remove the Drouin collection from internet access until such time as it is fully and properly indexed.

The Drouin collection is not available on Ancestry.com,"

Institut généalogique Drouin - Google Search

3 Comments:

Blogger Hugh W said...

from facebook:-

Hope everyone with French Canadian ancestry reads this. Ancestry is indeed getting too big for its britches. The Calif. Genealogical Society library has Drouin on a CD.

7:54 am  
Blogger Hugh W said...

from a Rootsweb list:_

"I have been watching a thread about this on a couple of my Canadian lists for several days now. The problem seems to be that the job of indexing was let out to the Chinese and they used the abbreviated names from the left column instead of using the full names from the record itself and then misinterpreted the abbreviations, Mary for Margaret and Marguerite, etc.

So the index is inaccurate and that is the objection to it, as well as the language barrier problems that often arise. From something I read, it was supposed to be being proofread by a family history group or college group and it sounds like they were falling down on their job also."

7:20 am  
Blogger Unknown said...

I have been in contact with M. Sebastian Robert and indeed it seems that the position of the one part is that the data and film with return to Drouin/Pepin and not Ancestry.

While much effort has been made by subscribers in the past two years, there is to this point, no intention to absorb the work that is presently done thus leaving a great void for subscribers as the considered opinion of M Sebastien that in fact the index that they propose may take 25 years!! Now, gee, I will be 80 by that time!

It would seem to me that the logical proceding would be that Ancestry be allowed to continue the collaboration with its members and that perhaps the fee paid to M Pepin and the Drouin/Pepin should be increased and M Pepin should be a little more patient given the myriad spellings and naming practices in the Canada-French patrynomy.

M Pepin has developed a sliding scale for the access to a nonindexed structure which is available for free search at FamilySearch in their pilot but who has the time to hunt and peck given the variations?

Everyone has trouble reading old handwriting but as we were all pitching in, Ancestry should have shown its progress toward a better index and M Pepin and Ancestry should have realized the improbability of completing an index in such a short time!!

LibQ Georgia USA

1:16 am  

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