Big indexing errors in Frändefors, Älvsborg, Sweden birth records

LegacyUser

Heidi Kuosmanen said: In Frändefors, Älvsborg, Sweden birth records, Film Number: 4001174, contain two big indexing errors.

1. Location (Event Place) is entered as Brålanda, Älvsborg, Sweden, which is neighboring parish

2. All children have their father's/mother's patronymic as their last name and not their own. e.g.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/619...
Child is Anders and mother is Christina Jonsdotter
it is indexed as Anders Jonsdotter (meaning Anders daughter of Jon) and mother Cherstin Jonsdotter. Child should be Anders Christinasson (son of Christina)
and other example
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/619...
Child is Lars and father is Daniel Jonasson
it is indexed as Lars Jonasson while correct name is Lars Danielsson

These indexing errors make it very hard to find correct records!

LegacyUser

Francie Whitfield said: One of my non-member friends mentioned a similar situation her mom has come across while researching her Danish/Dutch family lines. The naming sequence is very different from the "american" way or many other countries. They name their children very much like how you described.

A male with last name "Peterson" would mean the first name is a male person and the son of Peter.

Similarly with a person with last name "Sherriesdotter" would mean first name is a female child of Sherrie.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: This is the ideal place to report gross indexing errors. I'm not sure why the index is so badly mangled, but it is obvious that the indexers involved did not recognize the way the information was recorded. What is even more frustrating is that in most cases, a non-patronymic maiden name is quickly recognized in records and not used in the associated index.

The entire set needs to be reindexed for those kinds of gross errors.

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Regarding report #2:

Unfortunately this is a case study in the risks of widespread automatic "fixing" of a database that should stand as a cautionary tale for those wishing that Family Search would just write a little routine and go in and fix such things as missing standardized places.

First off, don't blame the indexers. It isn't their fault. When I first starting using the online indexes for Norwegian and Swedish records, which have the same surname problems for many of the indexed batches, back when they were first put online sometime about 2005 these children did not have any last name at all. They were listed in the index with just a first name because that is how they were originally indexed.

Several years later, someone came up with the idea that this needed to be fixed to help with searching and a routine was written. Unfortunately, the routine did not take into account patronymics and just put the father's or, occasionally, the mother's last name in for the child's last name.

Here is what the Research Wiki has to say about this:
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/...

Question #1: The children’s last names do not seem to comply with the Scandinavia patronymic naming system. Are the indexed names correct?
Answer #1: When indexing the Scandinavian collections, the indexer is to transcribe “what you see” and not create a surname for the child based on the name of the father if a surname was not actually available for the child on the original record being indexed. Prior to publishing the collection, a surnames-based software computer program was written to decide what the surname should be. In some instances, an error may have occurred, in that the child was given the father's surname instead of using the father's first name plus the word sen or datter (son or daughter), the Scandinavia patronymic naming system. For more detailed information about the Scandinavia patronymic naming system, read the research wikis, Norway Names Personal and Scandinavia: Names.

This answer is incomplete and therefore, incorrect. Many of the incorrect surnames are the result of post-processing done after indexing. These records cannot be corrected. Users should not rely on the information found in the index and should always check the index against the original record. Current indexing instructions for Scandinavian projects have indexers enter surnames only when it is given in the record. This helps the index more accurately reflect the record and not contain unsupported conclusions. SvareJM (talk) 14:38, 23 October 2018 (UTC)

I love the low-key, polite understatement of "In some instances, an error may have occurred." It should say, "massive errors occurred in which hundreds of entire batches had the wrong last name put on every child."

I have learned that for Norway and Sweden (I don't know about Denmark but it could be there to) it is best to rarely set up a search using patronymics like this:



but rather to nearly always set up the search like this:

LegacyUser

Lundgren said: Thank you for your feed back.

I have passed the place problem along to the team that can deal with it.

The other posts here cover the problems with patronymics, and as mentioned it is not limited to this one set of documents. I personally share your frustration with this data.

LegacyUser

Paul said: I agree with Tom's statement:

"The entire set needs to be reindexed for those kinds of gross errors."

It would be fascinating to see how the whole indexing set-up works, with regards to logging and prioritising.

Whilst I am finding up to six identical looking christening sources for some of my relatives (obviously due to duplicate indexing and/or filming) there are examples like this - "known" collections that desperately need to be re-indexed, with the existing ones being simultaneously withdrawn.

How can these problems be addressed? If there is the will, then without too much difficulty, I believe.