SP Charges during a visit

[Roxy]

I'm looking for a bit a clarification here; when I read the SP web site it seems to indicate that, as well as your £10 per day visit charge, downloading images costs effectively the same as if I stayed at home and used my PC.

Is my assumption correct?

Can you photograph documents?

I am trying to persuade Ma Roxy to stop watching daytime telly and get a hobby! Edinburgh is just down the road and I'm sure that she would catch the bug relatively (no pun intended!) easily.

Thanks.

Roxy

[susieq]

Hi Roxy,

I think i'm right in saying that it's 50p per photocopy, or a £1 to download an image onto a memory stick.

I would imagine NO photography allowed!

Susan.

Anyone feel free to correct me if i'm wrong:)

[Rockford]

Hi,

I think that Susan is right about the costs.

I was there about a fortnight ago for my first visit to the new look Centre and my third overall. I use the SP website search to narrow down possibilities and then look at the certificates on screen in Edinburgh. I take two 'reporter's' notebooks - one with the list of the things I want to look up and the other to write it all down. I've only ever printed off three certificates, found when I was nearing the end of my day.

Although it means I have to rely on my notes, rather than being able to pull out a copy of the certificate at a later date, I worked out that when I was there in September, the information I looked at would have cost me over £200 to look at on the SP website!

I did, however, forget to eat lunch....

Best wishes

Brian

PS you won't be able to photograph the certificates as you see them on screen - you used to be able to get the original book brought down if the entry on screen was illegible, but I don't think, they'd let you photograph these either.

[LesleyB]

SusieQ is correct in her summary:
50p per printout
£1 to download an image onto a memory stick
and no photography allowed

Best thing to do, as suggested by Brian, is take a list of items to look up, a notebook to write down what you see (saves money - only print out those you really need or perhaps cannot read, to look at again later) and half a dozen pencils with rubbers on the top. (More pencils ready to use means fewer trips to the sharpener, so saves time!!)

Best wishes
Lesley

[AndrewP]

The prices for printing or downloading to a memory stick are as given above, with the exception of those regarded as modern. Modern is defined in the same way as on the ScotlandsPeople website - births within the last 100 years, marriages within the last 75 years or deaths within the last 50 years. For the modern ones, if you want a printed copy you have to buy an official extract at £8 (or £18 for a priority copy). Printing of wills is on a per page basis. A3 sized copies can be chosen at an increased cost. See the following webpage for the full list of charges.

http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/sc ... arges.html

Or if you want to pay another £3 , you can purchase the extract from GROS, next door in New Register House.

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/f ... let-s2.pdf

For the modern ones, you can view them on screen like any other record and write the details down on paper free of charge.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Muriel]

I made up forms - one for births, one for deaths & one for marriages with boxes for all the info given on a certificate & took a bundle of each. Means quite a lot of writing but at least you don't (weel shouldn't!) get home & discover you've omitted a vital piece of evidence! I now have a laptop with my family tree programme on it & I just enter the info straight in. Still worth having a notebook though for all the extra bits you might find or notes you want to write to yourself. It's also worth expending a few credits with SP to look up "possibles" as the new system in NRH only allows you to look in 5-year blocks.

Muriel

[Roxy]

Thanks or all your help. It is as I thought.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that it is a bit tight to charge you to get in and then charge almost the same to copy a certificate as if you stayed at home and did it on the PC.

Now to get Ma Roxy on the bus to Edinburgh!

Roxy

[rosieno1]

However, you don't have to pay for just looking - so you can check the 'umpteen' 'possibles' you have noted who just might be a relative! That costs nothing - and even if it is your relative, you can transcribe the relevant details by hand, you don't have to copy or download every record even if it is a 'direct' hit. If you do transcribe, it costs you nothing!

I'm going next Friday, and intend only to download those records that are on my direct line. Other 'lesser-branch' records - I'm just going to note down the details.

I appreciate that I may just miss some info. that way - but I can always get it next time I'm there, or get it on-line if I'm desperate!
Jane

[fmackay]

I am like a child in a sweet shop when I go for the day.I have lists of folk I want to look up - takes a bit longer but I just record all the details. My direct family I will download a copy. The new system means that if you don't use all your credits they are carried over until your next visit(or so I was led to believe. I will find out in a couple of weeks)

[TAFKAM]

It's also worth expending a few credits with SP to look up "possibles" as the new system in NRH only allows you to look in 5-year blocks.
self.
Muriel

Hi Muriel,

This isn't strictly true.

The best way to try and explain this is if you take the records in two distinct batches. Modern ( Births from 1908/present day, Deaths from 1958/present day and Marriages from 1933/present day), and HISTORICAL ( any birth prior to 1908, any death prior to 1958, and any marriage prior to 1933).


For MODERN records, the maximum timespan allowed is indeed five years, however you can of course search spans smaller than that - you can search individual years as well if you wish. The point to note though is that you have to go back to the search screen and then type in another year or span each time - there is no "search next year/span" option. I gather this is something that they are hoping will be included in the program, at a later date.

For HISTORICAL records, the maximum timespan allowed is as large as the span is - IOW, if you want to search all births for the name Carmichael between 1855 and 1908, you can do, or if you want to search Deaths for Carmichael from 1855 right up to 1958 (perhaps for one county), then you can do.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers

T