archives and databases

[marym]

If I search online and find listings of databases in L'viv or Ivano-Frankovsk, how do I know if the family names I am looking for will be there? And then, how does one access the archive for the specific information? I am searching for birth and death certificates, land deeds, business ownership etc and would like copies of documents.
Thank you for your assistance.

[vivandr]

Hi Marym,

When the documents that you found online are at LDS library, you have to contact your nearest office, order necessary films, and then study each film looking for the places and surnames you are interested in. You may find more detailed information about this at: http://www.familysearch.org

Concerning the archives in Ukraine you may visit the following page:
http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/index.php
In particular it has the list and addresses of all archives in Ukraine:
http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/Archives/index.php
So you may contact corresponding archive directly and provide them with the information you are looking for. They do the search and copying of corresponding documents on paid bases.

Also you may contact private researches that would do similar job, but probably much faster. In particular I would recommend Ihor Voronchak: voronchak@ukr.net. He is based in Lviv, has very good access to Lviv historic archive, and does his job on professional level. He also visits villages if necessary.

Vitaliy

[marym]

Thank you for answering.
so, I have to order films that I think MIGHT have my family name in it and then look at them? That can get expensive if the name is not listed after all. When looking on line at Ukraine databases, no names were listed, just type of document and year and sometimes town. It could cost quite a bit to get nothing that way.

[millgirl]

Hi Mary, The cost of a film at the FHL is $3.50 for one month rental. That is cheap compared to paying the archives to do the looking for you. There is no guarantee either way as to whether or not your families name will show up. Good luck.

[millgirl]

One more thing.....I hired Ihor Voronchak and it is because of his work that I have found family in Ukraine. He does very good work and I would highly reccommend him. You can ask Vitaliy, but I believe Ihor will work within your budget.

[marym]

Thank you for your responses. I have little money, and should be spending it on food, rent, and medicine but I want to find my family, if possible.
Ihor would have to be spending many hours searching with little or no results possibly before he gets paid. Many online offer to do this for $100 if they find something. But how will they know for sure if they found the right family? Genealogists spend years researching. And what if he finds nothing? He doesn't get paid for his time? I know many offer this same service, but it somehow makes little sense to me. I know of several people who were given documents, and paid for them, and later found out it was from a different family with the same name. Sometimes this research is very difficult and requires enormous amounts of time and double and triple checking.

[millgirl]

Yes, he gets paid for his time. You must remember that $100 in US dollars is quite a bit of money in Ukraine. I simply tell him how much I am willing to spend and he works within that budget. I have found him to be completely trustworthy. Ihor will travel to the village, usually by bus, then walks a good deal of the way. He has no car. You will pay the archives a great deal more and since they are getting paid by the hour they can take their sweet time looking. The only other answer is to travel there yourself and spend time in the archives. I would suggest you try the FHL films first. Like I said before, they are only $3.50 a month. You must have some sort of starting point as to prove whether or not you are finding the "right family". Unfortunately there is no easy answer. You have to be willing to spend a little money and time, maybe for no results. More often than not, people are finding answers in these films, especially if you are viewing the correct village and religion. Good luck. PS Are you looking for family in the city of Ivano Franvisk? I have a friend who is from there.