GenealogyBank Access Changes
With the change in status with GenealogyBank is there a way so that it does not show up as a hint on accounts that cannot access it (I presume non-LdS)? I am forced to reject the hint if I want to work through my Record Hints, but they shouldn't really be dismissed as they do apply, but I cannot do anything with them.
I am annoyed because I just subscribe to GenealogyBank so I could improve FamilySearch profiles. Now I can't use it seamlessly here anymore.
Answers
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What change in status? I can still access hinted GBank records from FS.
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I wonder if Kimberly has encountered another example of a GenealogyBank hint giving the "we can't" error? (Other thread on the topic: https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/156385/pertaining-to-g78s-758#latest.)
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I wondered that, too, but without details, one can only wonder.
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Echoing the boiling over frustration with FS suggesting hints that cannot be accessed. Sometimes I can access GenealogyBank sources and sometimes I am given the "we're unable to show this record to you."
Please don't show hints that cannot be accessed. Please post an announcement explaining what is going on, whether it is being worked on, or whether things are just gone. Marking hints as no match is not acceptable, but apparently there is no alternative. I don't know if this is related to the programming problems that we see with the 1950 census, et al, or not. FS please be transparent and communicate!
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@Maile L Can you please check on this when you can?
@MLV2 and @Kimberly Huff Streeter Specific examples of the issues you have encountered will be needed for the Mods to follow up. Thanks.
I have not had a problem accessing GBank hints.
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"Marking hints as no match is not acceptable, but apparently there is no alternative."
Yes, there is an alternative. Just leave them alone. Marking correct hints as "not a match" teaches the hint routine to ignore similar hints and can result in good hints not displaying for the person. There is no requirement for any of us to personally take care of all hints and there is nothing wrong with leaving some for someone else to take care of on a day the system is working properly.
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If you could add a link, screenshots, a PID or any other specific details, we would be happy to look into this.
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Here is a screenshot from today
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@Gordon Collett I am using the main page of FamilySearch to go through the Record Hints. It is convenient to just go through them as they are presented on that page - that is, the top three. Otherwise I have to open the list up and keep skipping the top results with the GenealogyBank problem. Is it a fatal flaw: no. Is it annoying: yes.
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I get the same thing. That is annoying. Is the Index blocked for this collection? I've never run into that before with other collections where the images are restricted. I would agree if there is no option for seeing what the index for the hint is, the hint should not show up in Research Helps. If the program can tell what kind of account a user has enough to display this comment, the programmers should be able put in a conditional display command to suppress the hint for users that cannot see anything at all.
Going to the collection itself, I think this hint is for the third record here, at least the name matches exactly:
Trying from this direction I get:
I can see the indexed record for the other three results showing in the image which are all in the same collection. So there does appear to be a problem with Miss Crim's particular record and the index of it needs to be fixed.
I would still maintain however, that hints that I personally can't figure out just need to stay on the list for someone else to work on even if that means that for a few profiles I need to go to the full Research Helps page when I need to skip the first three hints.
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I'm not LDS, but I have a private subscription to GBank. Searching from Mary Crim's profile, I also get the "we're unable to show you this record" message for the death notice.
When I visit GBank, I find a 22 Mar 1934 death notice for Miss Mary C Crim, in the "Richmond Times-Dispatch." https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01100711225640281771711652500
Often, when a hinted record cannot be found on GenealogyBank, it is due to a change in contract between GBank and the specific newspaper archive. It could also be the result of a change in URL format.
There was a problem recently between GBank and FS, with the usual "Attach to FamilySearch Tree" option not functioning. I spent quite some time with GBank support staff trying to get that one sorted.
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It is July 1 today
I am member of LDS, am getting this notice
"We're unable to show this record.
This record can only be displayed on certain accounts. FamilySearch must honor the agreements we have with our partners, record owners, and internal policies."
I used to be able to get the hints until few days ago.
This started few days ago.
What is going on now?
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See:
Although I am not convinced.
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Here is another example of a GenealogyBank hint that is "unavailable":
Person https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GJYF-PXN
Source https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5QD-SF84
It's a GenealogyBank obituary that appears, from metadata, to be a copy of these two GenealogyBank obituaries: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5Q4-RFYS https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5QD-HH2M. Possibly in a different newspaper, since the other two are formatted as "State Times Advocate" and "Advocate (Baton Rouge", which are different names for the same paper.
Can someone investigate why hints for unavailable records populate? My homepage notifies me that I have tasks to do for this person (i.e. accepting hints), but I can't actually accept the hint (which I have to do by navigating to the Research Help page, a clunky process already) because clicking "review & attach" dumps me onto the same "unavailable" error page. And I don't want to dismiss this hint, because it is clearly for the correct person.
If this is a permissions problem, as the other discussion suggests, why is the source still hanging around, rather than being removed entirely? I find the wording change on the error message to be no less confusing: if this record can only be displayed on certain accounts, which accounts have that capability? If this is actually not an account-based problem, that text is highly misleading.
I would love to have some specifics on this error using this example as a case study. Did GenealogyBank rescind the license for whatever newspaper this record came from, or just this particular obituary, or a range of time periods? Or, is this a machine-generated mistake (GB obituaries tend to be rife with those) that got turned into a duplicate source rather than removed?
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Has anyone contacted GenealogyBank directly? I've found their support staff to be quite good on the few times I've needed to contact them. They have email, chat, and phone options for Support.
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JD, mine says IOWA so something is off.
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@Áine Ní Donnghaile I did not think to contact GenealogyBank to resolve a problem that only appears on FamilySearch's end, no. I'm not a subscriber anyway so I doubt they would be able to help me.
@Maile L Could you look into the specific hint I am having trouble with, a couple posts up?
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@JD Cowell Unfortunately, Maile is no longer a mod here. @Ashlee C. has taken on that role, but her earlier comment indicated there was nothing more to do from the FS side.
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Surely "guess it's broken forever :(" isn't the best this site, with all its resources, can come up with? I have trouble accepting that's the best FamilySearch can do for an obvious technical problem with the integration. That's why I specifically asked for a fresh look at this particular instance so that we can troubleshoot.
Thank you for the personnel update; I'll note that for the future.
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