Feedback function to report indexing error not working
So where do I go to report an indexing error in this record:
"France Deaths and Burials, 1546-1960", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXGB-BGS : 15 October 2019), Elisabeth Delorme in entry for Marie Elisabeth Cornichon, 1859.
Elizabeth Cornishon's two husbands were both named Denys and the indexer conflated them as "Denys Gillet; Denys/pointeau"
And thank you for all the great work you ALL do!
Answers
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@lngrid The collection, "France Deaths and Burials 1546-1960" is a FamilySearch Legacy Collection. This means it is a compilation of older records from various volunteer indexing projects. They are not complete and contain many errors. However, there will be no additions added nor any corrections made to the data. As with all Legacy Collections, any information you find should be confirmed with original sources if possible. You can learn about this collection at the Wiki article: France Deaths and Burials - FamilySearch Historical Records.
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Thankyou, SerraNola. What do we do when it wants us to link sources but we can't because the sex is wrong? Should we just dismiss the source?
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I don't understand what you meant by "it wants us to link sources but we can't", because Source Linker can attach an index entry regardless of the specifics. I've used it to attach (uncorrectable) indexes that got everything wrong (name, sex, date, place). Heck, I've even used it to create the profile that I then attached an everything's-wrong index entry to. If the actual source (not its finding aid) is correct for the person, you should not dismiss the hint.
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Please don't dismiss the hint if it is for the correct person. Doing that will send incorrect signals to the hint algorithm.
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@ lngrid When you are prompted for why you are attaching the source say something like "I believe this is my ancestor because………………and ………………………… is an error in the transcription". When a record has been indexed sloppily (or the indexing has been changed incorrectly by computer programs) the record is still a valid source.
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The problem is that these erroneous sources come from old databases of French births and marriages from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that have no images. Sometimes I can find the original entry in the départemental online archives, but sometimes they haven't been scanned yet so I cant check them. However I know that a man whose kids were born in Griselles, Loiret, wasn't born in Griselles, Côte d'Or, in the seventeenth century. Ordinary slobs like my ancestors didn't travel that much. I found another where the indexer mixed members of two different marriages together. I could check that one, but what about the ones I can't check? When the indexing is incorrect, I dismiss the source, find a scan of the original, upload it and add that as a source. The people who'll be reading my genealogy are francophones who can read the original records.
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I appreciate that you are seeing the importance of accuracy in Family Tree and just like you, I hate attaching a source that appears to give false data. However, if you believe a record hint is highly likely to be your ancestor, please do not mark it as not a match. As has already been pointed out it affects the search algorithm—but also for the sake of those who come after you, it is better to attach it and give a good explanation. You never know who will be reading your genealogy. In 2023, 6 million people signed up for a FamilySearch account and we will probably beat that number in 2024. Some of them are undoubtedly people who share a common ancestor with you and will appreciate your knowledge when they read your comments.
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I really appreciate all the work you at FamilySearch do, and the source linker system, while very helpful, still needs a LOT of tweaking. A very useful thing would be to allow accounts to hide hints from themselves alone, and with the ability to reveal them again, along with a small reminder that some hints for that person are hidden. Another problem is that a hint disappears from an individual if you're in the middle of attaching people to that record and you need to leave that window. I've lost several that way, and I really don't want to throw off the algorithm…
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Ingrid,
You may wish to visit the New Source Linker Feedback Group where the engineers responsible can see and respond to any issues you may have.
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