Updates for Those Who Use FamilySearch

It has been a while since I have updated about the newest in FamilySearch. The developers and product managers have been moving so fast lately it has been hard to keep up.

They have a FamilySearch Channel on YouTube that keeps people abreast of changes and dreams for the website.

The other big changes have been on the Wiki.  They have done a series of upgrades. If you used to be a Wiki contributor, you may have to request editing rights.  There is a form on the pages to fill out if needed.  The FamilySearch Wiki is up to 84, 488 articles now. So much help is found here. put in a search term and see how many articles there are. FamilySearch has several pages on the Wiki of how to use FamilySearch. This is one such article on FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.
They use the Wiki to give instruction and tips on using Family Tree also. This is an example of the articles, it says "Attaching FamilySearch (FS) Records to Family Tree Using the Source Linker" but it is so much more. Click on the title to view.

A personal favorite is the FamilySearch.org/blog.  Just as we have a Worldwide collaborative genealogy blog, they have many guest posts who write about many different aspects of FamilySearch from Roots Tech (which by the way has opened registration for next February 2017. )  to what is the latest changes, Indexing, or someone's stories.

From the blog you can explore everything. I put a red square, or arrow where you can join in. The Search drop down will give you the Wiki. 

If you have not tried all aspects of FamilySearch then, please, jump right in and join the rest of us. There is laughter at stories on the Tree, tears and frustration learning to work hands on with others in the Tree, and shouts of joy at the new discoveries in the FamilySearch collections that are added faster than the indexers can keep up with. I have had many who have tried the Wiki and discovered a place to look for an ancestor which led to a break through.

FamilySearch is my passion, I hope you will love it too.

Worldwide Indexing

Are You An Indexer?

This week Family Search is encouraging as many as possible to join their indexers and make it easier for us to find the records we are looking for, you can find out more and become an indexer here.

I joined the indexers at Family Search in June last year to help contribute to the event they held in July 2014. This year they have spread the event to a week and are encouraging as many as possible to index. Currently they are well short of the target and I would encourage every member of the genealogy community, with access to a computer and the internet, to join in with this, to show how important the indexes are in assisting our research.

If you would like to see what is involved with indexing DearMYRTLE has been doing some hangouts this week which are available at her YouTube Channel or to view the comments from viewers and/or make some of your own, as well as watching the recording join her community at Google+.

There will be a mention in the hangout today and there is one final hangout planned for tomorrow, if you need to ask any questions of a friendly bunch of indexers. Here is the timetable of hangouts.

New Indexing Project Challenge...Gift of Love...African American Freedmen's Bureau Records

Today in celebration of the Juneteenth, there was a special news event announcing the Freedmen's Bureau Project. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.  Specifically it dates back to 1865. It was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It was the end of southern resistance to President Lincoln’s proclamation. It is a Holiday in Texas commemorated every year.

Reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio from Wikipedia

If you do not have a good understanding of what the African American Freedmen's Bureau Records are the FamilySearch Wiki page will give you a greater understanding of what records are involved. At the end of the page are some great links to give you further information.

FamilySearch International, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum are partnering to make the images available, and free for anyone to view and search.  The main focus at present is for volunteer indexers to join the effort to get the records indexed in record time.  Would you like to help?  Go to the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) website and click on the image of Juneteenth, or go to The Freedmen’s Bureau Project and click on the volunteer now button.

Volunteer Now page for the project.

This comes at a time that the United States needs a healing element of love. The gift of volunteering to make these records searchable will be just that a labor of love.  All help will be greatly appreciated,
See you next month. 

International Collaboration

Last month I wrote of my intention to join the Familysearch Worldwide Indexing Event, this is a followup post. 

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” - Helen Keller. 

I am rather proud of the new badge (right) that my personal blog is wearing. Although I am pleased to have made a small contribution to the Familysearch Worldwide Indexing Event I am proud because the Worldwide event highlighted the benefits of collaboration in the genealogy and family history sphere. Just as our blog Worldwide Genealogy brings together genealogists from around the world whose individual contributions combine to produce this blog as a resource for the Worldwide genealogy community the Worldwide Indexing Event brought together genealogists from around the workd to index digital resources from Familysearch.

The Familysearch blog reports that 66,511 indexers collaborated in this event and "While the focus for this challenge was on the total number of participants, a tremendous amount of indexing and arbitration work was accomplished as well. Here are the results for the number of records indexed and arbitrated.

Indexed: 4,682,746

Arbitrated: 941,932

Total Records Processed: 5.7 million"

If you have ever trawled through pages of unindexed Familysearch digital images you will appreciate the value of having more than 5 million new records indexed.

What made this event even more special for me was another collaborative effort, a Google Hangout on Air - GeneaSleepOver: Worldwide Indexing Event,  spearheaded by DearMyrtle and her Cousin Russ Worthington. (I will add links to the four Youtube videos from this event to the bottom of this post.)

I listened to and chatted to the hosts Myrt and Russ and other panelists from the US and UK while I indexed my few batches, at one stage the camera was directed to my computer screen as I worked on indexing one of my batches. That was quite a challenge for a newbie indexer. Myrt had also asked me to join and talk aboout a topic of my choosing, I elected to chat about Australian Royalty - those people who have and are proud of their convict ancestry. 

I watched and listened to the Hangout for around 8 hours of the 24, I was on the panel at the beginning and rejoined for the end. I was thrilled to chat with fellow Worldwide Genealogy bloggers, young Australian genealogist and new indexing volunteer Caitlin Gow and Hilary Gadsby from Wales who has blogged about her indexing experience.

 In Australia we talk about the Tyranny of Distance, being able to participate in the Hangout while participating in the Worldwide Indexing Event broke down the barrier of isolation we sometimes feel in Australia. Thanks to Myrt and Russ for organising this event.

GeneaSleepOver: Worldwide Indexing Event - Video (a):



GeneaSleepOver: Worldwide Indexing Event - Video (b):


GeneaSleepOver: Worldwide Indexing Event - Video (c):



GeneaSleepOver: Worldwide Indexing Event - Video (d):

Payback

I don't know about you but I have found the Famlysearch website (and before that the IGI microfiche) most useful resources for my family history research. I have used theses resources provided freely and generously by The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) over many years. I have also made use of the Famlysearch Centres in both London and Salt Lake City.

When I was at Rootstech in 2012 there was a big drive by Familysearch (an initiative of the LDS) to find volunteers to index the 1940 US Census that was due to be released in April that year. I considered signing up to be an indexer but because my keyboarding skills are so woeful I did not  join.

Last week I tuned into DearMyrtle's Wacky Wednesday Hangout on Air to find that the topic was Familysearch Indexing. During the program Myrt demonstrated how to log in to Familysearch, sign up for indexing, download the indexing software, set it up, do some indexing and upload your work. It didn't look too difficult at all and there is lots of online support for indexers. After watching the demonstration I thought that I should have a go so I downloaded the software and joined up.

To date I have indexed  200 records in five batches of forty records each, although they have all been at Beginner Level some have been typed and easy to transcribe while others have been handwritten by people whose handwriting left a lot to be desired. I don't know that I'll ever progress to Intermediate Level! To ensure accuracy all  indexing is checked by an arbitrator, so far I have scored between 78% and 100% agreement from my arbitrated batches, I only made a couple of typos but I will try to be more careful. The lower percentages were from the batches of handwritten records I indexed. I am sure that as I get more used to reading tricky handwriting I will improve. I must also remember that quality is better than quantity, I will try to take my time.

With a large family that creates lots of ad hoc commitments I find it difficult to make a commitment to volunteering on a regular basis at a given place and time. Contributing to the Familysearch indexing project (as with doing text corrections for Trove) allows me to do some volunteering say thankyou in some small way to Familysearch for al the information they have given me over the years.

I am looking forward to July 20 and 21 when Familysearch is holding a Worldwide  Indexing Event for old and new indexers to break the record set in 2012 when 49,025 indexers  and arbitrators joined together to index records.

Will you be joining me at the Worldwide  Indexing Event?