Today I was at my local FHC and I was quite surprised when I asked if I could order some more films.
It seems now you cant order the films at your local FHC anymore you have to open up an account and order and pay for them online it seems they dont want the staff to collect the money for the films anymore and this was a BIG surprise - before when I ordered films on indefinate loan it cost approx £4.50 per film now there has been an increase in the cost and now -wait for it!!! the cost to order one film on permanent loan is £18.75.
I think this has just happened very recently because the staff too were a bit surprised at this. Has anyone else heard about this?
It's slightly cheaper if you want to hire the film for 3 months.

This is the link I was given today http:film.familysearch.org and then you will have to create an account.
Emmy

I was at my center last week and did not hear a thing about it. I am going tonight so I will ask. My center has cut it's hours down to 3 hours one night a week so I am not ordering any more films there. There is another center nearby that I will be going to.

Wow, considering the exchange rate, that is an awful lot of $$$. is it more in Europe because they ship the films from the US??? Just wondering if that is a possibility.

Good morning all. I did not know we had to order films online since I had not been to my center in about 6 months. I went to the LDS site to see if there was any information and could find nothing. The email Emmy posted only applies to a limited # of countries (US not included in the pulldown).

Has anyone else encountered this in the U.S.? Are we restricted to going online to order only done at our Center?

Thanks for any information.

lilbees

Hi Em. We can still order films at my center and the original fee for first time is $5.75 USD and $5.50 for second and $5.25 for third and final for indefinite ($16.50 USD). What they're charging you is one heck of a price!!

Thanks for the replies. I do know that the person in charge was even a bit confused/surprised herself and had to phone someone for detailed instructions re how to order the films and I do know the information she gave me was what she had been told o the phone. She did say the cost of the films hadnt been increased for a good number of years but a jump in price like that -WELL??!! I'm not sure if I will order anymore meantime. I guess if that's going to be the cost from now on it may stop many people using FHC unless they are doing research in their own area where all the films are already there and using them is free.
It seems that this has just happened - if I had ordered the films last week the price would probably have been just as it was before. Be interesting to find out if it is as lilbees says and it is only applying to some countries but I do know, from listening to what has been said, that some of the films I order have been copied from somewhere in England, which makes it even more confusing.
Even taking extra postage into account it still seems a very big increase in price.
Emmy

I received a notice from my family history center last night that not only have the hours been reduced but the cost of the films have increased slightly - nothing like what you're saying emmy. So far, I have not heard of any ordering film online but we did learn we now may order microfilm at a few of the various libraries across the City from the LDS. This will be so much more convenient for many.

I posted my questions on the LDS forum site this a.m. to find out if, in the U.S., we do our ordering online in the center or, after registering, from home. I also asked what the cost of ordering film now is. Waiting for some kind of response.

lilbees

I received this reply to my inquiry for ordering microfilms online as follows from the Family Search Forums-Policy and Pricedures:

Quote::

Thank you for asking about Online Film Ordering. At this time Online Film Ordering is not available in North America. It will be forthcoming however by the end of this year. Once it is available the Family History Centers will be given information on how and where a patron can log in. This service is now available only in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe. We are looking forward to it being available in North America but for now you must still order a microfilm at your local family history center.

This will be good news when it happens. No mention of my question on cost though.

lilbees

This is interesting news. Thanks lilbees for following up on it and for sharing it with us.

Thanks Lilbees
Guess there perhaps will be a few teething problems since this is new. Let's hope the cost is one of the mistakes
Emmy

I wonder if this means they will charge for records once they get it all online? I have 30 some films at my center all on permanent loan. They are now open 2 1/2 hours per week on Thursday night and are so crowded often I cannot get to the scanner. It is very frustrating to drive an hour there during rush hour to wait until 8:00 or 8:30 pm to scan for a half hour (if I am lucky enough to get my turn) then drive about 40 minutes home. I used to love going there and could not wait to see what I could find. Now it is a chore that I dread.

Cathy, you really ought to consider using a camera instead of scanning if you can use a machine that projects the image onto the screen like a TV. I photo anything that is remotely interesting and then spend my time on my Mac working with the images to extract the information. All of the images I've posted for in the translation section of Gente are taken with a camera instead of being scanned. Using a camera is also much less expensive than scanning and it allows more time for extracting information from the films instead of hassling over the scanner, etc. Just a thought.

Just thought I'd let you know I did try the link I was given and I did get into the site where you could register and order the films BUT I thought I'd try filling in the request for the fims first - I do have all the correct film numbers. I required.
It states you must only put the number of the film you require (no words re where the records originate from) and choose the option you want -indefinate loan etc etc
You can register after that-
But all that happened with me is that each time I typed in the number of the film I wanted it came up that it didnt recognise the numer of the film (or it said something like no film available) So frustrating.
Not only that when I went back into the 'library' section of familysearch .org to recheck the films numbers (which I know are correct because I had taken a print out of them last week) I cant get into the the part to view the films available - comes up saying there's a problem try later??? I have tried later -and later -and later -and its still the same?????
Oh to be able just to go to the FHC and give my friend the list of films I want.
If I dont get to the FHC tomorrow I'm going to phone to find out what the problem is.
A very frustrated Emmy

ps Cathy I take photographs of the records - we dont have scanners etc at our FHC and I found taking the photograph with the flash switched off gives the best results.