Missing indexing fields in "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Licenses 1893" collection
Hello FamilySearch community!
I was recently reviewing records in the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Licenses 1893 collection and discovered that the indexing template is missing several fields that are clearly present in the original documents.
The marriage license affidavits in this collection are quite detailed and contain the following information that is not captured in the current index:
- Birth date of applicants
- Birth place of applicants
- Age at marriage
- Residence address of applicants
- Previous marriage status and how it was dissolved
For example, one specific record https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29S-WRTY?lang=en for William Bister Jackson and Emma Bux contains:
- Groom's birth date: 23 May 1851, Philadelphia
- Bride's residence: 300 W Susquehanna Ave, Philadelphia
- Bride's age: 38
- Previous marriage dissolved by death of prior husband in Philadelphia
This information would significantly improve searchability for researchers using this collection. Could someone advise whether these fields can be added to the indexing template, or is there a process to request this enhancement?
Thank you for your help!
Answers
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When records are indexed, the essential details are extracted to allow us to search for the principals listed. The index is a finding aid, not a copy of all fields.
The indexing template was designed to work with a variety of marriage record forms, not just those in Philadelphia in that time period.
Also, now that many collections are available through full-text search, you can search fields that were not indexed. In this example, I searched Philadelphia marriages for the surname Burgess in conjunction with the keyword "divorce."
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Thank you for explaining why fields are limited — that makes sense for a generic template. My question is more specifically about whether the template for this particular collection (Philadelphia Marriage Licenses 1893) can be updated to include additional fields that are clearly and consistently present in every record, such as birth date, age, residence, and previous marriage status. Is there a process to request this enhancement, or a specific team I should contact? I would like that information indexed not just available through a full-text search.
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I'm not FS staff or even a mod in this Community. Given history, I would say it is extremely unlikely that a record set would be reindexed.
Today's FS indexing projects begin with AI and are followed by human review. A high percentage of FS record sets have not yet been indexed. It's more likely that those that have not been indexed will be. A potential reindexing project would be way down the list, in my personal opinion.
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FYI - this Help Article may be useful:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/can-i-make-an-indexing-request-for-records1 -
@Kenton1010 I am not sure how you found yourself in the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Licenses 1893 Collection. You can find these records in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1388247?collectionNameFilter=true
However, since you mentioned reviewing records, I must assume that you were in the "Get Involved Opportunities." The Get Involved opportunities have replaced the old indexing method. @Áine.ní.Donnghaile was correct, the new way of indexing (through Get Involved) begins with AI and is followed by human review.
Check out the 4-step process.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/getinvolved/indexing/
While we are reviewing names either in Quick Name Review or the full names in Full Name Review or verifying places, we see important dates and events, and can become anxious that those important life events will be missed, but AI transcribes the record and picks up those important things. It is then scanned into Full-Text Search, where every bit of information in the record can be found. Get Involved is a journaling system, which means that if AI misreads a name, we can correct it. For example, if AI reads a name and transcribes it as Milt, and we see that it is really Matt, then both names will be searchable. I hope I have understood your post correctly and that the information I provide helps you understand how it all works.
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