Reporting Error -Why is Mark Your Calendar showing on the United States Obituary Records, 2014-2023?
United States, Obituary Records, 2014-2023.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XM9S-C5BG?lang=en The Obituary for Mark Your Calendar’ upcoming online homesteading events is found in the Obituary Records, 2014-2023. This is not an obituary. It is from the Battle Ground, WA newspaper - The Washington State University Master Gardeners Cowlitz County Extension advertising upcoming events. Which is found on https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-G77H-BXW4?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXM9S-C5BG&action=view&lang=en&groupId=
Also https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:61BK-L9V6?lang=en. These are not obituary records, they are Advertisements for various events on 1 March 2020 in Bailey Colorado.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHJ-B774-Q9MT-L?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A61B1-KBR7&action=view&lang=en&groupId= is not an obituary but Upcoming homesteading event – WSU Master Gardener online workshop.
Answers
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@IdahoSusieQ - ouch.
Assuming that there aren't multiple collections with the same issue, we keep getting told that FamilySearch doesn't produce the indexes in question, it only buys them in. Therefore there's nothing FS can do, short of dumping the collection entirely. At least in this instance, we appear to be able to see the images or the OCR text. So aside from those researchers who think that they cannot spend the time reading the text or image, there's no serious likelihood of a mistake being made.
My only suggestion would be that FS alter the name of the collection to "Newspaper Records" - we've had several complaints about the dates and geographical coverage.
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Yes, this is a weird collection. Looking at your first example, this is so blatantly not an obituary that there is only one explanation: It is fully computer generated.
In other words, the company that produced the index must have just scanned a bunch of newspapers and turned the scans over to an OCR/AI routine to identify and index all obituaries in them. There must be something about the number and arrangements of names and dates in the announcement of the event (Sounds fun, by the way. Wish I could have gone.) that confused the automated routine into thinking it was an obituary.
As the saying goes: "To err is human; to really foul things up requires a computer."
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It's seriously weird.
Maybe "Mark Your Calendar" has been treated as an obit because the identified given name is "Mark"? But there are several following that are also branded as Obits where there is less of an excuse. And even weirder, several of the (genuine) obits don't have an index in this collection… Maybe the index that isn't there, is an FS index and the original identification as an obit is down to the supplier?
🤔
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