Allow filtering by Date Added
It is very exciting that all of the FS microfilm has been digitized. As so many have already searched available resources that are digital in the Catalog, it would be very helpful if the date digitally added for a particular catalog source images file (e.g. births in Jackson County Alabama 1877-1922) was parenthetically included next to the item. And, even better, would be to be able to filter by date added. That way, someone can target newly added catalog items rather than searching through something they have already seen. Thank you!
Comments
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The problem here lies in the fact that all records (from the same microfilm / collection) might not have been added at the same time. If you read the monthly list of updates in the Blog, comments will often show that xxxx amount of digital images or xxxx amount of indexed records have been added to an existing collection.
In my experience, the source of some of these records can be identical and these comments are of little practical use. Suppose I am told xxxx amounts of records have been added to a Norfolk, England parish register collection. How do I find whether those records relate to parishes already there, but just extra years are being added or whether the latest additions relate to a parish for which there were previously no records at all on FamilySearch?
I have found records from one part of a microfilm have suddenly been withdrawn (and occasionally even reinstated some months later!), but none of this detailed information is ever provided in FamilySearch "Monthly Record Update" posts.
In summary, it seems unavoidable to have go over the same material to check the newly added records as, without FamilySearch providing the finer detail, you always have to assume that the details might apply to records (from the same microfilm / collection) that have not been previously published.
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Paul,
I understand your perspective. I think in a similar way to how they have overhauled the record view to where you can see who is tagged in that record, making it more user friendly, I think there needs to be some overhaul to allow users know what rocks they have already turned over. To that end, I think having some of the update history of the series would potentially be helpful under the "Information" tab in the source image (e.g. Images 250-700 added 4/2/2021) along with allowing users to add user comments on an image source (that are only viewable by the viewer) that would allow them to document where/what they looked for previously. I don't think those would be hard to enact and the latter would be immensely useful.
Cheers,
JS
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