Information on 11.5 billion individuals freely available on Familysearch as 83-year project is completed

Familysearch International has announced the completion of a massive project to digitise its collection of millions of rolls of microfilm containing billions of family history records from around the world

The archive, containing information on more than 11.5 billion individuals, is now freely available to the public on Family Search at www.familysearch.org

Digitisation of the rolls of film began more than 20 years ago when Familysearch purchased its first microfilm scanners in 1998. The project was expected to take over 50 years to complete, but advances in technology helped shorten the timeline by nearly 30 years.

The last of the microfilm scanning was completed this year. The project took a leap forward in 2006 when software and processes were developed by Familysearch in conjunction with the Church

History and the Information and Communication Services Departments of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The scanning began with about five employees. As the process was developed, up to 30 employees using 26 scanners were working on the process, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Familysearch ended its microfilm distribution to family history centres in September 2017 when it began its transition to an alldigital, free, online access approach. The microfilm collection will continue to be preserved, but the information the rolls contain can now be easily viewed and searched online.