Need more indexing fields

margaretlorrainedunn1

I am indexing parish registers for Middlesex, London. There is so much more information on the original record such as residence, abbreviations for district parishes etc but no field to enter them. I believe we are doing our patrons a disservice by not indexing all available information. This information may be the way they can pin point their exact ancestor.

Melissa S Himes

Here is a link that will help to explain why we don't index all the information on a record:

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/why-is-there-incomplete-indexing-on-some-documents

SusanMullenPelton

At heart I think most indexers are researchers. We want all the information. And it is all there when the researcher looks at the image he/she finds using the index. We have to remember that we are not recreating a document. We are indexing it so a researcher can easily find it.

Love indexes but they are tools to help us find the actual source document with all the additional information!

hergetdelton1

my question is how to add an entry that was always there until tonight - FIRST NAME tab got removed somehow when I was checking entries from the record.

The Surname is still there, and the Type of Record is still the first entry - but the "First Name' is needed for every entry I do - What I did, I am not sure - I was just checking entries and this one time scroll thru deleted the FIRST NAME which is second in the list of entries.

Thx for someone to reply and help me to restore the entry [email protected]

Melissa S Himes

Hello @hergetdelton1! The best thing to do is to share your batch. You can reply to this message with that batch code by giving us the letters and numbers in the bracket after the title. Like [MXSY-X7V].

In the meantime, I think there are three possibilities. The First Name (Given Name) tab got moved around in the entry field, or it got hidden from sight. If you want to try this you probably will find the Given Name column: Click the three dots in the blue bar and the click Reset the Field Order. Magically, all the fields will return to where they are supposed to be. UNLESS you have somehow hidden the Given Name field. When you click on the three dots you will also see an option to Show and Hide Fields. Click on that option and make sure that the Given Names field isn't hidden from view. If it is it will be gray text instead of black text. If it is gray, click on the field and it will return to blank and be unhidden. The third possibility is that on the review, you deleted all the first names using a combination of keys, but I think that this is doubtful.

Hope this helps. Let me know if it does, or if someone helped you via your email, or share your batch for a more accurate answer!

Best Wishes!