Genealogy Corner… FamilySearch Indexing

Issue 35.16

I have been serving as a stake indexing director for FamilySearch Indexing since June 2006 in a two or three stakes that keep splitting. FamilySearch has been preparing a new indexing system because the original one is really old in software years. In 2013 it was supposed to be next year. February 19, 2014 they said it would be later that year. On January 7, 2015 they announced next year and now at the 2016 BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy they announced it would be next year. So, just keep using the other indexing program. In fact, it will still be used even after the other one is released because some batches will be geared to be done with the current program.

My son who is a software engineer and when managers ask, “How long it will take to do the thing that has never been done before?”  You wonder if they are listening to what they are asking. The software engineers estimate the time, double it just in case and then the manager doubles it again before reporting to the director, who in turn doubles it before reporting to the higher ups and it usually takes twice that long. Computers don’t always cooperate the way the engineers wish they would.

FamilySearch will be finished scanning the vault in five years. So once those are indexed, the only records left to index are new records that are being captured out in the field. In the new indexing program, some batches will not use double keying. Right now two people index the same batch, the A indexer and the B indexer. If they don’t type everything the same in each field, it goes to a third person, the arbitrator. Another model FamilySearch will use is single-key indexing plus peer review. One person keys the work, but another person reviews it for correctness. This eliminates the problem of arbitrators working in isolation. This is not another name for arbitration. The reviewer doesn’t have to have more competence than the original indexers. It’s like checking a classmate’s homework. It eliminates the adversarial relationship between volunteers.

The new program will be a web based program so it will be available for tablets and iPads. This will be a great feature with the new app; the program will not need to be installed on the person’s computer.

For more information, contact Shanna Jones shannasjones@msn.com or see Indexing.FamilySearch.org