Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing - Week 38

I know, I didn't write my usual article on Sunday. But I promise you I did do some FamilySearch Indexing. I was vegging out on my laptop and it started to take forever to move to a new column or new row. It was frustrating enough and late enough that I decided to call in quits and work on it tomorrow, which is now today. It was only after I shut down the indexing program that I realized my anti-virus program was running in the background. Duh, no wonder it was running so slow.

Well, it's a good thing I waited and finished my batch today. I was finally able to test working on a batch, saving it to the server and then finishing up that batch while working on another computer. The whole process worked flawlessly. I guess the only thing I need to test now is making sure I am working off line on a batch. I'm not sure that I have done that yet.

As usual when I started the FamilySearch Indexing program I looked for messages from headquarters. There weren't any. Which isn't surprising since they told us last week that they would have messages twice a month for us.

I looked again for a New York project and there wasn't any. That's not getting very surprising now either. I really hope when they do start a project that it's the state censuses. Oh, well time will tell. Once again I picked the Irish records. I worked on the Irish Death Indexes 1845-1958. This time I actually indexed 219 records and received credit for doing 250. I didn't think that was to bad. I now have a grand total of 6,236 records indexed.

It's funny how I don't seem to notice how much time the Irish records are actually taking me. I don't know why maybe because I am not concentrating so hard while I am doing them. I keep forgetting to time myself but I know I'm taking more time indexing these records than if I did one batch of the census records. Of course there are more records but I don't mind how long it takes it's really just kind of fun.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a dilemma I had while indexing. I wasn't exactly sure what to do while indexing my batch it had an extra name typed in at the end of the first column. I realized that it was misplaced and belong alphabetically where the "*" was. Now my dilemma do I put it where it belongs alphabetically, type where it was in the column or include it at the end of the batch?

Here is what I did and I hope I am right. I decided to look at the "Project Specific Indexing Instructions". I had read them before and I knew if it was handwritten on the margins to include them at the end of the batch. Well I looked and looked for the typed add ins and couldn't find anything written about where to add them. Sooo, I decided to put them right where they were at the end of the first column and then just started indexing the second column right afterwards. I guess I should of called headquarters and asked them but it seem the logically place to put them. I hope I am right in doing that. If not I'm sure one of my readers will enlighten me.

I guess I will wrap this article up. I've been so busy lately working on some genealogy for a distant relative of mine. It's actually her husband's line so I'm not even blood related to the people. As much as I love doing genealogy I actually prefer to work on my own line. I am just itching to get back to my genealogy.

The only plus right now is that it's giving me a good chance to test out RootsMagic ease of entering data verses Legacy. You really get to know the flow for the program when you enter a lot of data into it. It is amazing how quickly you can pick up a new genealogy software program once you understand how one program works. Well I guess I actually knew two before hand - PAF was the first program I ever used, but I would be hard pressed to teach anyone how to use it now.

My relative wanted me to print out all the information for her and mail to her when I was done. I already have around 6,000 people in the database. That is an awful lot of paper and postage. I'm going to make a RootsMagic shareable CD and send it to her, then she can decide what to print out. Well, I'm off to work on that project now.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

Adventures in FamilySearch Indexing - Week 37

It was conference weekend and I felt so lazy and slow about getting anything done. Must be all the sitting around and watching conference. Ok, I actually slept in and listened to the morning sessions while in bed. By Sunday afternoon session I was ready to do some FamilySearch Indexing while I listened to conference.

I always look for any messages from Headquarters and I was not disappointed.

From: Headquarters
Subject: Semimonthly Message
Date: 01 Apr 2008

TO ALL INDEXERS:

This message is the first of many we will be sending out on the 1st and 15th of each month. We may include tips on using the indexing program, general indexing information, instructions for specific projects, and answers to situations show up in arbitration.

• Batches in the Philadelphia 1885-1051 Marriage Indexes are set for eighty lines per image, but many batches will have more than eighty records. Please index all of the names on the image by adding lines as needed

• There are quite a few Chinese and American Indian names in the 1870 census. If you cannot determine which name is the surname and which is the given name, do not separate the names into the Given Name and Surname fields. Instead, keep each name in the same order as it was written in the record and type all of the information in the Given Name field and mark the Surname field as blank. If the name contains any hyphens (-) or apostrophes ('), please include them with the name.

• Wisconsin State Censuses: Please remember to add any recorded designations (village, town, city, etc) to the names of the localities. The designation can be capitalized or not, it does not matter. For example, Arlington Town and Arlington town are considered identical in the system.

• Irish indexes: Be sure to look at the Previous or Next image for the year and quarter if this information is not on the page you are indexing. Also, remember to add they y in the Age field in the Irish death indexes.

• Indexing Tip: If you do not see the field helps while you are indexing, look for the two little black arrows on the right side of your data entry screen. Click on the top arrow that points to the left to show these valuable instructions that explain what to index in each field.

We greatly appreciate all of your indexing and arbitration efforts.

It's nice to know they will be giving us regular updates. I can't tell you how long I sat and agonized over whether or not I actually put the "y" after the age on the Irish death indexes. I'm really good about reading the project instructions so I could only hope the notice to put the "y" was included on the instructions. As you can see those little reminders are going to be very useful for everyone.

Here is the other message for us:

From: Headquarters
Subject: System Response to Update
Date: 02 April 2008

We thank you for your patience as our system adjusts to the update that occurred on Monday. If you have not restarted the indexing program since Monday, March 31st, please close the program and restart it using the Start Indexing button on the FamilySearch indexing home page, www.familysearchindexing.org.

Some projects may be temporarily unavailable and there are currently fewer than normal arbitration batches ready for download. We are working to remedy this situation.

We hope you will not become discouraged if any of these issues have affected you. We truly appreciate your understanding and dedication.

I didn't have any problems getting in today so everything must be up and running ok now. It did take a long time to get signed in then I realized that the program was updating and doing just what it was suppose to be doing.

I looked, as usual to see if any New York projects where available. There wasn't so I decided I would give the Irish Birth Indexes a try. That way I have worked on all the Irish vital records indexes. I picked the Irish Birth Indexes 1942-1958 and I don't know what the deal was but it took me over 2 hours to index 242 actual individuals. I got credit for doing 310 and this time I felt like I deserved the credit.

The system seemed to be running really slow when I would get to the last column in the row. There would be this long pause before it would start on the next line. It made me wonder if there were a lot of members indexing while watching conference? I wanted to try getting off line while I worked on it to see if that would speed things up. I just couldn't make myself stop to test out the theory. I was going to give it a go as soon as I finished that batch and went to do the next one. The next one never came. I was to tired to work on another batch. Either it's the system pauses that wore me out or I'm under the weather and it hasn't totally caught up with me yet.

I finish this article with nothing exciting to note other than I am almost at the 6,000 records indexed mark - 5,986 to be exact. It was so unlike me to not push myself to get a few more done so I could round the numbers up. It's just been an incredibly slow day and now I'm ready for bed again. Just dragging my feet to get up and move. Wow, that sounds so depressing! Maybe I need to good dose of cod liver oil or sulpher and molasses. Just the thoughts of that make me want to get up a run for the hills or duck under the covers! Come to think of it I guess I will go do the later.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

Mark Your Calendars - UVPAFUG Meeting!

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Apr 2008, from 9 am until noon in the LDS "Red" Chapel at 4000 North Timpview Drive (650 East), in Provo. The main presentation will be by Prof. Larry EchoHawk on SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS FROM KNOWING MY NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTORS. He will describe his journey in searching for his Native-American ancestors, preparing their names for temple ordinances, and gaining a deeper appreciation of his Native American heritage. All of this involved many avenues of research including the Internet and the Family History Library. His wife Terry is also an avid genealogist and helped with this research.

There is a good article about Professor EchoHawk in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_EchoHawk . He was born in Cody, Wyoming, raised in Farmington, New Mexico, and attended Brigham Young University on a football scholarship, then received his Juris Doctor degree in 1973 from the University of Utah. He practiced law in Salt Lake City and in 1977 became the General Legal Counsel for the Fort Hall, Idaho-based, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. He is a member of the Pawnee Tribe and was the first Native American elected to a constitutional statewide office, serving as Attorney General of Idaho from 1991 to 1995. Currently he is a Professor of Criminal Law at BYU's J Reuben Clark Law School and presides over the BYU 7th Stake. He resides in Orem with his wife, Terry, and they are the parents of 6 children with 20 grandchildren. On 7 Aug 2007 he gave the BYU Devotional talk about his conversion and his heritage and a copy of that talk is posted online at the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies at http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=jbms&id=435 . You can also listen to that devotional at http://ldsfiles.com/newforums/ldsfiles-com-talk-repository/
4598-byu-devotional-unexpected-gift.html .

Following the main presentation there will be several classes taught concerning technology and family history. As usual, there will be something for everyone at all levels of expertise. The classes currently scheduled for this meeting are the following:

1. PAF5: Using Preferences, by Lila Sowards
2. Using Google in Genealogy, by Duane Dudley
3. Managing Genealogy Information Using PHPGedView (class 3 of 3), by John Finlay
4. Q&A on his talk by Larry EchoHawk
5. Individual Mentoring by Pat Andrus & Claudia Benson (including a German Internet Research mini class)
6. Video of last month's main presentation on The Future of Family History Centers, by Don Anderson
7. Legacy, by Joel Graham
8. Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay
9. RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee.
   

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. Several of the officers will be there, including Gerhard Ruf, President; Brian Cooper, 2nd VP; Lynne Shumway, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker and Gerry Eliason working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill, Eileen Phelps, and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD & Video Library. They will help with membership, questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVD's and videos of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org and on their blog at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ . For additional information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106), VP1 Elder Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu, or VP2 Brian Cooper at vp2@uvpafug.org.

Mark Your Calendars! - UGA

No April Fool's Joke!!

Karen Clifford is going to speak on better organization for the Utah Valley Chapter of UGA on April 18th, 7 PM, 85 North, 600 East in Provo.

Calendar it now, you won't want to miss it!

Karen has recently moved back to Utah from California. She is a well known speaker and you will enjoy the presentation.