First, I am an arbitrator. YES, one of THOSE who don't "like" your indexing. That's not true. It's just that I need to make a decision between two different points of view. I don't make decisions on anything that doesn't already have a conflict. (Two indexers who don't agree.)
I also index. AND, I was corrected because I didn't put in the county for the township that was listed in the residence. WELL, there was NO county listed. Yes, I could have looked it up. YES I even knew it. But I believe the indexing instructions say that I'm not supposed to add additional information.
THEN, I was also marked incorrect because what was written as the county was misspelled. Obviously the other indexer just copied the spelling. And so did the arbitrator. I typed in the correct spelling of the county according to an atlas and google wikipedia. So what is going to be published? I asked for a review.
NO there shouldn't be a "war" between indexers and arbitrators, no matter which side of the "war' you are are. But we need to work together and try to get published the best information online to help us and others with research.
My request? Indexers and Arbitrators: READ the instructions: Read them again in ONE week. Read them AGAIN in TWO weeks. I'm definitely not saying, or implying that I don't make mistakes. But PLEASE don't correct me for a spelling that is correct, just because the enumerator didn't spell the county correctly.
Showing posts with label Indexing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indexing. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
NGS - Familysearch dinner for bloggers
First, I received an invitation to this dinner because I am a blogger (sort of?) Anyway, I received a tech pad. I'm not a tech person but it's this neat device to keep all those cords in one place. You know: those that go with all of our tech devices. Thank you, familysearch.
Now, am I there under false pretenses? I don't blog regularly. I don't often write about events and I almost never ("never say never") write about products. But I was at this lovely dinner.
The most fun was the bloggers I sat with and the stuff I heard. Another Karen but she's from Ohio: www.karenmillerbennett.com. Then Ruth Blair www.familyhistorysearchers.com from Ontario, Canada, She mentioned that copyright laws are different in Canada. We often forget about that. Then Julia Langel at http://geneajulia.blogspot.com.
I talked "briefly" with Dick Eastman. Well, I reminded him that he had come to Arizona for the 2011 Family History Society of Arizona annual meeting.
I also met a woman who is real: Kimberly Powell. I've been recommending her web site/blog for years. It's www.genealogy.about.com. In my opinion (and of course this entire blog is my opinion), it's one of the best sites for information, particularly for beginners. But researchers of all levels can benefit from her site.
I learned about becoming a blog ambassador. I signed up a few minutes ago.
Now for the really exciting part.
Did you know that familysearch.org has historical record collections from over 60 countries? And, one of the newer collections will be the 1802-1940 Civil Registrations from Italy will eventually be online with images and then indexes with an agreement between familysearch and Italy. WOW!!
Daily, there are about 10,000 volunteers online to answer patron questions in 13 languages and sometimes as many as 17 or 18. WOW!!!
More than 650 societies have registered to help with indexing the 1940 census. (Family History Society of Arizona is one of them. Thank you!!) What's really amazing is that a little over 30% of all of the 1940 census records have been indexed in 37 days. If we continue at this rate, the entire 1940 census may be indexed in July. We really need to keep working. Don't slow down just because the initial excitement is over.
Now, this may not seem quite as exciting as the 1940 census project, but family search has plans to add more and more images to their web site. And you all know what that means. Indexing! INDEXing!! INDEXING!!! When we finish the 1940 census we will want to continue our efforts. After all, the more indexed records, the easier we will find records what may include our ancestors.
So, thank you familysearch.org. Thank you to my dinner companions. And a special thank you to all of you who help make those records searchable.
Now, am I there under false pretenses? I don't blog regularly. I don't often write about events and I almost never ("never say never") write about products. But I was at this lovely dinner.
The most fun was the bloggers I sat with and the stuff I heard. Another Karen but she's from Ohio: www.karenmillerbennett.com. Then Ruth Blair www.familyhistorysearchers.com from Ontario, Canada, She mentioned that copyright laws are different in Canada. We often forget about that. Then Julia Langel at http://geneajulia.blogspot.com.
I talked "briefly" with Dick Eastman. Well, I reminded him that he had come to Arizona for the 2011 Family History Society of Arizona annual meeting.
I also met a woman who is real: Kimberly Powell. I've been recommending her web site/blog for years. It's www.genealogy.about.com. In my opinion (and of course this entire blog is my opinion), it's one of the best sites for information, particularly for beginners. But researchers of all levels can benefit from her site.
I learned about becoming a blog ambassador. I signed up a few minutes ago.
Now for the really exciting part.
Did you know that familysearch.org has historical record collections from over 60 countries? And, one of the newer collections will be the 1802-1940 Civil Registrations from Italy will eventually be online with images and then indexes with an agreement between familysearch and Italy. WOW!!
Daily, there are about 10,000 volunteers online to answer patron questions in 13 languages and sometimes as many as 17 or 18. WOW!!!
More than 650 societies have registered to help with indexing the 1940 census. (Family History Society of Arizona is one of them. Thank you!!) What's really amazing is that a little over 30% of all of the 1940 census records have been indexed in 37 days. If we continue at this rate, the entire 1940 census may be indexed in July. We really need to keep working. Don't slow down just because the initial excitement is over.
Now, this may not seem quite as exciting as the 1940 census project, but family search has plans to add more and more images to their web site. And you all know what that means. Indexing! INDEXing!! INDEXING!!! When we finish the 1940 census we will want to continue our efforts. After all, the more indexed records, the easier we will find records what may include our ancestors.
So, thank you familysearch.org. Thank you to my dinner companions. And a special thank you to all of you who help make those records searchable.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Indexing - It's not just the arbitrators
There has been some conversation regarding the "bad" arbitrators. Please understand that we do make mistakes. And I know I've made a few as an arbitrator. I'm sorry. And, as an indexer who has had some entries considered incorrect, I understand how indexers feel.
HOWEVER, please realize that we arbitrators would never see your indexing entries IF the other indexer agreed with you. These just never come to our screen. So, if you want to ask other indexers to improve their indexing, fine. If you want to ask arbitrators to improve their arbitration, fine. I truly believe that each of us is honestly doing the best we can.
While there are some batches I arbitrate that take very little time, there are others that I spend many, many minutes trying to figure out the difference between the vowels, or consonants, etc. And, I truly stress more when I download a batch as an arbitrator than when I download a batch to index. Why? Because I know when I index that someone else either will agree with me and the arbitrator won't see the batch, or that the other indexer and I will have different entries and the arbitrator will correct my "error" to the best of his/her ability. So, as an indexer, I know that someone else is looking at it. That's reassuring.
There is a request for more arbitrators. But new indexers aren't going to sign up if they feel that they are going to be criticized for every decision they make. After all, for each entry I arbitrate, there is one entry considered "right" and one entry that is considered "wrong." That's just the way it is.
I'll continue to index. I'll continue to arbitrate. And I'll continue to do my best, as I'm sure all of the rest of you are doing. Thank you all for your efforts. We're make tremendous progress on the 1940 census but remember, there are many more records to index after the census is complete (or even now if you need a change of pace.) So, thank you again.
HOWEVER, please realize that we arbitrators would never see your indexing entries IF the other indexer agreed with you. These just never come to our screen. So, if you want to ask other indexers to improve their indexing, fine. If you want to ask arbitrators to improve their arbitration, fine. I truly believe that each of us is honestly doing the best we can.
While there are some batches I arbitrate that take very little time, there are others that I spend many, many minutes trying to figure out the difference between the vowels, or consonants, etc. And, I truly stress more when I download a batch as an arbitrator than when I download a batch to index. Why? Because I know when I index that someone else either will agree with me and the arbitrator won't see the batch, or that the other indexer and I will have different entries and the arbitrator will correct my "error" to the best of his/her ability. So, as an indexer, I know that someone else is looking at it. That's reassuring.
There is a request for more arbitrators. But new indexers aren't going to sign up if they feel that they are going to be criticized for every decision they make. After all, for each entry I arbitrate, there is one entry considered "right" and one entry that is considered "wrong." That's just the way it is.
I'll continue to index. I'll continue to arbitrate. And I'll continue to do my best, as I'm sure all of the rest of you are doing. Thank you all for your efforts. We're make tremendous progress on the 1940 census but remember, there are many more records to index after the census is complete (or even now if you need a change of pace.) So, thank you again.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Indexing - 1940 Census - first lines with no residence number or surname
If you don't have a surname or a residence number on the first few lines of a census page, please go up to view and look at previous page. Get the information for the surname and residence number from there and use that on the page that you are indexing. We really want to make sure that all of the children, or other family members, get a surname if at all possible. Thank you for all of your indexing efforts.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Indexing - Location - 1940 Census
Indexing suggestion:
When you are indexing the 1940 census there are some location columns. If you are unable to identify the location or the spelling, I suggest that you use a google search. Do you know if the city is Las Angeles or Los Angeles? Do you know if you should be spelling the county Yavapi or Yavapai or Yavaipai? Should you be writing St Lewis or St Louis or Saint Louis?
I have the google window open while indexing. If I have a question, I put in the state; then I try to identify the county, spelling it as I believe it may be spelled. Usually I get a quick response with the spelling that I used, or a slight variation. It's quick; easy; and accurate.
When you are indexing the 1940 census there are some location columns. If you are unable to identify the location or the spelling, I suggest that you use a google search. Do you know if the city is Las Angeles or Los Angeles? Do you know if you should be spelling the county Yavapi or Yavapai or Yavaipai? Should you be writing St Lewis or St Louis or Saint Louis?
I have the google window open while indexing. If I have a question, I put in the state; then I try to identify the county, spelling it as I believe it may be spelled. Usually I get a quick response with the spelling that I used, or a slight variation. It's quick; easy; and accurate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)