Verify Place Names

MichaelDurwardNash

In making the place name selection, sometimes the place names offered aren't an exact match to the city-state-country combination. I realize it's possible to pass on those but before passing the buck, does a more general choice benefit researchers as well? I'm trying to provide good matches to help researchers find their people more efficiently.

Here's an example from México: Zacatepec is the name on the record. There are multiple choices, like

 Zacatepec, Tejupilco, Estado de México, México

 Zacatepec, Axapusco, Estado de México, México

San Felipe Zacatepec, Axapusco, Estado de México, México

So if I were unable to identify the correct Mexican city-state-country combination, is simply putting the more generalized area "Estado de México, México" as the match helpful to researchers?

Ashlee C.

@MichaelDurwardNash That is a great question! We're collecting questions from this forum to help create clearer instructions for the Get Involved projects. I'll add yours to the list and look into it for you.

barbaragailsmith1

This is the whole problem with place name verification. There's no way to know which option is the correct one.