Issue 19.17
Guess what? FamilySearch has finally released Web Indexing! I learned that the engineering team was first assembled two years ago to take over development of web indexing from the outsourced company that had been doing it. That explains the delays. They did their best estimates and set their target for April 30, 2017 to go live to the public. They reached that April 30th goal that very evening.
Web Indexing still has work to do, several bugs and enhancements to go, but it is good enough and has been a great experience for thousands of indexers. They had 5,000 new web indexers in the first three days. The system is holding up very well. There will be public announcements likely in June when more of the bugs are fixed.
Indexing make records searchable online. When you index, you help connect families by typing up historical documents so they can be published online. They show you systematically how to index in a safe and easy way. There is a guided tour. If you have questions about indexing or reviewing, you can find answers easily.
FamilySearch indexing is a volunteer transcription effort that makes valuable genealogical records freely searchable online. Since FamilySearch indexing began in 2006, this unprecedented crowdsourcing effort has produced more than one billion searchable records. Hundreds of thousands of volunteer indexers have participated from around the world. Through this selfless effort, millions of people worldwide have found information and discovered stories about their ancestors.
There are some videos about the new indexing on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Sxktk_EG0 They are simple and easy to understand.
You get to the new by signing into FamilySearch.org and clicking Indexing at the top of the page. Then click Web Indexing. The direct link is: https://familysearch.org/indexing/my-indexing
Click Find Batches and start indexing. Watch for the confetti when you finish a batch!
For more information, contact Shanna Jones shannasjones@msn.com