If you read our post about FamilySearch (link) you might be wondering why you would need another family history account on another website. Especially since you might need to pay for a subscription to use Ancestry.
If you are beginning your family history journey- it is okay to hold off on creating an Ancestry account until you feel “ready.” This will look different for everyone. Maybe you want to enjoy family history as a free hobby before spending money (there are ways to enjoy Ancestry for free, keep reading!). Maybe you want to master FamilySearch and the layout of that site before learning another. These are all things to consider. However, Ancestry is different from FamilySearch, and offers different record collections, features, and services. Here are a few examples:
Ancestry’s default is non-collaborative.
This means that the trees you create from Ancestry cannot be altered by anyone else. When you create a tree on Ancestry you are the sole owner and editor (unless you choose to give access to a friend or family member). Your family trees can be set to “private” or “public”. Private trees will only be visible to you, public trees can be viewed by others, but they cannot change them.
Personally, I (Olivia) really like this feature. I choose to create private trees when I am unsure of my research. I do not want to spread potentially incorrect information while I am in the midst of research. I also love viewing public trees because sometimes users will upload pictures of their ancestors to a public tree. Using this feature, I have found many pictures of my ancestors that I would not have found otherwise (note: FamilySearch also has a similar feature). I also use others’ public trees to see what they have found about the ancestors I’m researching. Those public trees are a START for my research. I never attach records or sources to my trees until I have personally checked them and determined whether they are correct. It may sound like a lot of work to double-check the research of other people, including the research done by close family members. In the end, however, this effort is worth it to make sure you have the correct facts the first go around.
Ancestry offers a DNA service.
We will talk more about this during “DNA December,” but Ancestry is the DNA site of choice for both Olivia and Ariel (we will get into the why later and we will also keep you updated when their DNA kits go on sale). When you choose to complete a DNA test with Ancestry, we recommend creating some sort of public tree to link to your results. This helps you and DNA matches figure out how you are related to each other. DNA is powerful when combined with your documentary research. It does no good to know you are related to someone if you do not know how you are related to them. If you want to take a DNA test, we strongly advise having an Ancestry account; to make the most of your DNA results, you’ll want to set up your own tree and be able to view your matches’ trees. (Note: FamilySearch does not currently offer DNA services).
Ancestry is available for free to: members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you read our FamilySearch blog, you will remember that it is the same church that owns FamilySearch. This church has a special partnership with Ancestry that provides these services for free to church members with their membership record number. Members of the church still need to purchase their own DNA kits, as AncestryDNA is a separate service. but do not need to buy a subscription to use Ancestry.
Ancestry Institution.
You can learn about this directly from Ancestry here (link). This subscription allows institutions like libraries and schools to access the record collections on Ancestry. In turn, patrons of these institutions can access Ancestry resources for free when they visit. With that being said, you cannot create an account or family tree(s) on Ancestry while using this complimentary library option. You will need a subscription and an account to complete those actions.
If you rely on the institutional version of Ancestry for your research, citations are crucial! You will want to make sure you keep a record of what you find on Ancestry using what you learned in our citation post (link). These citations will help you keep your facts straight and help others who may view your research to see where you left off so they can continue from there and credibly take your research at face value as fact. Citations create this credibility!
Ancestry has a 14-day FREE trial
If Ancestry interests you and you do not have free access to Ancestry through any of the options described above, you can use the free 14-day trial. We suggest having a list of collections, locations, or people you want to search for before activating your trial. It’s only 14-days so make the most of it! If you decide to purchase a subscription, you can read about the options here (link).
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