May2012 Stake Indexing Stats

Nauvoo Temple - Stake Youth trip in July

The May Indexing was the best we have ever done as a Stake. The efforts this month are a big credit to each of you for your hard work and devotion so that  those people can now have their Temple work prepared. As you well know this  work is directed and inspired by the Spirit of Elijah see (Malachi 4: 5-6)You are all angels in the service of the Lord.

 

154,307 Names in May

574,944 Cumulative Names in 2012

 Contributions by each Ward or Branch: 

Ward                                                             # Indexed          # Arbitrated

Clinton                                                          6922                    2600

Edmond 1st                                                   7264                    7160

Edmond 2nd                                                  2105                  13600

OKC 5th                                                       3142                  20560

OKC 1st                                                       7407                  17417

OKC 4th Branch                                            441                     3320

OKC 3rd                                                      8017                    2920

University                                                        210                          0

Quail Creek *                                               14100                  12991

Village                                                             847                          0

Woodward Branch                                        5040                   14470

Youth Edmond 1st                                         1800

Youth OKC 5th                                               120

Youth OKC 1st                                               800

Youth OKC 4th Branch                                 1045

                        Ice Cream Socials

Congratulations to the Edmond First Ward for passing their  Magic number of 14,085 names. They did a total of 14,424 names which means they will be having an Ice Cream Social. All dates for the Ice Cream Socials are pending an update from the Stake Presidency.

Let you know as soon as I know. We are looking forward to coming to your Ward for this activity to show our appreciation to all.  Wondering what your Ward/Branch's magic number is?  Just read my Blog for April and you will find it. Or email me and I can tell you.

These really are my great aunts, photo taken in the 1940's in Philadelphia ,PA            

1940 Census Record on Family Search Update

There are now 14 states available to research on Familysearch thanks to all of the World wide Indexers.

The newest ones released are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Vermont

 May Indexing is Fantastic !

Just to update you on our progress in May. As a Stake Indexing team we have already indexed over 1/2 MILLION names for this year.  There are now 409 registered indexers.96 of them are actively indexing.

Is that exciting or what??

Thank you all for your wonderful work and spirit in       doing this great work.

                                                     
Something New is happening in our Stake with indexing !  We are changing all of the Ward Indexing Specialist to be GROUP ADMINISTRATORS..  This will be a tremendous help to me with sending out reports each month to the Bishop's and High Priest Group Leaders.  There will be a training session at the Stake Center on June 2 at 9:00 am. I will send an email to remind you.

Taken from Ernest Hemingway's Balcony in Key West, FL

I spoke in the Clinton Ward last Sunday  about indexing/family history, and the wonderful tool it can be to open new doors to people who are investigating the Church. Everyone likes to talk about their families and news about Family History work is something we can all share with them. 

1940 Census updates and tips

Check those Place names in Column 17. Same House means they lived in the same house on April 1, 1935. Same Place means that they lived in the same area, not necessarily in the house they are in when the census was taken.  After you enter Same House, or Same Place  you should use "Ctl B" to enter a blank in the next two data fields, even if something is written in for the county name, or state name. 

ARBITRATORS: Be careful with the New York Census records. You should look at how the indexers put  in the above information. Both indexers could have done the same thing and arbitration will not show up as a mistake. See my message on the indexing page about handling those records. 

 

New and Interesting Newspaper Research Site

There is a new Site out there that may be of interest to you in your research. It is called Chronicling America Historic, American Newspapers and covers newspapers that have been digitized and put on-line for you to see. It covers American Newspapers from 1836-1990 and tells you how to find newspapers dating back to 1690 - today. This project is part of the Library of Congress collections.   Check it out at this link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

April 2012 Stake Indexing Statistics

Nauvoo Temple

April 2012 Stake Indexing Statistics

This has been a fantastic month for indexing in our Stake. Thanks to all of you for your hard work. Every name we can index or arbitrate provides a way for researches to locate their families and prepare their names for Temple work.
 The statistics for each Ward are listed below.

• WARD                         INDEXED      ARBITRATED
• CLINTON                   6480                1765
• EDMOND 2ND           4248                9973
• EDMOND 1ST            3652                9857
• OKC 1ST                   10277              12795
• OKC 3RD                    4712              12052
• OKC 4TH BRANCH   3856               5046
• OKC 5TH                    4021             16512
• OKC UNIV.                  371
• QUAIL CREEK         10695               9138
• VILLAGE WARD        2488
• WOODWARD             7800              7914

     GRAND TOTAL 148,797 NAMES. 

A new record for the Oklahoma City Stake. This includes what the Youth have been doing. See their numbers for the month below:  

Youth Indexing Stats for April        

WARD                                        NAMES INDEXED

• CLINTON                                1
• EDMOND 1ST                     1742
• OKC 1ST                             1324
• OKC 4TH BRANCH           1075
• OKC 5TH                             310 
• VILLAGE                              530         

Report on Progress of the 1940 Census Project

Just one month ago today, April 2,  the 1940 census images were released to the public by the National Archives. Since they were already digitized it did not take very long for FamilySearch to make them available. By April 13th all of the states had been made available to begin indexing. As reported by Thomas McGill of Familysearch.org, we are doing a fantastic job indexing these records. He recently announced that the original goal was to try to complete indexing all the 1940 census records within 6 months. He said that from April 2 through April 19th we, as a worldwide group of indexers, had already indexed 41 million records and arbitrated 19 million. At this rate the project may reach it's goal in less than 6 months. 

To read more about this project please go to http://ancestoryinsider.blogspot.com. The link can be found on the right side of this page. Sign up to get their weekly updates. 

The concern now is having enough arbitrators working to be able to meet that 6 month goal. If you have indexed at least 2000 names then you might want to consider becoming an arbitrator. At the present time we have 396 indexers signed up in our Stake, of that number only 96 people indexed in April. We also have included in that total 28 arbitrators who are working very hard in April. Their goal is to arbitrate 10 batches for every 1 batch that they index.  If you are wondering what an arbitrator does come to our next meeting, which I will be notifying you about next week.  If you have an interest in becoming an arbitrator please email me and I will work with you to reach that goal. 

2012 Ice Cream Socials

 The Ice Cream Socials will continue for each Ward who can surpass the "Magic Number" this year. That number is set at 150% of what your goal was for last year. That means your Ward/Branch needs to do more than the Magic Number in one month. The youth totals will be added into the Ward totals. I have calculated the "Magic Numbers" for 2012 and they are shown below: Good Luck.

    Ward                  Magic Number

• Clinton                               29,091
• Edmond 1st                       14,085
• Edmond 2nd                         7062
• OKC 1st                           47,454
• OKC 3rd                          24,621
• OKC 4th Branch               11,100
• OKC 5th                           13,059
• OKC University                   2,049 
• Quail Creek                       46,797
• Village                               25,839  
• Woodward Branch              9,627

 Looking over these numbers and the results for April it looks like we have 2 Wards and 1 Branch that have already met their goal and will be having an ice cream social in the near future. President Baclawski and I look forward to coming to your Ward with a bucket of ice cream to just say "Thanks to You" for participating in the Stake Indexing program. A date will be set-up with your Bishop or Branch President and you will be notified at a later date when to expect us. Remember your Ward should  provide the paper products and any toppings you would like.

 

March Statisticts - 1940 Census Update

Happy Easter

March 2012 OKC Stake Indexing Statistics

81,662 Names Indexed and Arbitrated  

 What each Ward and Branch accomplished: 

Ward                             Indexed                    Arbitrated

Clinton                          641                               140

Edmond First               716                             2618

Edmond Second           460                             6614

OKC Fifth                 2618                          12745
OKC First                   4028                           6307
OKC Fourth Branch    4767                           6559
OKC Third                  3435                         10067
OKC University             671
Quail Creek                  4765                          1156
Village Ward                1597                 
Woodward Branch       3719                          4306   

The Stake Youth are Indexing

 Meeting the Challenge of the Young Women and Young Men Leaders to do 50 names a week. This is how they are doing their first month:

WARD            TOTAL # NAMES INDEXED IN MARCH

Clinton                                    42

Edmond First                        308

OKC Fifth                             319

OKC First                            2567

OKC Fourth Branch              136

Village Ward                         359

      If you can help a youth to learn how to index the 1940 census records that would be great. They have so much to offer and I know that the Stake Youth Leaders have faith in them to meet the challenge. I believe the top youth  indexers will be given the chance to be the first ones on the bus to Nauvoo, getting to choose their seats before the others board.  
Some Youth Leaders  have gotten together with talented Ward members to offer some nice incentives and to make it more challenging. For instance, a free hair cut, a big candy bar,  or a chance to make your own leather belt, drawing upon the adult members of the Ward who have special talents that they are willing to  share.
Wednesday nights the Family History Center  is open so that the youth, or any members, can come and get help with indexing or preparing names to take to the Nauvoo Temple. The Family History Center is available other nights if you call and make an appointment. You will find the phone numbers on the bulletin board across from the FHC. Learn how to prepare your family names from the convenience  of your own home.

 1940 CENSUS UPDATE

The 1940 Census records became available on April 2 and we began indexing and arbitrating the first five states that were released. As of today, Friday April 6th, there are now 14 states available to index. 

These include, Delaware ( which is 95% finished) Kansas, Oregon, Colorado, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Minnesota, New Hampshire, California and Pennsylvania.  To learn more about this indexing program go to the following hot link to see a very short video and get more information about the census:   the1940census.com  
Check out the new links on the right side of this blog page to see more about the FamilySearch webpage on the 1940 Census records.

Salt Lake City Temple Taken from the roof of the Conference Center Aug 2011

General Conference Week-end

March 31st - April 1st

 

1940 US Census Project begins in 5 days

Join the historic national service project to index and preserve the records of the "greatest generation". Are you or your parents to be found in this census record project? These records will become available to indexers on April 2, 2012 and it would be nice to see all of the Oklahoma City Stake Indexers working on this project.

 

Things to remember as you the index 1940 Census

 

• When you index the residence fields, you should correct misspellings and expand abbreviations,  If you can do so accurately.
• If "Same House," Same Place," or "Rural"  was recorded in any of the residence fields, type just what you see in the City or Town of Residence and mark the county ad state residence fields BLANK ( Ctrl B). That means the person lived in the same house or same place since 1935. It does not mean that every one is living in the same house on that page.
• If the household number field was left blank on the census form and the census taker recorded a new street address in column 2, mark the household number as blank; do not copy the household number from the previous household. 
• If a relationship was recorded as "Wife-H" in column 8, do not index the -H; just type Wife in the relationship field.
• If you see roman numerals used for a title or term (such as "V" for 5th), use the lookup list to index the correct roman numeral in this field.
• Do not expand names that have been abbreviated, such as Wm to William.Type what you see.
• If you are unsure whether a name is a given or a surname index it in the given name field.

The Data Entry area is set to 40 records. Some pages have less than 40 records so since all entry lines (40) have to be accounted for you must mark blank lines using Ctrl +Shift+B , or click the "Mark the record Blank" icon at the top of your data entry area. Record the blank lines where they occur, not all at the bottom.

 

To Try your hand at a practice batch download a "Simulation Batch" when you are in the Indexing Program. Only do one batch as they are for practice only and you may notice that they are all the same. 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2012 Stake Indexing Statistics

Stake Indexing Statistics

  106,806 in January !!

Ward Statistics:  Names indexed &  arbitrated

Clinton                             725

Edmond First                 4243 

Edmond Second             3794

OKC Fifth                     14429  

OKC First                     37479

OKC Third                    27796

University                         823

Quail Creek                    8221

Village Ward                  1886

Woodward                       5934

 

What a great start for the new year and our goal of 2 million names for this year. We have already seen an increase in the number of youth who have accepted the challenge of doing 50 names a week. Based upon the fact that we have 377 youth in our Stake if they each  did 50 names a week, or 200 a month, it would be possible for them to do almost1 million names by themselves. Thus increasing our goal to 2 million names. (Earlier estimates were a little higher, my mistake)
I believe that the youth can out-do the current indexers, and I challenge them to do so. Let's all help them learn to love Family History work and indexing. They already have the skills and knowledge with the Technology.

Stake Indexing Awards Dinner

Saturday night, January 28th we held the Awards Dinner at the Stake Center, to honor those who were on the Top Ten Indexing list. We all enjoyed the great family history stories told by our Stake President and a fine meal. I would like to thank the youth who came to help in the kitchen and Sister Eve Hughey who helped with the preparations  and clean-up. A fun evening was enjoyed by all, and we missed those who could not make it that night. When I get a photo of the group with their awards I will post it for you to see.
Those who were also on the Top Twenty List were mailed Certificates of Appreciation for their indexing/arbitration efforts. Thanks goes to everyone who indexed this past year. Each and every name is important and we thank you all for a job well done.

In 2011 as a Stake, we earned the honor of being  the 3rd highest indexing Stake in a 34 Stake area. This area includes North Texas, Southwest Missouri, Eastern Arkansas and Okahoma , as reported by Brother Kirk Hathaway, our area Family History Adviser. Let's be number one  in 2012!!

1940 U S INDEXING PROJECT

Family Search is preparing to roll out the 1940 census records and they are looking for 100,000 additional indexers for this project. They expect that 132 million records will be indexed by the end of 2012, but that depends on how many volunteers work on them.  As I recall we lost some indexers this summer when we finished the 1930 US Census project. Hopefully those people will rejoin the effort to do this new 1940 census project. The release of the 1940 census will be available sometime after April 2. Since these records will be released by the National Archives and Records Administration in the form  of free digital images they will be ready to index. 

Most indexers will love these records because their grandparents or parents names will be on them. There are tens of millions of people still alive today who were living in 1940. You can find out more about the 1940 US Census by going online at FamilySearch.org/1940census  or waiting till April 2nd and start indexing. 

2012 Ice Cream Social Goals

I haven't had time to calculate what the number needed for each Ward/Branch would be to win an Ice Cream Social this year. If you remember we are asking for 125% more than last year. I promise to have those numbers next time I update this page.

2011 Stake Indexing Statistics

courtesy of Laura  L Henry - SLC Temple

805,264 

(corrected for Woodward School Census Project )

Total names indexed and arbitrated in 2011

by the OKC Stake Members

Many many thank- you's are sent to each and every indexer in our STAKE. You all deserve a big round of applause and the choicest blessings for your hard work this past year. We appreciate all.

ICE CREAM SOCIALS

We are continuing to have our ice cream socials for the Wards that won in 2011.

Last Friday evening we held a social at the Surrey Hills Building for the OKC 5th Ward. Sister Mcintosh  did a wonderful job preparing the Cultural Hall for the event. Approximately 85 people showed up and the honored guest was Sister Scabby who did an amazing job inspiring people in her Ward to begin indexing.  We appreciate all of those in the 5th Ward who are indexing. In fact the number one indexer in the Stake comes from that Ward.

I was sorry that I forgot to take my camera. Everyone enjoyed the ice cream and fellowship. President Baclawski was able to attend and made it extra special for all.

This coming Friday night, 13th Jan,  we are going to have the ice cream social for the Quail Creek Ward  at the Stake Center at 7 pm. April Garwood is helping with the set up and did a fantastic job coordinating the efforts in her Ward in September so that the Ward accomplished their goal of doing over 31,198 names. Great Job and team effort!

Edmond 2nd Ward's Ice Cream social is still pending, just  waiting on a good date for all.

ICE CREAM SOCIAL GOAL FOR 2012  

 It has been decided that each Ward or Branch will have to do 125% more names this year, than their highest month in 2011. So if you did 10,000 names to win in 2011 you will have to do 12500 names in 2012.  The goal for each Ward/Branch will be posted later on this blog. This reflects the new goal for the Stake. 

NEW STAKE GOAL FOR 2012

1,000,000 

names indexed and/or arbitrated 
I know we can do it!!

TOP TEN AWARDS DINNER

Will be held at the Stake Center on

Saturday, 28th January, 6:00 pm

Invitations will be in the mail this week, also watch your email.

OKC INDEXING TOP TWENTY LIST

          NAME                                      WARD/BRANCH              TOTAL

1. MARY BUTTS                           OKC 5TH                         94,603
2. TAMARA WINDHOLZ             WOODWARD                 77025
3.  GARY HOWEL                         EDMOND 2ND               69936
4. GENE BUSHMAN                     OKC 3RD                        59286
5. LONIE SEAGRAVES                 OKC 1ST                        49595
6.  JESSIE CRAWFORD                EDMOND 1ST                45864
7. JUDY MCGRAW                       EDMOND 1ST                36308
8.  EVELYN AQUINO                   OKC 1ST                        36098
9. BOBBY GILLILAND                 CLINTON                       21391
10. COREENA GILLILAND            CLINTON                       20489
11. COLETTE DATIN                      QUAIL CREEK               18165
12. CHARLES HOWELL                  QUAIL CREEK              17670
13. LOIS GILBERT                           OKC 1ST                        15375
14. SHIRLEY CORRIGAN               OKC 3RD                       15251
15. MELISSA CONNELLY              OKC 1ST                       14951 
16. TOM CONNELLY                      OKC 1ST                       12026
17. NORA MUZINGO                      QUAIL CREEK              11898
18. LOREEN SCABBY                      OKC 5TH                      11437 
19. BARRY PETERSON                    OKC 1ST                       11322 
20. LAURA SEBOURN                     VILLAGE                       10281

(all statistics were taken from the end of the 2011 year Ward Individual Statistic report, generated by the Church Indexing Program) Please know that we appreciate every indexer in our Stake, no matter how many names you were able to do. Each name is so important to the Lord's Work in his Holy Temple.
If you have not had a chance to go to http://www.familysearch.org  and put in a name of your ancestor, then please take the time to try it. You will be amazed at all of the records that are now available for the World to search for free. I have a personal success story that I will share with all at a later date, It is truly wonderful and easy.