Inward Passenger List Dates Confusion
Hi, I'm new to indexing and have been doing some Inward Passenger Lists: Australia, Albany—Inward Passenger Lists, 1873–1924[M3KH-T36]
I am unsure which date to use for Departure or Arrival if only one date is recorded.
Someone had started indexing this batch before me, and has recorded the date shown on the record as Departure date, whereas I have been using this as an Arrival date on other batches, as I thought the record was filled out when people arrived. I'm not sure which is right.
Can someone assist me with this?
Thanks!
Best Answers
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First, welcome to Indexing! I hope you will find the work very interesting and enjoyable!
I am a long time Indexing volunteer who is paying it forward for the instructions I received from some fabulous mentors like Dellory and Barbara, and too many others to mention. I am not a church member and have no connection to the "Head Office".
After reading your post about "being new at this", that you read the project instructions, and think that indexing just any date is counter-intuitive, it brought me back to the days of being a newbie (9 years ago). It was only after a day of indexing that I understood why the death dates for some of my deceased relatives were 2 or 3 days off on the records in FamilyTree. When no date of death was given, we indexed the publication date or the funeral date for the date of death. This left me shaking my head until I indexed more and realized why any date is better than no date.
The goal of indexing is to create searchable text from an image so that researchers can search and find it. If you know that ggf traveled to or from Australia sometime around 1923, you can enter a date range in the search engine and narrow down the findings. Thus, some date is better than no date. Once the researcher sees the image, they will have see it isn't the exact date of arrival or departure.
The best way to get things "right" is to follow the project instructions, the examples, and the field helps which have been designed by FamilySearch in collaboration with the owners of the records. Of course it is always good to ask questions here in the forum and point out inconsistencies as well. I have found that they are read and can be forwarded to "headquarters" when necessary.
But, If you want more personal contact, when you click on the question mark and Contact Us, you find the contact information for Australia. (phone chat) Australia 1800-953-143 and the hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm; Saturday 9am-2pm, closed Sunday.
Hope that helps explain a little bit. Happy Indexing!
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Thanks Maureen! Being new to Indexing (2 weeks or so!), I seem to have landed in a time of some controversary.
My original query has been answered and I am happy with that, but there does seem to be a lot of conflict in this Forum, which is rather sad.
I am finding it all a bit confusing, mostly with finding my way around the Indexing site & processes, but the enjoyment I feel from being able to give back to the world-wide family history community easily overcomes any misgivings that I encounter.
Thanks to everyone who has provided assistance!!
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I believe this project is restricted to your geographic area, since I cannot open it.
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Ok, thanks. I've just closed it, so I'm not sure if that will make a difference?
Cheers!
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Dellory, I've also read up (again) on the Project Instructions and it does state that if there is only one date on the record, then that is to be entered in the Departure fields. It sounds a bit "counter-intuitive" to me as it is an Inward Passenger List, but I am new at this!😁
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Your batch being open or closed doesn't make a difference. There are some projects which are restricted by geography and this seems to be one of them. Perhaps you live in Australia and that's why you have access and I don't because I live in the US.
Because you are new to indexing, you may enjoy these:
Indexing videos:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoiZaETrnV0>
13 minutes; Judy Sharp; BYU Family History Library; October 2019
<https://fh.lib.byu.edu/2019/06/17/web-indexing-kathryn-grant-13-jun-2019-60-min/>
54 minutes; Kathryn Grant; BYU Family History Library on 6/13/19
Here's an interview with Jason Pierson and discussion about indexing, including what's coming in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdqvYCPP7ho
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Thanks Dellory! I do live in Australia. I'll check out the info that you have sent. Cheers!
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I'd still like to hear from other people about the confusion I have about the Arrival/Departure dates on Inward Passenger lists. Thanks!
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Who from Family Search answers questions in relation to indexing such as these batches, where it appears the indexing is restricted to those who live in Australia. Is it someone from the Australian branch of the LDS Church, or someone from the "Head Office" of FamilySearch which I believe is located in USA. If the former, do they regularly check out FS Community, or is there a direct email contact?
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Maureen, I did have contact through Chat messaging with a woman from Western Australia who was helpful, and she suggested I post a message here as well. We agreed that the rules for Inward Passenger Lists do state that the date listed is to be used as the Departure date, but I'm still unsure if this is giving a correct "picture" of passengers' actual arrival. It's not a huge discrepancy, and in the overall scheme of things, not very important, but as I'm new to Indexing I'd like to get things "right", as far as possible.
I'm not sure of the inner workings of who reads posts on this forum. I got to the Chat service through the Help button on the top right of this screen.
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@PatrickCox6 You may enjoy these indexing videos:
13 minutes; Judy Sharp; BYU Family History Library; October 2019
<https://fh.lib.byu.edu/2019/06/17/web-indexing-kathryn-grant-13-jun-2019-60-min/>
54 minutes; Kathryn Grant; BYU Family History Library on 6/13/19
Here's an interview with Jason Pierson and discussion about indexing, including what's coming in the future.
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Thanks Dellory and Melissa! It all makes better sense to me now!!
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As someone who lives in Australia I am concerned that Australian residents, at least for some matters are given what I perceive to be a reply without meaning.
The original poster said
" I did have contact through Chat messaging with a woman from Western Australia who was helpful, and she suggested I post a message here as well."
The FamilySearch moderator response to this (and in response to questions I subsequently asked) was to post https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/contact-us Contact Us with links to FamilySearch Community and the Telephone/chat line for Australia.
So the FS moderator appears to be in fact saying "the FS Community response is go back to the telephone/chat line which you previously used"
Is that how FamilySearch works for Australian residents for matters such as Indexing, or sone other matters which are not clear to me but include legal matters etc, where I have had in the past PM moderator advice that they were not handled by Americans . And if that is the situation, why does the "Contact Us" help article not say this.
@Mark McLemore re Community response only back to telephone line.
Also, as there has been a similar query posted by someone else recently, it seems to me whoever is in charge of this project (if anyone actually knows who this person may be) should update the instructions with more detail, so people are not confused.
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I remember when I was brand new to indexing and my oldest granddaughter came by. "Oh, Grandma, I see you are indexing! Well, let me teach you a few things. . ." One of the fun things about indexing is interacting with others who do it and love it. Stick with it and you'll be helping others, too!
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As I explained in the very beginning, I am not a FamilySearch moderator. I did post the phone number as I thought you, @MaureenE123, were questioning whether there was an email contact or a way to reach out for help in Australia. The problem with Australian projects is that shared batches cannot be viewed except by your citizenry since the projects are restricted. It would be great if people from Australia with indexing experience would help out answering these questions in the Community. Anyone can post an answer and are encouraged to do so - it is an open community platform!
Without seeing the batch, I would not have answered. But, when Patrick posted he "read up (again) on the Project Instructions and it does state that if there is only one date on the record, then that is to be entered in the Departure fields." then it just becomes a matter of following the project instructions and explaining to new indexers a little bit about why the instructions are set up as they are. Dellory posted the links for video learning tools which really help new indexers. I'm not sure why this would confuse anyone to the point of needing to update the instructions.
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