Indexing

WHY?

WHEN?

Today, it is a great sabbath activity. It takes about 30 minutes per batch. Try a little each Sunday this month rather than wearing yourself out all at once.

WHAT?

I invite each youth (and adult) to tithe some of your time each Sunday this month performing indexing to help others get more records available with hints. Indexing is simply reading what someone else wrote by hand and typing it into a computer form.

Youth, start with an "easy" difficulty level indexing since some of you were not taught cursive writing.

Adults, after you have gained some indexing experience, go for the "medium" or "hard" indexing. Remember to ask the Holy Ghost for help as you identify patterns of writing and type in what you see.

Caution
 Don’t worry about perfect indexing. Please don’t let perfect be the enemy of progress in this work. Be okay with your best effort. It will bless another. Backing you up, a reviewer will double-check your work before it is released. Also, algorithms can identify partial matches even if you get some of it wrong. I have personally had this happen, so I know it works.

I have found many of my own family tree hints from people who saw the wrong letters, but when I saw the image they indexed I could see how they would see that wrong letter. AND, because they digitized the record, all the data combined helped the hint algorithms identify it and bring it to my attention. Viola, I had more info on my ancestors. I thank the person that tithed some of their precious time helping me to help my ancestors. This month we can all be that person for someone else.

HOW? The 9 EASY Steps

  1. Ask the Holy Ghost to help you see the patterns of the letters. Taking a few moments to ask for help really makes a difference on the puzzles in indexing.

  2. Go to familysearch.org and look at the top of the page where it shows Search | Memories | Indexing.

  3. Select "Indexing".

  4. On the next screen, select the button labeled, "Find a Project".

  5. Optionally, select a country or look at the bottom in the section "New Indexing Projects Added".

  6. If you get a message, "no projects found", try another.

  7. Adults, if you’re an old-hand at indexing, you can also help with reviews of other people’s work. By having a second set of eyes check the work, it increases the quality of indexing.

  8. Before you start, read the brief "Project Instructions" because different projects ask different things of us helpers.

  9. If you get stuck trying to decipher a letter or pen stroke, try these strategies:

    1. Call over others in your family to look at your screen together.

    2. Zoom-in and zoom-out to help you see the pattern at different levels of zoom.

    3. Look for other examples where the writer may have written the same letter. For example, if you can’t tell if the letter is an 'e' or 'r', look at other places on the page. If the same pen stroke is at the spot for 'e' in 'Elizabeth' then it is likely an 'e'.

    4. Google the letters to see if a similar name exists.

That’s it. You’ve performed a service that will appreciate.

For additional information see: * https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/youth/article/getting-into-indexing?lang=eng

HERE A LITTLE, THERE A LITTLE - We succeed little by little, one thing at a time. Feel better by doing small & simple things. Great things come to pass over time, so don’t give up.

Updated on 01 Jan 0001

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