RECORT HINTS, to be accurate and helpful, must be open for editing of every detail. Imbed these cor

LegacyUser

Beverly Jean Cail said: Here is an example of a Record Hint that is rendered worse than helpful because of errors that, at the present time, a researcher cannot correct.
In FamilySearch.org/tree, go to Vicktor Leonard Näsman, ID# LBLK-GGD and bring up the attached source: “Viktor Leonard Olof Näsman in household of Adolf Dalén, “Sweden, Household Examination Books, 1880-1930”
Errors:
1. Viktor is NOT in the household of Adolf Dalén. There is a second family on this page and Viktor is the son of this second householder who is the widow Maria Olsdötter Näsman.
2. The Relationship to Head of Household is in error at least EIGHT TIMES in this Record Hint by giving a relationship to Adolf as Head of Household rather than showing a Family No. 2; i.e., Maria Olsdötter Näsman.
3. Maria Olsdötter Näsman’s “Occupation” is NOT “Backs. F. Soldat”. This wording says that Maria is living in a Backstuga (a hut, a simple shelter usually on someone else’s property ) and is the widow of a soldier. The column labeled “Yrke, Stam, Lyte” is asking for a profession, tribe, or defect. The words written in this column for Maria are “f soldat änka” which is repeating that she is the widow of a soldier.
4. The last entry, “Modr änka Maria Persdötter Sandelin” is saying that Maria Persdötter is the mother of the second householder, Maria Olsdötter Näsman, but in this Record Hint she is listed as Adolf Dalén’s widow.
If I were allowed to edit this particular Record Hint used as an example, by simply inserting “Family Number 2”, many other errors would evaporate.
SUGGESTION: Please, please allow researchers to edit the ENTIRE Record Hint. Being able to edit only just a few selected items, such limited editing often does not remove the basic errors.
SUGGESTION: When an edit is made, have it change the Record Hint itself. I have corrected a Record Hint attached to an ancestor in the ancestor’s file, only to find that the corrections adhered only to that one ancestor. All the other siblings had to have this Record Hint corrected in their personal SOURCES list. What a waste of time!
NOTE: Either I do not use the system correctly, or there is an error, because I can edit a Record Hint only to find that later I can go to the “Changes” and nothing has been changed, the title is still in original form and I have edited it, the other changes I have made also have not reflected my changes but remain the same on the “Changes” list. So, what do I do? I bring up the original document and create a SOURCE myself which is a lot of work. How much easier if I could just make corrections and those corrections stay put.
NOTE: Speaking of the particular example I have used, go to that source in Vicktor’s Source list and note that there is a notice attached; i.e., “Unfinished Attachments . Dismiss.” Look at how the researcher has tried to attach this Record Hint to Viktor Leonard Näsman; see what a trial it must have been to him. He has attached Adolf Dalén (Parent) to Olof Olsson Näsman (Father) and also attached Maria Jansdötter, his wife, to Maria Olsdötter (Mother). The errors go on and on, and I think if a researcher could EDIT THE ENTIRE RECORD HINT, all of this could have been avoided.
Sorry for the length of this suggestion, but how else to illustrate the big problem....

English is my native language, but one can find Swedish definitions on the Internet, and by doing the research, one can learn how to read the scribe’s writings on these original documents.
Native Swedes could be the Reviewers of the indexing of these Swedish records and edit out these errors before they become Record Hints.

LegacyUser

Juli said: I think that part of the problem is that you're thinking about this the wrong way around.

You can't edit Record Hints. Those are suggestions that the computer comes up with; all you can do is either accept the hint or reject it. Either decision will to some small degree affect the algorithm for future suggestions, but this should not be a consideration when determining whether the suggestion is correct or not.

What you can edit is citations (the entries on a profile's Sources tab). On some collections, you can now also amend the indexed names, dates, and places, but this doesn't affect any already-created citations of the index. Amending the index helps future searchers, whether computerized or human, find the right records; it doesn't do anything much when a record has already been found.

Keep in mind that the index is not the record. The index is merely a finding aid. Unfortunately, FS blurs this line rather badly, because the index is machine-parsable data, while the record itself (or an image thereof) is not.

LegacyUser

Paul said: I would just add a comment regarding one point in your post. The FamilySearch census sources / records for England & Wales also often present a totally incorrect impression regarding households.

The 1841 set classes the person at the top of the page as the head of the household. Admittedly, there is a problem not of their making, in that (unlike the 1851 and subsequent collections) the separate households on individual pages are not clearly defined.

However, due to the FamilySearch practice of using citations in its indexing processes, a household that appears over two pages in the original census return cannot be linked. Therefore, if, say, two of the children appear on the "next" page of the original document, the child at the top of that page becomes a head of household by default.

As Juli suggests, we have become accustomed to relying on indexes for our information, whereas they should never be regarded as more than (often rather imperfect) finding aids. Where possible, the original document(s) must always be consulted for a clear picture of the "facts" (well, at least the detail as was originally recorded).