What a fobbin off reply !!!!
Mike Joy
See my web site at
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mikejoy
and please sign the petition !
-----Original Message-----
From: Contact Centre [mailto:contact.centre@pro.gov.uk]
Sent: Monday, 5 August 2002 5:30 p.m.
To: 'mikejoy(a)ntlworld.com'
Subject: MB file (84): 1901 Census Fiasco
Dear Mr Joy
Your email to the Secretary of State for Wales has been passed to me for
a
reply.
We are very sorry that the 1901 Online Service has not been available
for
general Internet access for some time. We do understand the frustration
and
disappointment felt by many users, frustration which we share, and for
which
we apologise. We are working closely with QinetiQ (who are responsible
for
the technical aspects) to ensure that general Internet access is
available
as soon as possible. Do keep an eye on the PRO website (
www.pro.gov.uk)
for
updates on the situation.
The Public Record Office and QinetiQ are aware that family history
research
is a popular past-time and we did take this into account when planning
the
online service. We also took into account comparable launches within
and
outside the UK. For example the Genealogical Society of Utah's (GSU's)
'familysearch' site in the USA. The capacity of the 1901 website at
launch
was raised to 1.2 million users per day to allow for world wide interest
which is a massive site by general Internet standards. The GSU site,
which
is probably the biggest such site, had the same kind of problems to
start
with and crashed after its launch. It now has 89,000 users a day.
We believe that the actual, phenomenal level of demand could not have
been
predicted on the basis of all the information available. Nor, in
economic
terms, would the necessary investment have been available to meet that
initial enormous level of demand in full. Evidence from the GSU site
indicates that demand drops off significantly after launch.
Yours sincerely
Margaret Brennand
1901 Census Project Communications Manager
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Joy
To: Murphy, Paul (OSSW)
Subject: 1901 Census fiasco
Dear Mr Murphy
I am writing with regards to the fiasco concerned with the making
available of the 1901 Census and the company involved being qinetiq.
This census is now in the Public Domain as it is over 100 years, and
should be made available.
The PRO will argue that that have made the 1901 census available, as
it is
accessible at Kew on microfiche. Parts of the 1901 census are also
available in some counties. This is no different to previous years.
We await the online version which will be a nice to have add-on to the
microform versions of the past. I am as impatient as most are, and
look
forward to being able to sit miles away accessing for a modest fee
data
that would otherwise cost me hundreds of Pounds to get.
The people involved have had so much time to get this thing sorted and
tested. The Pro planned to have a million 'hits' a day at this site.
But
when it was made available on Feb 2. They had 32 million in the first
day.
Surely someone should have known how many people wee likely to want
to
look at thsi ? Can you please make some inquiries and let me know some
answers.
Mike Joy
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