FamilySearch Indexing

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FamilySearch Indexing is a distributed volunteer driven project established and run by the Family History department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The project aims to create searchable digital indexes for scanned images of historical documents.

Volunteers install free software on their home computers, download images from the site, type the data they read from the image into the software, and submit their work back to the site. The data is eventually made publicly and freely available on one of the FamilySearch web sites for use in genealogical research.

Contents

[edit] Types of records

The FamilySearch Indexing Project has so far focused primarily on indexing state and federal census records from the United States of America, though Census records from Mexico, Birth, Death and Marriage records from Ireland, and vital records from Nicaragua have also been indexed.

In addition to the general indexing projects, the site also partners with other genealogical organizations to complete specialized indexing projects. Partners have included the Arkansas Genealogical Society, the Black History Museum, the Indiana Genealogical Society, the Ohio Genealogical Society, the Utah Genealogical Association, among others.

[edit] Getting started

To begin indexing:

[edit] Register as a new user

  1. Go to http://www.familysearchindexing.org
  2. Click the Volunteer button
  3. Enter your personal information (fields marked with an asterisk are required)
  4. Click Continue
  5. Click Submit

[edit] Download and install the software

  1. Go to http://www.familysearchindexing.org
  2. Click on Install Now
  3. Select Run to install the program, or Save to save an install file on your computer
  4. Follow the installation instructions

Note that the program is currently only officially supported on Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, but because the program is Java based, many users have managed to get it to run on Linux and other operating systems

[edit] Learn how to index

To learn about how the Indexing Program works and the Basic Indexing Instructions to follow as you index, go to http://www.familysearchindexing.org and click the Help tab.

Take the following Tutorials:

  • Lesson 1 - Indexing Overview
  • Lesson 3 - Indexing Process
  • Lesson 4 - Basic Indexing Guidelines

For more information:

  • Click F1 from within the program for a valuable Help file with more detailed information

[edit] Begin indexing

To log in to the FamilySearch indexing program, double-click on the shortcut on your desktop.

After you have logged in, the Start Page will appear. From this screen, you can select a project. To do this:

  1. Click the Download From button
  2. Scroll through the alphabetical list to locate a project that interests you
  3. Click the project name to highlight it
  4. Click Download

As you start indexing a batch from a new project:

  1. Click on the Project Information tab
  2. Click on the "Indexing Project Homepage" link. These instructions pages will tell you about:
    1. What the images in this project look like
    2. How to index specific types of information
    3. What order to index the names in
    4. etc.
  3. Read the Field Help for each field for specific indexing instructions

It is important to follow these instructions to ensure that your work will not be lost when it gets to the Arbitration stage.

[edit] Where to go with questions

There are three main resources to help you know how to index:

  1. Project-Specific Instructions
  2. Field Helps (from within a batch itself)
  3. Ask a Question

[edit] For questions about how to index information:

  1. In a specific field, look at the Field Helps in the lower right area of the screen
  2. That relates to more than one field, go back to the Project-Specific Instructions
  3. That is not answered in the above helps, go to the Ask a Question section of the indexing website. Type in some of the following for more information:
    1. The project name
    2. Basic indexing guidelines
    3. Any other question you might have about indexing

[edit] If you still cannot find an answer:

  1. Click on Help
  2. Click on Support
  3. Contact the Group Administrator listed there, or if there is not one listed, contact World-wide Support.

[edit] General Tip:

After you have indexed a batch or two, go back in and take the Tutorials #3 and #4 again. You will be amazed at how much more you will learn after you are more familiar with the program itself.

[edit] External links

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (May 2008)