PROJECT INSTRUCTION INCONSISTENCIES - 75% errors in small sample of data reviewed
THE CORRECT DATE - US Texas Grimes Co--Deed Records MSYK-YW2
My question is about which date to use. I am reviewing the above-referenced batch. (The batch will expire in early October--but you can choose another one--they are generally the same.) A record consists of three parts (from beginning to end): 1 - The Deed ( dated and signed at the bottom by the Grantors), 2 - Notary paragraph, 3 - Filing / Recording paragraph. EACH OF THESE THREE SECTIONS CONTAINS A DATE. Each date is MOST OFTEN different, though they can be the same. For example, in the batch MSYK-YW2, there is a difference of 30 years between the Deed Date and the Recording Date.
The earliest date is the Deed. The most recent dates are the Notary paragraph and the Filing / Recording paragraph.
NOTE: There are 4 records per batch--a Deed can start on any of the four records and SOMETIMES end on fifth or sixth, etc. record of the following batch.
FIELDS TO INDEX: The fields are: Names of Grantor / Grantee and Record Month / Record Day / Record Year.
FIELD HELP: "If a range of years or multiple dates were recorded, TYPE THE MOST RECENT DATE that has to do with the DEED PROCESS for the entry."
CONFUSION: "Deed Process" sounds like it could include the Deed proper, the notary section and the filing/recording of the deed OR it could simply refer to the Deed itself.
PROJECT INSTRUCTION: Same as Field Help sentence above, plus: "Most often, records end with signatures or a note about when the record was filed." [This would be the filing and recording paragraph.]
CONFUSION:
I believe this is an indicator that a Deed may continue on to the first page(s) of the NEXT BATCH; but it could appear to an indexer as direction to use the Filing / Recording date.
PROJECT INSTRUCTION EXAMPLE: [How to Index a Deed, Page 1] - Shows how to enter the Grantor and Grantee names.
PROJECT INSTRUCTION EXAMPLE: [How to Index a Deed, Page 2] - Shows the DEED DATE as the correct date to enter.
HERE IS THE PROBLEM: The field help and project instructions are NOT CONSISTENT with the Example titled "Page 2"--which clearly shows the DEED DATE should be used as the Record Month / Day and Year.
It makes sense to me that the Deed Date is the correct date to use. Out of the 9 batches I just reviewed, 7 of them used the "wrong" date, namely, the filing / recording date. I contacted Family Search Indexing Help (live chat) and the Missionary agreed with me that the Example titled "Page 2" shows that the Deed Date is the correct date to use. She also felt the Project Instructions and Field Help were confusing and inconsistent.
I SUGGEST that when a new set of Deed Records similar to this become available, maybe someone in charge could rewrite the instruction sections so that the wrong date is not being entered in the majority of records. If my reviewing is representative of this error, that means approximately 72-75% of the 5,000+ records have been indexed with the wrong date. An extrapolation suggests that only 1,250 of the 5000+ records have been indexed correctly.
Comments
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Whilst I can see your logic in posting your comments here, they might be better noticed if you copied them to the Indexing section of "Q and A". Questions and general issues seem to get a far quicker response time in "Q and A" than those posted in "Ideas".
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@Paul W It was first posted in Indexing Q&A and can be seen there too. A moderator said it would be a great post for Ideas. Thus, here it is. I personally think these types of posts should be handled by the Support Missionary Mods in Q&A. They need to present these comments to Indexing Ops, unless IO has someone monitoring the page to see where there might be problems with the instructions and examples.
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If I recall correctly, I did post it in Q and A, and someone suggested to post it in Ideas. Thank you, Melisa and Paul W.
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I reached out to the PPP for Indexing, here is the correct information. "As the field helps state - type the most recent date that has to do with deed process for the entry."
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Well this quite confusing that a post from September 2021 has popped up.
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