Suggested "Solutions" for the "Extra Entries" Issue(s)
Mitigation / Intervention Actions for the main “Extra Entries” issues: "I can't submit my batch." or "Where are the rest of the records the system says I need to index?"
Proposal:
(a) Intervene right at the Submission/QC step and upon detecting an error, have the system indicate possible causes, including extra unneeded entries (e.g. Do you have extra unneeded entries that you need to delete using the trashcan icon?),
(b) Change the wording of the current instruction that is meant to address the main effects of the preset/default number of entries.
- Current wording example: The default number of entries per image for this project is 70. You may need to add or delete entries in the data entry area to index all of the records on an image or remove unused entries.
- Suggested revised wording (I suggest including the bolding): The default number of entries per image for this project is 70. This is NOT an indication that 70 records need to be indexed for each image. You may need to add or delete entries in the data entry area to index all of the records on an image or remove unused entries using the trashcan icon.
(c) Perhaps consider changing the number of default entries per image back to 1.
Why bother:
To Quote @Melissa S Himes: From the recent Top Ten Indexing Mistakes Conversation, and echo me from other conversations:
“And...the number one most answered question in Indexing Chat: Why won't my batch submit? Some projects have a pre-set number of entries. After you have entered all the information on your image, Click on the Trash Can Icon, Select "all blank entries", Click Delete.”
And @annewandering :
“Learning how to delete extra default entries is one of the biggest issues I have seen. Marking them all blank is not the answer.”
Background:
Since about the beginning of 2020, projects have been provided with a default number of blank entries per image based on an "average" number of records that is expected to be indexed for that project. I understand that this was meant to avoid the issue of Indexers' failing to index all the records on an image because there was only one blank entry provided.
Unintended consequences:
A couple of the unintended consequences of this newer practice include:
(a) The main issue I'm addressing here - the Indexer cannot submit a batch and wonders what the problem is, when the solution is ("simply" if you know it) to delete the extra entries.
(b) Some Indexers get stuck wondering "Where are the other records that the system "expects" me to index?" Some of these folks immediately raise a question on Indexing Q&A. Some go on wrongly to index from the Reference Images. Others (who knows how many?) just suffer in silence, are stymied, and give up. In any case, time and brainpower are wasted and frustration rises. Indexing errors can result.
Comments
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That trash can idea is one I will remember. I was reviewing a Liberia 2008 Census batch that had 214(!) entries, all of which had "garbage" input. I had to go through all of the entries after indexing the real entries and "<Blank> all" for more than 200 entries to be able to submit the batch. 🤬
Would it be possible to limit the number of "average" default number of entries to the maximum number of items in the source material, whether that is number of images or the number of items in a listing?
Any thoughts or comments?
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Hi Kenneth. In many/most cases, the system doesn't know how many records there will be in any given Image, so the Indexer has to use his judgment and index just what should be indexed, using what entries are needed and delete the rest, or add more entries as needed.
Regarding the work you had to do with that particular batch you described, You might be interested in the following guide to the horizontal toolbar below, because you can do what you described in a matter of a minute or so.
In particular look at the 5th Tool from the left ("Mark the Entry Blank"). With that, you could have blanked the entire first of those 200 unnecessary incorrect Entries (i.e. all the Fields in it). So now the first of those Entries is completely blank.
Then, you could have used the 6th Tool from the right ("Copy Test from the Selected Field to all matching following Fields") to go through each of the now-blank Fields in that first unnecessary Entry, and copy/send that <Blank> indicator through to every Field in all of the following 199 unnecessary Entries, thus blanking them all (i.e. all their Fields).
Now, with all 200 unnecessary Entries now completely blank, the trashcan can do its job.
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