User input on digitized collections
I constantly browse the records at FamilySearch and would love to share useful information somewhere that others could use.
Many of the films have waypoints, which helps. But it may help someone browsing deeds/grants for Robeson Co. NC 1792-1793 to know that the A index page is at the very end of the roll, not at the beginning where all the other index pages are. This sort of thing is not at all uncommon in my experience and it would be great if there were a way for researchers to easily share these tips for a particular collection.
Comments
-
This is an excellent idea, but I'm not sure if FS would want to host this information or if it is the best place for it. It may be possible to record this information on an article in the FamilySearch Wiki, but you'd need to get permission first- in my experience as an editor of the Wiki, FS and FHL Staff are getting increasingly annoyed when ordinary editors make changes that they don't like and they have the power to delete any edit you make.
In Netherlands genealogy, we once had Zoekakten, formerly known as Genlias. This was a website where people could contribute waypoints for each film. This was very helpful for films with hundreds or even 1000+ images of different types of records from a wide range of dates and places. The website also had direct URL links to the images, making it much quicker to use Zoekakten versus the FS Catalog. Unfortunately, FS changed all the URL links and this combined with a lack of volunteers caused the site to close. Note: a pirated version of this website is still online. Don't try to access it or you may introduce viruses to your computer.
I'm sure there will be plenty of other websites like this, and genealogy societies in particular will often have this data as well.
0 -
If the records are part of a Record Collection (one you find here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list/), you can open the collection and click the How to Use this Collection link above the search fields. This takes you to a wiki article about the collection. You can click Edit at the top of the article, if you already have editing rights in the wiki, and add your tips. The "How Do I Search This Collection?" section would be a good spot for tips. If you don't have editing rights, you can request them. On the right panel, scroll to Edit the Wiki and click Become an Editor. I love these articles about the collections and reference them often to understand some of the limitations and known issues within collections. Make them better by adding tips you find along the way!
0
