What is the source ID? See picture below.
Answers
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You are not the first person to ask this question. I found the following discussion on the question in the FamilySearch GetSatisfaction forum, a predecessor of the FamilySearch Communities:
And,
https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/what_can_i_do_with_a_legacy_nfs_source
Another search came up with the following:
http://www.ancestryinsider.org/2014/04/familysearch-migrates-new-familysearch.html
It appears that these source citations were merged into the Family Tree from the old New FamilySearch system in 2014. The consensus seems to be that unless the contributor can be contacted to provide more details on the source, they are of little value and can be detached from the person's record.
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The problem stems from programmers not understanding how we use FamilySearch. So the data in the “Contributor” field was stripped out without consideration and replaced with “FamilySearch” in 2012. This put an end to finding living family on FamilySearch.
The result is what we now where the “Contributor” is listed as “FamilySearch”, when in truth, they were not the party contributing the information. You see when I talked with one of the FamilySearch programmers, not in this country and not of this church, I explained to him the value of the “Contributor” field. He was without words, as no one explained it to him.
You see, the contributor is the person adding information to your tree. It may be you, it may be another. In 2009 when I saw that someone was adding very personal cemetery details to my tree, I contacted her through the Contributor Field and asked if we were related. This is how I found my fourth cousin. I now have a friend and relative in the work.
It is odd that FamilySearch in 2012, who addresses family history needs of the church, one centered on Christ, with an importance on family, would not give instruction to the programmers to never delete, remove or worse, replace the contributor field with itself. The effect is that it removed the ability to find living family, after 2012, on contributions made before 2012.
This may not seem like a big deal for people not fully onboard with this work or not wanting to meet family, however, if one is fully engaged and embody the spiritual understanding of this work, learning who contributed what, is of high importance.
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