Brown County, Minnesota Obituary in German
I am reviewing a batch from the Brown County, Minnesota obituary project. https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/4bf8998c-2a9a-4ec6-8b2b-eba537f9d3b1 The first image has two obituaries in German and has been marked as No Extractable Data by the indexer. I cannot find anything in the project instructions as to what should be done with obituaries that are not in English. I can read German well enough that I could index these obituaries if that is allowed. Please advise.
Teresa Shippy
Answers
-
I cannot find any instructions that say not to index obituaries in non-English languages. The instructions say Index all obituaries, death notices, and funeral programs. Also, for the first time I can recall, there is information in the “What to Look For While Reviewing” section, but no mention of any special treatment for non English language documents.
I do recall being instructed several/ many years ago to NED such obit images (German language ones in fact) because they were to be done later as part of a separate project. But that was then.
Based on the current instructions I think that if you can index that German-language obit, then you should. But I also believe that the Moderators should check with the Project Managers for guidance on this issue so that the typical Indexers know what to do in such a case. If they mark such images NED, will they be handled separately and not lost? Should they return it until a Gernan reader catches it? Clarity is needed.
I hope that the Project Managers, via the Moderators, provide guidance to Indexers and Reviewers on this issue to be posted here and included and highlighted in the Project Instructions.
You may want to wait for feedback from the moderators or from someone who has already checked with FS support on this.
3 -
For the attention of Moderators. This issue of dealing with German-language obituary clippings is a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. I got a batch with one image that had three obituary clippings on it. One clipping was in English and two were in printed German script/ calligraphy. So, it's not as simple as designating an entire Image as NED (No Extractable Data) and having a Family Search team collect them later on for a purely German-language project. How do the Project Managers want to handle these Hybrid Images? I returned the batch for some other Reviewer to handle who can read and understand that German script. I could probably handle basic German in the ordinary script (I had a basic reading knowledge of it at one time). I can see this type of batch going from Reviewer to Reviewer etc. Also, I would still appreciate guidance on how to handle a purely German-language Image.
2 -
Hi John, your questions are valid.
You should be able to upload the scanned images right here, where you post your questions. Down below, in the bottom left hand corner of this box, and every box you write in, you'll see a smiley face emoji, a landscape image, a box with left and right arrows, and then finally, a paper clip.
The landscape and paper clip symbols are how you upload. If you click on the landscape picture, it will ask you if you want to upload a picture from your computer. This will put that image, right here, in the box where you are writing.
If you click on the paperclip, it will ask you if you want to upload an attachment. The attachment will not be in this box, but attached to it. Which means, when someone (like me) comes along, I will have to click on the attachment to see the image, and then I can get to work. You can also copy and paste a link to a document, from say FamilySearch.org and we will be able to see that as well. If it is a subscription site, not everyone will have access to the image to assist you with the transcription or translation. Generally speaking, when you upload an image or document, we will extract the pertinent data that you need. If you have a specific question about the word, you can work that into your query.
The printed obituaries are difficult to read, but with practice can be learned. I will post a few links here to help you get started. There are a few free webinar tutorials in the FamilySearch Learning Center. Handwriting can be tricky, because it is organic in nature, and scribes vary in how they write. The printed version of the script can be tricky too, because some letters look really similar. However, with practice and familiarity, you can learn to decipher the script, use the German Genealogical Word List and a few other resources to help you get more from these wonderful records. Here are the promised links:
Print:
Handwriting Guide: German Gothic
Script Tutorial The German Documents
The one above has some different typefaces to look at.
And here's one straight from Germany, Bund für deutsche Schrift und Sprache e. V. The Association for German Script and Language
Handwriting video tutorials:
Here's a practice sheet for handwriting
Handwriting-practice-for kurrent-october-2019
And, when you have German records and need help with the translation, head over to the Germany group, and post your image and query there. You are not on your own! I apologize for not seeing your post sooner, I am usually in the Germany group helping there. I will mention, now that I think about it, if you have a local German genealogy society, they usually have monthly meetings where they practice the handwriting and do translations.
0 -
@John Empoliti , I am seeing now that this is an indexing issue, which I am not sure how to answer. I know there is a group that only discusses indexing issues. I think the links I gave you for the handwriting helps and print practices, will give you something to work with until someone within the indexing group can get back to you.
0 -
Thank you, Annette.
0
