Family History and Indexing

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Stake Statistics for November




November Indexing was GREAT !!

We indexed 40,498 names and arbitrated 8335 names



Thanks to all the Indexers in our Stake

The Stake Cum total for the year is 231,984 names indexed only 20,000 to go for the year!!!




Ward Indexing activity in November:


Clinton = 6535 names indexed, Great Work!

Edmond First Ward = 3695 names indexed 1000 names arbitrated

Edmond Second Ward = 1323 names indexed, 167 names arbitrated

OKC Fifth Ward = 4149 names indexed

OKC First Ward = 8629 names indexed, 1885 names arbitrated

OKC Third Ward = 4806 names indexed, 3401 names arbitrated

OKC 4th Branch = 15 nanes indexed

Stake Temple day (seperate account) = 146 names indexed

Quail Creek Ward = 3786 names indexed

Village Ward = 6731 names indexed, 1882 names arbitrated

OKC University Ward = 683 names indexed




To Reach our Stake goal of 250,000 names this year we need to index approximately 20,000 more names in December.



Saturday, November 6, 2010

Welcome




Lake Seneca New York Sunset - Girl's Camp 2007



WELCOME TO ALL NEW INDEXERS

Fourteen members of the Oklahoma City Stake signed up in October to become indexers.
I am now receiving an email from SLC each time someone new signs up.

I would like to welcome all of you, and challenge you to set a goal for each month. Once you set your goal the computer will automatically give you an accumulative count of the names you have completed with each batch you submit.

It helps to have a goal, no matter how big or small it is, to encourage you to consistently work on indexing. The key word being consistently! A new indexer might try 200 names a month. that would be equal to 5 , 1930 census batches, which are beginning batches.

We appreciate any and all that you can do to further the work of the Lord in the Oklahoma City Stake. It appears that our Stake is one of the top 5 Stakes in the North Texas, Oklahoma, Southwest Missouri and Eastern Arkansas area, which includes 34 Stakes. We are number two in indexing this year, in this area as reported by Brother Kirk Hathaway, area regional Family History Advisor. The number one Stake has indexed 415,576 names as of Nov. 1, 2010.

As of November 1, 2010 we have 175 indexers in the Stake, but only 59 of those indexers contributed any names in October. What can we do to encourage members of our Stake, who are already signed up, to consistently work at indexing?

NEW INDEXERS IN OCTOBER ARE:


Maria Guadalupe Villarreal
Christine Murphy
Michael Robert Prescott
Evelyn K Aquino
Edwin Santos Seda
Gretchen E Bowman
Benjamin Bowman
Marcos Aquino
Felisha Lynn Coltrin
Katrina Marie Hansen
Comesha Dinaelle Contee
Melissa Lyon
Sherrie Lynn Furber
Megan Dawnelle Talbot

















Monday, November 1, 2010

October Statistics


October Stake Statistics
The Oklahoma City Stake has completed
191,689 names YTD
Congratulations to all Indexers
For a Great Effort !!
To Reach our year-end goal of 250,000 names
we need to do 58,311 names before Jan 1, 2011
I know that we can do it.
Statistics by Ward
Clinton = 930 names , 4 indexers, 0 redo batches
Edmond First= 3970 names, 5 indexers, 18 redo batches
Edmond Second= 858 names, 4 indexers, 0 redo batches
OKC First = 9380 names,16 indexers, 3 redo batches
OKC Fifth = 3812 names, 3 indexers, 0 redo batches
OKC Third = 2556 names, 3 indexers, 6 redo batches
OKC University =1 name, 1 indexer, 0 redo batches
Quail Creek = 6494 names, 10 indexers, 8 redo batches
Village = 7863 names, 11 indexers, 1 redo batches
Woodward Branch = 212 names, 2 indexers, o redo batches
ARBITRATIONS = 3068 names, 5 arbitrators

Friday, October 1, 2010

September Statistics

FANTASTIC SEPTEMBER STAKE STATISTICS

What a great indexing job this month,

thank you to everyone for all of your efforts!!

Stake September Total = 52,625 names

Stake Cumulative YTD = 155,919 names indexed and

11,365 names arbitrated

September Ward Totals

  • Clinton Ward - 1490 names
  • Edmond First Ward - 4363 names
  • Edmond Second Ward - 1001 names
  • Oklahoma City Fifth Ward - 2043 names
  • Oklahoma City First Ward - 15818 names
  • Oklahoma City Third Ward - 4875 names
  • OKC University Ward - 153 names
  • Quail Creek Ward - 15599 names
  • Village Ward - 6142 names


Sunday, September 5, 2010

RE-DO BATCHES



The Question was Asked:
What is a Re-Do Batch?
When you complete a batch and submit it another person will also do the same batch. The work of the two indexers will be compared, side by side, by a third person who is called an Arbitrator. This is done before the work is released to "Records Search" for the whole world to see.
The Arbitrator is the person who is sending back batch's that are not done correctly. The most common reason for an arbitrator to return a batch is because the work is not complete. If an indexer forgot one or two lines of data that isn't too bad because that could be fixed with little effort. But when most of the data is blank , then the batch is returned and someone else gets to "redo" that batch. Both batches would not go back, just the one with the missing data.The arbitrator has no idea who did either batch, or who will be getting the "redo" batch to work on later.
As an arbitrator I try to fix as many mistakes as I can, but we are told not to try to re- index the missing data when a large percentage of it is blank.
As Indexers the best thing way avoid getting your work sent back as a "Re-do" is to make sure you shrink the image to about 37% and move the image around to see both the left and right sides and all the way to the bottom before you start indexing. You may have to add lines to your work sheet at the bottom. Or on some of the marriage records you will find two marriages on one image, so you would have to set the number of "Records per Image" at 2.To do this you go to "Tools" at the top of your screen, click on "Records per Image" then change the number in the little box to the number that you need. You can add numbers, but you can't subtract numbers.
Some projects are set for a specific number of lines. Example: New Jersey State Census project is set at 47 lines per batch. What if there is only 10 lines with names written on the Image? Well you would enter the 10 names, and you mark the remaning 37 lines as "Blank". Each line must have something in it before you submit it.
The only way you will know if you have batches that are sent back would be if your Ward Indexing Specilaist, or I, would tell you what is happening. We will have no idea what batch it was, or what type of record it came from. There is help available to help you find out what may have been wrong. One thing we could do is "Share a Batch" with someone else to check your next batch before you submit it. Most times it is a simple misunderstanding on how to add lines to your work sheet. It is something that can be fixed. There is plenty of help available.
So if you are working on some new projects, be sure to read the project information and field helps. Be sure to move that image around so you see all of it. Then if you are still concerned about the directions please call me or email me, or call the Help desk in SLC for an explanation. It's toll free 1-866-406-1830.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Stake Indexing Statisticts

"It is tremendously significant to me that ....the foretelling of the Church's remarkable family history work occurred on the initial visit of Moroni to the boy Joseph Smith in 1823.......four years before he was allowed to take the plates from the hill, or before he received either the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, before he was baptized, and well before the Church was organized! It says much concerning the priority of this work in the plan of the Lord!"
Liahona, 1996 Gordon B Hinckley

Oklahoma City Stake Indexing Statistics for August 2010
August 38,191 names submitted 2171 names Arbitrated 25 batches to redo (not good)
Our cummlative for the year 102,793 !!!
CONGRATULATIONS WE DID IT
Statistics by ward:
Clinton 3018 names indexed
Edmond First - 2977 names indexed - 180 names arbitrated
Edmond Second - 2304 names indexed - 50 names arbitrated
Oklahoma City Fifth - 4353 names indexd
Oklahoma City First - 8177 names indexed - 1808 names arbitrated
Oklahoma City Third -6747 names indexed - 133 names arbitrated
University Ward - 89 names indexed
Quail Creek - 2591 names indexed
Village Ward - 7807 names indexed
Woodward Branch - 128 names indexed
THE TOP TEN INDEXERS THIS MONTH
Susan Crane - Village Ward - 6175
Gene Bushman - OKC 3rd Ward - 4235
Scott Foulger - OKC 5th ward - 4155
Lois Gilbert - OKC 1st Ward - 3105
Wilma White - OKC 1st Ward - 2185
Bobby Gilliland - Clinton ward - 1739
Gary Howell -Edmond 2nd Ward -1606
Shirley Corrigan - OKC 3rd Ward - 1588
Virginia Butler - Edmond 1st Ward - 1216
Barry Peterson - OKC 1st Ward - 1018
Great Work - let's keep up our pace and aim for 250,000 by the end of the year !!
Thank you all so very much

Sunday, August 29, 2010

STEPPING UP

Three little Doll's
NEW STAKE GOAL FOR DECEMBER 31,2010 = 250,000 NAMES !!!
WE CAN DO IT IF WE JUST KEEP WORKING AT OUR CURRENT PACE.

TRY SOMETHING NEW


You may have noticed that there are not many beginners (1) projects

on the Indexing program. Salt Lake City is encouraging everyone who has been

indexing for a little while to try an intermediate project, (3).


What is the difference you say?
Beginner's projects are usually only one image, such as one image of census records that might have 50-100 names on it. All the lines you might need on your work space may have already been added before you started working.


An intermediate project contains multiple images, which may have multiple records on each image. Like the Oklahoma marriage records which usually have 10 images and 2 records per image. In these projects you need to shrink your image size to do an initial overview of the images. If there is more than one record on an image, add the appropriate number of lines for that image by using "Tools" at the top of your screen.




You start by putting in the image type for every image in your batch. On the OK Marriages, if there is an overlay you need to read the project information to learn how to deal with that situation. You index each image as a separate record, you do not say it is a duplicate even if it is for the same marriage. Only if the image is exactly the same as the previous image, then it is a duplicate, but it must be identical.


You also have to add the title ( Miss or Mrs) for the bride if it is hand written on the form. That is the only way you would know if her surname is her maiden name or a married name. the groom's title(Mr.) is typed on the form, so you do not index that.


The secret to trying an intermediate project is READ THE PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS AND FIELD HELPS BEFORE YOU START.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

A Quick way to Get Help Indexing

Share A Batch

Do you ever find yourself working on a batch and you just can't figure out the spelling of a name? Or maybe you aren't sure what to index into a certain field. Won't it be nice just to ask someone what to do, without waiting for them to come to you or until you see them next time?

That can easily be done by "Sharing a Batch" with a fellow indexer, your Ward Indexing Specialist or with the Stake Indexing Director, me.


No waiting or no long explanations are needed, seeing is believing!


Follow these simple steps to get help and open your batch so someone else can see what you are doing:



  1. Make a telephone call to the person you would like to help you.


  2. Open the indexing program and select "work on Batch" to open the batch you are having a problem with.


  3. Click on 'file' at the top left of your screen.


  4. Click on "Share a batch"


  5. A number will come up on your screen in a little box.


  6. Give that number to the person on the phone.


  7. That person will go to 'File' and click on "Receive a batch" and put in the number you just gave them.


  8. Your batch will open on the computer of the person helping you. They will be able to see what you are talking about and to offer advice. You make the change or addition in your batch and you are finished.


  9. The person helping you will close the batch and next time they log in they will get a message that the batch you were sharing with them is not available.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Helpful Name Hints

Guidelines for Indexing Names
  • Type the most complete version of a name

Please take time to scan the entire document. In one place, the name may be C.H. Johnson. In another place, it may be Chas. H. Johnson. In yet a third place, the name maybe written as Charles Henry Johnson. Type only the most complete name

  • Titles and terms do not go in the Given or Surname field

Titles such as Jr., Sr., Mrs.,Miss, Senor, Senora, Don, Dona, Captain, Dr., or terms such as Unknown, stillborn, twin, or infant are entered in a Title or Terms field if it is available as a column in the project.

  • Punctuation in Names

Include punctuation that is part of a name: like O'Rourke, if it is written on the document. Do not include punctuation such as a period after an abbreviation or other punctuation that is not normally part of a name.

  • Abbreviations

Sometimes names are abbreviated or a portion of their letters are written raised above the rest of the name, resembling a ditto mark. Type what you see, typing all letters on the same line. Do not guess what the abbreviations stands for unless directed to do so by a specific project.

  • Maiden Names

Maiden names are considered surnames and should be typed before the married name in the Surname field. If you cannot determine if a name is a given name or a surname, type the name in the Given Name field.

  • Indexing "Mrs. John White" :

When a woman's name is recorded with her husband's name instead of her own (such as Mrs. John White), look throughout the record to see if her given name is included elsewhere. If it is, index the most complete name that is recorded (such as Amanda White). If it is not, mark the Given Name Field as BLANK, and index the last name in the Surname Field. Do not index titles or terms such as "Mrs" in either the Given Name or Surname Field.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Indexing Tip:

ADJUSTING HIGHTLIGHTS

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO ADJUST THE HIGHLIGHTS IN A BATCH

  1. Go to VIEW and click on Adjust Hightlights

Yellow boxes with red borders will appear. Click and drag red boxes into the corners of the border to fit your image. To turn off this feature, click on Adjust Hightlights again.

2. You can use the CTRL key as a shortcut to simplify your efforts.

Press and hold CTRL, and move the mouse pointer over the area where the highlights should be. The highlights will appear just as though you had selected Adjust Highlights from the View menu. Release the CTRL key when you finish adjusting the hightlights.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

July 2010 Stake Indexing Statisticts

Indexing Statisticts for July are FABULOUS ! Thank you everyone

25,879 names indexed

1502 names arbitrated

Stake total for 2010 now at 64,597 names - 49 indexers this month!


Break down by Wards:


Clinton Ward - 1155 names - 4 indexers

Edmond First Ward - 1138 names - 3 indexers

Edmond Second Ward - 1575 names - 2 indexers

No Location assigned? 1248 names - 7 indexers

OKC Fifth ward - 28 names - 1 indexer

OKC First Ward - 8054 names - 16 indexers

OKC First ward - 1502 names arbitrated - 1 arbitrator

OKC Third Ward - 5185 names - 4 indexers

Quail Creek Ward - 2554 names - 8 indexers

Village Ward - 4690 names - 3 indexers

Woodward Branch - 252 names - 1 indexer

GOOD JOB

World wide indexers have indexed 100 million names since the first of the year ! Our stake is part of that effort and it is greatly appreciated.


To search these names cick on the "Indexing Links" tab on the bottom right of your indexing screen then choose FamilySearch RecordsSearch.


You can also go to www.familysearch.org and do a records search.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Helpful Hints





(My three great aunts: Gussie, Lizzie, Ellen)





Hints to help you Index Texas Birth Records:


1. There are usually 20 images in one batch - sometimes there are two records on one image. You may have to add a line if you have two records. Go to TOOLS to add lines


2. Sometimes there is an original birth record and an ammended record for the same child. Do not indicate that one is a duplicate in the record type. They should all be normal even if they are for the same child. Index each record seperately.


3. If the child was unnamed, do not enter the father's surname as the childs surname. Enter in Blank for the childs surname.


4. Do not add the county name if it is not written on the birth record, even if you know what it should be.

Always read the field helps and the project information to know what to do.

Remember the GOLDEN RULE of Indexing: "Enter what you see", no more no less.

There is one exception to the golden Rule: Put in the complete place name if it is written on the document. If the name of the state or county is abbreviated, and you know what it should be, enter the complete name. If you can not determine, from the drop down list, what it should be then enter the abbreviated form, with out the period.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Answers to Indexing Questions





Where to find Help and Answers to your indexing questions


1. Read the Project Instructions: click on the tab on the right side of your work screen - each project has different directions


2. Please Read the Field Helps : the information changes on the right side of your data entry area, each time you put data into a new field. At the bottom of the field helps you will see a link ( in blue) that takes you to an example. Check this link to see if you are using the correct page number. The page numbers they want are not always the "formal" page number. As an arbitrator I see this as the common mistake that indexers are making.


3 Go to HELPS : You can get there from your work sheet by clicking on F1 while in the indexing program. You may also go to helps on your indexing Home page ( boys on bikes).

4. Ask a Question: go to http://indexing.familysearch.org : you will find answers to many questions by just typing in your question in the Ask a Question Box. A document should open with the answer. You can print off these documents for future reference.

5. Go to Resource Guide on Home page: (boys on bikes) click on Help and it opens a list of resources for all levels of Indexers, ie., Indexers, Arbitrators. Under Indexers there is a link to a "Users Guide" which is 84 pages of useful directions about the basics of indexing. You can print off all or part of it, or just read what you are interested in. It has been a big help to me in learning how to do indexing. Try opening it up and looking at it's contents.

Happy Indexing !! Call me if you have problems 405-367-7159 or SLC 1-866-406-1830

Friday, July 16, 2010

Indexing Progress in July


We invite all ages to join us in our Stake Efforts to Index 100,000 names by December 31, 2010.
The young sisters at the left are Sylvia McLendon and Kaiulani Long of the Oklahoma City First Ward, who both attended the Stake Indexing Fair at the Surrey Hills Building in June.
Our leader, with the most names indexed in July, so far, is Susan Crane of the Village Ward. Susan has indexed 3644 names by July 16th!
For those of you who need help, please call Lois Gilbert at 405-367-7159 and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible with an answer to your questions.
Keep up the good work, it is greatly appreciated.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Helpful Hints



ADDING MORE LINES TO YOUR BATCH




There has been an increasing number of batches returned by the arbitrators. The most popular reason to return a batch is that all the data was not entered. This problem can be eliminated by reducing your image size when you are checking for the "image type". Try reducing the size of the image to 37%. This will allow you to see most of the image. It will also enable you to see if there is a second page on the right. This is the general case with State Census records.

Once you determine that you have two pages to index, you can see how many lines you will need on your worksheet below. At this point you can go up to TOOLS at the top of your page and click on "Records per image" then open "Number of Records" to see what your worksheet is set for. It might be set at 50 when you need 100. So Click on the up arrow to increase the number 50 to 100. Then go down to your worksheet and scroll to the bottom and make sure there are 100 lines there.

If the original document image has 100 lines, but only 80 of them have anything written on them, then you must use "ctrl blank" to put blank in those 20 blank data lines. EVERY LINE has to have something in it or you can't submit the batch. Be sure you put "BLANK" on the line number that is blank, not at the end of the batch. Unless, of course, all the blank lines are at the end of the batch.

If you need help, call me 367-7159 or email me lgmgilbert2@yahoo.com and I will try to answer your questions. Thank you for your efforts.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

June Statistics OKC Stake




17930 names indexed in June !



  • Clinton Ward 590 names - 3 people indexing

  • Edmond 1st Ward 492 names - 2 people indexing

  • Edmond 2nd Ward 1432 names - 2 people indexing
  • OKC 5th Ward 177 names - 2 people indexing
  • OKC 1st Ward 9,031 names - 19 people indexing
  • OKC 3rd Ward 2030 names - 1 person indexing
    • Quail Creek Ward 1626 names - 8 people indexing
    • Village Ward 2302 names - 5 people indexing
    • Woodward 100 names - 1 person indexing

    Keep up the good work!!! The numbers for this month are impressive. Last month the Stake submitted 4,934 names.

    At our current rate we could easily make the Stake Goal of 100,000 names by January 1, 2011 !!!!



    If for some reason you know that more people were indexing in your Ward than listed above, please have them check to make sure they have put in their Stake name and Ward name on their personal info page. If they haven't done that they are in a Genearl Account, and our Stake doesn't get credit for their work.



    You can get to your personal information page by going to http://indexing.familysearch.org/ and on the home page ( boys on Bicycles) SIGN IN on the upper right hand corner. To edit your page, scroll to the bottom, click edit. After you add your Stake and Ward names, be sure to save before closing the page.


















    Thursday, June 24, 2010

    Stake Goal for 2010

    100,000 NAMES



    That is the Goal the Stake Presidency has set for Oklahoma City Indexers in 2010.



    I know that we can do it if we work together. Our current number of submitted names, as of June 22, is 34,372. We now have 53 active submitters working in our Stake and more being added weekly. We gained about 20 new indexers during our one day fair, more are signing on each day. Many others are re-activating their accounts and starting to index again. If you know of any one who might be interested in signing up to index, please encourage them to contact the family history consultants or Indexing Specialists in their Ward.

    Saturday, June 19, 2010

    Upgrade to Indexing web site

    On June 15th, 2010 the Indexing web page was down for upgrading. If you have logged on since that time, using your desk top icon, then you do not have the latest version for indexing and may encounter some problems.
    It is recommended that you go to the main page ( boys on bikes) through this link: http://indexing.familysearch.org/ and click on "Begin Indexing". This will upgrade your current program and you will be then able to go back and use your desk top icon to get to your work page.
    If for some reason you get an error message that says " Server Unavailable" you will some more help getting the upgrades. My suggestion is to follow these steps:

    1. From the homepage click on ASK A QUESTION on the top.

    2. Type in the ask a question box, "Server Unavailable".

    3. This will open the automated support utility and you can scroll down to the question that is numbered # 103272 and click on it.

    4. When #103272 opens you will be asked to choose several options. Only choose the first three options which are: SYNC CLOCK, REINSTALL JAVA and REINSTALL INDEXING. This may take some time.

    5. When it is finished you should be able to go into your desk top icon again, and begin indexing.If you are still having problems please feel free to call me or the toll free number for SLC help desk, which is 1-866-406-1830

    I hope that these instructions are of help to you and that we can keep our great indexing efforts going in the Stake. The statistics for each Ward will be provided to your High Priest Group Leaders and Stake Presidency each month.

    Wednesday, June 16, 2010

    Welcome to my site

    Welcome to the Oklahoma City Stake Indexing Blog. We hope that this site grows and people will learn a few things to help them become better indexers.