Duplicated indexed data set increasing the number of mistakes
I was very happy when my films started to be indexed in the beginning of 2025. I rushed through my names before people would mistakenly attach my records. I was frustrated when the duplications started in November. But that's ok I'm working thorugh them again to prevent mistakes.
In this last year I was able to make some huge progress that would take years, mostly because my older films could only be accesed in the familysearch library. But I'm very thankful for all the progress I did in this year. Now I was taken to the comune of Locorotondo, Bari, Puglia, Italia.
Again, I have found duplications in Locorotondo as well.
I have noticed that in the Image Group Number: 005619858(Item 2 of 5) - birth records - year 1811. The first batch of indexed data often shows only the first names of the child, father, and mother. Other times it shows first and last names of the mother, but only the first name of the child and the father! Then, to make things worse, the second batch of the indexed data corrected these records with missing surnames by adding the mother's family to the child and the father!
Can you imagine the mess it'll cause?
I'm trying to fix as many records as I can, but I would like to ask FamilySearch indexing team to, please, stop loading duplicated indexing data sets. As long as we can edit the indexed data we'll be able to fix errors but duplicating data will only make any mistakes worse.
Example:
Thank you
Cecilia [name removed for privacy reasons]
Answers
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@CeciMindelli The error of adding the mother’s surname to the child and father ONLY occurs when the scribe included the father’s father AND inserted it before the surname AND the mother’s father was NOT inserted before her surname:
In other words, AI could not find the father’s surname and only the mother’s was found. This also explains why only the first name is often shown in the index. Here is a second example: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9SP-8YWC?view=index&cc=1968511&lang=en&groupId=M99N-45Q&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6NHY-53YR
I will notify engineers of the problem with the wrong surname being given to the child, as it's a new error arising in the second indexing.
Currently, double indexing has been found in 19 Italy State Archive collections (including Bari) and efforts are underway to resolve the issue soon.
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@SerraNola I'm not actualy complaining about the error itself, I'm complaining about the fact that this error was added to the film in the second batch of indexing data set. This error wasn't in the first batch of indexing data set.
Do you know where we can notify engineers about this issue? I have not been able to find a place to report issues.
I'm working on editing that year, it has taken me about 5 hours to fix about 80 images, roughly. I don't mind correctimg them, I just don't want other users to simply create profiles with incorrect information.
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@CeciMindelli SerraNola is the guardian angel of all things that impact our ability to search and the pipeline to the Engineers.
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But the error that I'm most worried about is the following:
In the image above there are 2 birth records. On the left side is record 86 and on the right side record 87.
The first batch of the indexing data set had no surnames for the father and the child, only a surname for the mother. The surname of the mother on record 86 was indexed incorrectly on the first batch. It was supposed to be: Name (Anna Nicola) Surname (Campanella).
The second indexing data set created incorrect surnames as the surname of the mother was added to the father and child, which should never happen in Italian records. The correct surname for father and child is Angelini for record 86 and Lo Russo for record 87.
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@CeciMindelli I understand your concerns. In my response, I was clarifying why the error doesn't appear on every record. As noted, I will notify engineers about the incorrect surname issue in the second indexing and check if it affects the other eighteen collections. The best way to fix the duplication and protect valid data is still uncertain, so it's important the engineers are informed of all errors.
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