Thoughts on Correcting Errors in the Records
Comments
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Jimmy Hurst said: I'm very happy overall with your site. Yes, I would like to be able to add notes to records when I know they are in error...Still, I am forever grateful for the help your sites have been...least I forget to say it often...
Best Wishes,
Jim0 -
Robert Phillips said: I agree!0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: One cannot be sure without seeing the two census pages, but from the description, and from what usually happened when an enumerator reached the bottom of a page and continued the family on the next page, usually without reentering the family number or the surname, If the indexer did not look at the previous image to get the correct family number, the person could be wrongly connected. In fact, if this is what happened, it is lucky if he has the right surname.0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: Call Support, ask for Historical Records and report the error, When you tell them about the error, ask them to make an enhancement request to change the project identification information. Changing the label on a project may be a change that can be made.0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: Training you describe is available and looking over the whole document is encouraged, but hot all indexers are that diligent.0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: The arbitrators should not be beginners and should look at every entry, even if two beginners agree on a wrong spelling..0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: There are many programs in familysearch that would be more useful if thebasic identifying information or the column headings could be pinned at the top while the rest of the document scrolled.0
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Wayne Morris Wright said: Remember, an index s not a source. it points to the original record which was and is the source..
Published genealogies should not be sources either. The quality of the information in published genealogies depends on the quality of research and the accuracy of transcription.. Errors are frequent. They should be used as a guide to find the sources needed in order to verify the information.0 -
Marcia said: Hi! Your site is wonderful but I would love to be able to make corrections. For example, my Cuthbert Ebenezer BEGGS is shown as Cuthbert Ebenezer BIGGS. My parents, besides being related to him, were friends of his when they all immigrated to Winnipeg and his correct name is shown in the records there as well as on the Irish Civil Registration as far as I know.
Also my Frederick Cuthbert VODREY is shown as Frederick Cuthbert VODBEL. Frederick Cuthbert Vodrey was the son of the famous Irish art pottery manufacturer, Frederick Vodrey, of Dublin. As far as I know there is no such surname as "Vodbel".
I think you might look into the method used by Ancestry.com where people's corrections are shown as something like "alternatives" and then, I believe, can be found by a search on the "alternative" name.
Hope you can find a workable solution. Thanks,
Marcia Cuthbert (relative of the above mentioned people).
P.S.: It took me 3 days to be able to get into this page in order to post this comment. Page too slow loading. NOW it keeps asking me to log in and I am already logged in.1 -
Lori Anne Huntley said: I was going to add ancestors to my family tree and found that someone has put the wrong person in the data base as the father of my great-grandmother, Mary Lamkin Perkin. Someone put William Lambkin as her father when, in fact, her father was John Lamkin. I have family records to prove this. This happened once before but I was able to see who input the data, contact that person, and have her remove the wrong person so I could input the correct person. This time I cannot see who input the data. It is very upsetting to find these errors and to know that I will not be able to perform ordinances for John Lamkin and his predicessors. At least I can have the correct records in Ancestry.com. It makes it difficult to want to continue to work on geneology. I realize that this is an enormous data base with thousands of people working in it and that it is very easy to make mistakes. We just need to remember that one day, during the millennium, all record errors will be corrected.0
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Jerry Feyh said: This is a wonderful website & research aid, but what is so difficult in implementing something similar to Ancestry.com? That ability has helped me find ancestors as well as helping other researchers save hours of researching these index records; by allowing and adding variations or corrections and comments.0
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Bernice Mistrot said: I echo the above thoughts. Ancestry has a fairly efficient means for correcting transcription errors. Whay can't FamilySearch do the same? I am looking at a Texas death certificate transcribed thus:
Name: Thomas Reever Ilirshill
Birth Date: 14 Sep 1914
Death Date: 26 Feb 1917
Father's Name: Thomas Reeves Ilirshill
Mother's Name: Eehie Kilgors
Here is his brother's death certificate, which was correctly transcribed:
Name: Kirwin Reeves Mitchell
Birth Date: 8 Oct 1909
Death Date: 29 Nov 1914
Father's Name: Thomas Reeves Mitchell
Mother's Name: Ethel Kilgore
Admittedly the handwriting is difficult on the first one, but knowing what the names are, it is clear that the transcription is nowhere close to what the document says. I don't fault the original transcriber, but there should be a means to post the correct information alongside the transcriber's guess. If adding this function isn't a high priority at FamilySearch, it should be.0 -
Lorna Audrey Morrison said: You should be able to internally correct a glaring wrong record when the father's birth date is AFTER the child's birthdate and you have the paper work in your hand but some loony put the wrong date in and now is an inactive member.Help0
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Natalie Louise Therriault said: George bruce #MCG7-XCD is a male not female, please remove from record as it is recorded as both m and f.0
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Natalie Louise Therriault said: Correction, please remove george bruce - female. He is male.0
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JEAN HARDCASTLE said: I have been looking for some time for Thomas Hardcastle -I thought that I had found him in your records (Christened 1776 Kirkburton) but the Huddersfield & District Family History Society says that your information is incorrect - this is not satisfactory as I might go to a lot of trouble to find his so-called father William who doesn't exist. There should be a way of correcting these errors.0
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gasmodels said: Well the record on FamilySearch.org does have a film that you can look at and determine if the transcription is incorrect. It is possible that this christening is for another Thomas Hardcastle not the one you are interested in. Sometimes a name is insufficient to define an individual.0
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Joe Mode said: I have been searching for information in Laurens, South Carolina. The family I have been looking for is Barksdale. I have noticed that on many census entries and on several death certificates the name has been anything but Barksdale, and is often so far off that phonetics doesn't even help. I sure would like to be able to correct these entries for others who may be looking. These particular Barksdales are of African Ancestry, i.e. David Barksdale born circa 1835-40 and his daughter Queen.0
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JEAN HARDCASTLE said: Thanks gasmodels I don't quite know how to access the film. The H&DFHSoc
says that there is a Joseph Hardcastle b.1776 but the record in Family Search is for Thomas Cockin not Thomas Hardcastle and that the Parish Records are very faded. I have been in touch with Huddersfield Library and they couldn't find a birth for Thomas Hardcastle in the 1770-1781 time span either. According to the census forms he was born 1781 but I was interested in 1776
because as we all know dates are problematical.0 -
JEAN HARDCASTLE said: Family Search loading times are generally very slow Marcia and they are always asking for log-ins something to do with java I suppose. The downloading of pages for indexers is incredibly slow - I have time to make a cup of coffee whilst waiting for a new page. I would do more arbitration work if the downloads were quicker.0
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JEAN HARDCASTLE said: FreeBMD also have facilities for corrections. When a searcher reports an error the transcriber is notified by email and we are able to make a correction.0
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Diana Holland said: I recently started indexing for this site and if this mistake made it through arbitration, there are serious problems here. I found my Ancestor Belle Alden Lyle, Death in Signal Mountian Tennessee and the image clearly says her Husband is Alexander Lyle. However the indexer put her husband's name as Lucy Dulan. That's not even on the record. If this went trough two steps and someone still thought this was right, there is a major problem with that system.0
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Donna Joy Mc Cann Jones said: ERIN MARIE JONES: died (committed suicide}. WONDERFUL YOUNG WOMAN!
DATE: 30 April 2011. She had been excomunicated also. Her name is listed under her parents: Wm G Jones and Donna J Jones. We would like her death date to be noted under this listing.. This will make it easier for us to re-do her ordinances in a year. THANKYOU Sincerely Sister Donna Joy Jones0 -
Robert Phillips said: FreeBMD (UK) is very, very challenging to comment on, including searching for a special word within a screed of writing on one page - and I have given up on several attempts when I have seen an error! However, I agree entirely with the concept of REPORTING errors, but certainly not with the suggestions of many who want the right to "correct" what they THINK they know is wrong.0
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Donna Joy Mc Cann Jones said: Dear New.Family Search.Org = My message to you is above, concerning a listing of death for our daughter ERIN MARIE JONES Listed with our other children.
(Dennis, Nelda, James, Sheila and Erin) She died 30 April 2011 in Great Falls, Montana. She is so dear to us although she had been excommunicated and commited suicide. Please help with her record - Donna J Jones THANKYOU. My address is 931 Av B NW; Great Falls, MT 59404 Phone 406-454-18020 -
Mary Susan (Carlson) Scott said: I am very sorry about the death of your daughter and offer my condolences.
After I read your initial posting, I used the help center on New FamilySearch to find the document with answers to your questions. It is Document ID 110136.
This document provides the steps you will need to follow to do the temple ordinances for your daughter.
You will need to write the First Presidency to request permission to do Erin's temple ordinances. The information and the appropriate address is listed in the Help Document.
This is a place to explore family history topics and we have no ability to help you. However the First Presidency does have the authority. Use the Help Document ID 110136 and follow the instructions.
Best wishes to you and your family.0 -
Kathryn Davis said: There needs to be a way to make corrections. This problem should not be occuring. In my instance I found that someone submitted information on family tree. Only thing is that they have a son married to his step mother. They did not note that the son was a Junior.
When do you think that you will correct this?? The way you have things setup means that I have to submit the correct information. Instead of just correcting the information already in your system.
Please fix this! It will help reduce duplication and confusion!!!0 -
Robert Phillips said: The problem with users correcting records is that it is not cross-validated with the formal records in the transcriber's possession.
The biggest flaw in allowing random corrections is that anyone can make those corrections. If the "other" person thinks that you're wrong, they would have the same rights to change it back again to how they believe it should be. Yet another could disagree with both of you.
None of you has access to the document which the transcriber can see, and you may all be wrong through foundational errors in your research which lead to that record.
Yes - transcribers make errors; some may make more than most and may need to be relieved of the job.
However, considering the tens of millions of records now on-line in Family Search, a few thousand errors is actually a drop in the bucket (less than 0.1%).
It is vastly superior to the IGI files, which must always be seen as highly dubious and are frequently wrong. The IGI serves to remind us what happens when records are based entirely on members' "research". The results are frequently appalling, and contain chronological impossibilities.
It would be most useful to be able to ADVISE of errors in due course, but no way should we have open access to adjust as we see fit. The problem again returns to the fact that the many people who have poorly-researched work are going to be prolific objectors and want it changed to suit what they have decided is correct.
How does the organisation politely filter those out?
We should be thankful, and enjoy what is - not what isn't - and appreciate what has been done so far, knowing that it can only gett even better.0 -
Don Cameron said: I don't think it matters one jot if you have 1 or 100 corrections to a supposed error, as long as the original transcription remains the primary record. People can judge for themselves which is correct, the original or the correction. For example, when I make corrections on Ancestry, I always give additional information as to why I think the original is incorrect. For example, my grandfather Emile Paul Victor FOUCARD, is recorded on the IGI with his mother as Sophia STREET. However, I know his mother was Susan or Susannah PECK. I have his birth certificate and other records to prove this. But an uninformed researcher would find this record and go off looking for Sophia STREET etc.0
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Don Cameron said: Oh I should add that the IGI records with batch numbers are very valid, it is only member supplied records on the IGI which are dubious.0
This discussion has been closed.