The Clerk & Recorder’s Office has undertaken the development of a new website with a company from Chicago to enhance the online presence of genealogical records.
Genealogical records consist of Birth, Death, and Marriage records that are older than 75, 20, and 50 years, respectively. This new online portal opens access to these documents to a global audience; and thus allows for the County to realize a new revenue stream.
Access to the program is FREE, and allows users to do a basic search of all genealogical vital records. If a user wishes to download the actual digital file they have in the Clerk & Recorder’s office, they may do so at a fee of $10.00.
Web Portals such as Ancestry.com or FamilyTree.com drive traffic to the Clerk’s site to procure these documents for their own personal collections. John Arcardo, DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder, states that his colleagues in Cook and Kankakee Counties have already begun to realize the benefits of the increased revenue, and the goal is to pay for the service within 18 months.
It was important to Acardo that this project pay for itself; and they have done just that. The project has cost just about $20,000, (funds used from service automation fees from the Clerk & Recorder’s office, not tax dollars), and will allow the County to add new revenue in these challenging economic times.
He wants to let people know now of this great service as it is set to launch before his next newsletter in November. Check it out at www.dekalbclerk.com or www.dekalbgenealogy.com in Mid-November.
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