High Cost of Genealogy in Scotland
Concern Over High Costs For Scots Tracing Ancestors Online (from The Herald ): "The cost of using online genealogy websites has come under scrutiny after it emerged that a website is charging Scots more than three times as much as English users to trace their family history.
While television shows, including the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, have encouraged more people to discover their roots, questions are being asked over the fees charged for carrying out census searches on the internet.
The cost of looking up records in Scotland on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk is £1.20 minimum, compared with 35p on the England version of the site, despite the fact both are owned by the same company.
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Both the Scottish database and the English site - www.findmypast.com - are hosted by Dundee-based IT firm brightsolid, which is owned by media group DC Thomson.
James Kelly, the Labour MSP for Rutherglen, said: 'More and more people are now trying to trace their family history, whether it is out of curiosity or for medical reasons, and it is simply not fair that it costs more in Scotland.
'It is vastly more expensive to look up the equivalent online Scottish database than the one in England, yet the websites are hosted by the same company. I have written to Mike Russell culture minister seeking an explanation why there is such a notable difference in cost.'"
While television shows, including the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, have encouraged more people to discover their roots, questions are being asked over the fees charged for carrying out census searches on the internet.
The cost of looking up records in Scotland on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk is £1.20 minimum, compared with 35p on the England version of the site, despite the fact both are owned by the same company.
advertisement
300 x 250 Envirowise Scotland
Both the Scottish database and the English site - www.findmypast.com - are hosted by Dundee-based IT firm brightsolid, which is owned by media group DC Thomson.
James Kelly, the Labour MSP for Rutherglen, said: 'More and more people are now trying to trace their family history, whether it is out of curiosity or for medical reasons, and it is simply not fair that it costs more in Scotland.
'It is vastly more expensive to look up the equivalent online Scottish database than the one in England, yet the websites are hosted by the same company. I have written to Mike Russell culture minister seeking an explanation why there is such a notable difference in cost.'"
posted by Hugh W at 4:21 am
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