Valuable collection includes records from the 18th and 19th centuries

Provo, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/28/2007 -- NewspaperARCHIVE.com, the largest newspaper database available online, has partnered with World Vital Records Inc.’s Web sites (WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com) in a unique way to provide increased access to a half billion records from newspapers ranging from 1759-1923.

"Historical newspapers contain valuable information about our ancestors, which may not have been preserved in any other form. By making these records easily accessible, we hope they can become a part of someone's family history," said Jeff Kiley, General Manager, NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

The uniqueness of this partnership stems from the way in which World Vital Records, Inc. will extract vital record information from the newspapers and place it on its site.

“We wanted to have vital record information from early American newspapers. NewspaperARCHIVE.com has allowed us to extract this information from their newspapers that cover the first 160-years of their collection,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, World Vital Records, Inc.

With this partnership, NewspaperARCHIVE.com will provide several million pages of vital record data (approximately a half-billion online records), which will be available for subscribers at WorldVitalRecords.com.

“In my mind, this collection of newspapers is as valuable as the censuses because it contains similar information, with the occasional benefit of additional family data. I’m really excited about this partnership and for the increased access it will allow our viewers to experience,” said David Lifferth, President, World Vital Records, Inc.

Once the material from NewspaperARCHIVE.com has been launched, the data will be available for free at WorldVitalRecords.com for a ten-day period. The first release of the data will include 40 million records. Subsequent releases will follow totaling more than a half-billion records. Some links to the data will also be available at FamilyLink.com (World Vital Records Inc.’s new genealogy social network).

“Reading these newspapers from the 18th and 19th centuries are the closest we can get to actually experiencing that time period ourselves. Whether a newspaper helps to uncover a birth record or simply someone's life profession, it can provide valuable facts that help solve those unanswered questions,” said Leslie Fredericks-Leamon, Web Marketing Strategist, NewspaperARCHIVE.com.

About NewspaperARCHIVE.com
NewspaperARCHIVE.com, the largest historical newspaper database online, contains tens of millions of newspaper pages from 1759 to present. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date, making it easy to quickly explore historical content. NewspaperARCHIVE.com adds newspaper pages faster than one can search them - with one newspaper page added every second - that’s over 80,000 images a day, or about 2.5 million pages per month! Designed for any individual of any age or profession, NewspaperARCHIVE.com provides a comfortable and safe environment with easy-to-use tools for fast searching and browsing. NewspaperARCHIVE.com is owned by Heritage Microfilm of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and began in 1999.

About World Vital Records, Inc.
Founded in 2006, by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, World Vital Records, Inc. provides affordable genealogy databases and family history networking tools. With thousands of databases including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy for everyone and enjoyable to discover their family history. World Vital Records’ free social network for genealogists, FamilyLink.com, is currently in beta testing. Partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Ancestral Quest, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch™.