Can indexed records be re-indexed when a problem is found?

scottlavarrmarshall1

I have an ancestor and her family listed in a 1880 US Census record from Iowa (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G14-X8W?i=17&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMDJP-F2L ). An indexed record was created from the census record in which 2 separate households (one of them being my ancestor) were merged into one (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/32329780:6742 ). This has caused much confusion for our family's research efforts and I'm assuming for others as well. The indexed record shows the husband of the Twyford family as the Head of Household and the mother of our ancestor's family (Jane ??Faer, which by the way, was also indexed incorrectly. Her married name should be spelled Miler.) in the designated space for his wife, with all other members of both families shown as members of the same household. This problem causes further confusion when family members have tried to merge this record with other legitimate records, especially when the members of each of the indexed families have similar first names.

My question is, can indexed records be re-indexed when a problem like this is found? Who would I contact to make the changes if it is possible?

CDBurk

Because this question is about doing Research in a Historical Records collection, I will move this question to the Community Search Help Center field where it can be viewed by other guests who may have a similar question about collections with indexing or transcription errors. Don't be alarmed when it shows as closed in the Other category. Click the title of the post and you will be redirected to the Search Category where you will see that the discussion is open and active.

CDBurk

@scottlavarrmarshall1

I totally agree that is it confusing when you find more than one family mentioned in an indexed record which you thought would only include your ancestor and their family members, however, we have been told that closed indexing projects are not re-opened to correct errors. We have also been made aware that our engineers are exploring better ways for users to be able to make more corrections when they find errors. 

To learn about how to make corrections to indexed records you may want to review the knowledge article which is available through the URL below

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-fix-indexing-or-transcription-errors-in-historical-records

Please note that at the bottom of this article there are several embedded links that will take you to other helpful knowledge articles including an article about why we cannot currently correct all indexing errors.

Thank you for your interest in improving the use of indexed records by correcting those things which make working with them more difficult. I wish you success as you continue your family history efforts.

scottlavarrmarshall1

Thank you for the info. I had read the article you mentioned, but not the one explaining the reasons for not being able to edit an indexed record. I look forward to the time when it becomes possible.

Thank you for your help!

Scott