“One Billion Records Now on FamilySearch,” Ensign, Sept. 2013, 14
One Billion Records Now on FamilySearch
Volunteers around the world indexing (digitizing) the Church’s vast collection of genealogical records collectively reached a major milestone on April 19, 2013. On that date they attained one billion searchable records added to the Church’s FamilySearch website in less than seven years.
Volunteers have been extracting or indexing records in earnest since 1978, but in September 2006 the Family History Department launched a major innovation inviting virtually anyone anywhere to log on to the site and sign up to participate in the indexing project.
“The documents are drawn primarily from a collection of 2.4 million rolls of microfilm containing photographic images of historical documents from 110 countries and principalities,” explains a wiki entry on the FamilySearch site. “The documents include census records, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, military and property records, and other vital records maintained by local, state, and national governments.”