How do l index information
How do l index information
Answers
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Hello @Melissa52206, what information do you wish to index, and with what aim?
If you want to get involved with the formal FamilySearch image indexing process, just click on Get Involved on the FamilySearch home page to reach the relevant information.
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If you would like to index, once you log in to FS, go here:
https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/my-indexing
You will see a blue "Find Batches" button on the left-hand side. Click that.
A dialog box will appear, containing all indexing projects that are available to you (if not, uncheck all three boxes under "Difficulty Level"). You can sort by Difficulty, A-Z, Z-A, Newest/Oldest and Least/Most Complete. Beginner batches are few and far between now, with the last being Tennessee Death Records and that was earlier this year. The best bet, if you are new, is the City Directories project, but I do not see that right now that is indexable (keep checking, that project is huge). The other best bet is the Alaska church records. Next to the directories, that is the most straightforward project ATM. You will probably also see Naturalization projects. If you are brand-new-never-indexed-before, I do not suggest those. They are intermediate/advanced projects. Cut your teeth on the first two projects first, then, if you want, take a stab at the Nats. You can also use the search box for keywords like "Alaska" or "Directories". That will show every project with that word in it. New projects fall mostly on Fri/Sat/Sun, with occasional ones throughout the week. FS does not announce projects ahead of time.
With all projects, read the dialog boxes and Project Instructions first. The dialog box will pop up before every batch and the Project Instructions are on both Step 1: Images and Step 2: Entries at the bottom of the left-hand side. The Instructions are also found at the very end of your toolbar, the button that has the page and I on it. In the Instructions, it will give you samples on how to index the document(s) in that project and also gives you other instructions on how to index the project (Like the Nats projects you do not index family members; wife, kids, because they are not seeking Naturalization, only the applicant is). You can go back to the Instructions at any time when you have a batch open to see if "Oh, I do index that." After 10 years, I still check, mainly to see if anything has changed between parts of a project.
If you are stuck, we are here to help. To ask a question, it is preferable to share your batch code, which is located at the top of your indexing screen, which will look something like MQK3-ZN3. You can also find the batch code under Batch —> About Batch and Help —> Share Batch. We can guide you in the right direction for whatever question(s) you may have.1 -
Melissa - If you are new to indexing, WELCOME! The best advice any of us will give you is to read the instructions for each batch (CTRL + SHIFT + P), read the instructions in the purple question marks for each data box, it's helpful to do a few reviews on easy projects to get started, when you open a batch - look around, get the lay of land, so to speak, try to understand what you are actually looking at and why it might be important to a fellow genealogist one day, and read the instructions. And by all means, come here to ask questions … no question is dumb. We are all here to help each other and learn, and you will find friends here over time!
Happy indexing!
The Cemetery Tramp
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