Why I hope FamilySearch keeps the MEMORIES FIND option
Why I hope FamilySearch keeps the MEMORIES FIND option
The option has been one of my most used FamilySearch functions in the type of family history work that I do.
As others have stated - with MILLIONS of memories items in FamilySearch - its value would be seriously limited without some option to look for the "needle in the haystack"
using keyword/subject searching and even allowing compounds terms in the search.
Below are just some examples why I so valued the FIND resource
- I can use the FIND option to find memories items that pertain to a specific subject,
topic tag, or key word. And then I can do one or more of the following:
a) I can FIND items submitted by other people that meet given criteria (subject/keyword etc.)
this can be extremely useful in gathering more information than I have.
b) I can Find other people doing some of the same sort of research as I am doing and easily contact them and share information.
b) I can indirectly find items that were never tagged by the person who submitted them and then I can person/topic tag the item on their behalf.
c) It allows me to search by subject (keyword) - and not just by person (memories tab of person profile)
d) It indirectly allows me to find albums that other people have created with contents of a given subject/criteria
e) With the above search options - it also allowed me to filter results by the type of memories item it is.
f) It allowed the use of compound search criteria (if you rememembered to use compound operators and type the AND in upper case) - It allowed me to find uploads from other people and then in turn group them into albums of a given subject or category.
Work like this would be virtually impossible without the FIND option.
It allowed me to create albums of such things as:
a) FAMILY REGISTERS
b) FAMILY BIBLES
c) GENEALOGICAL SAMPLERS
d) FUNERAL CARDS
e) DIARIES AND JOURALS
g) MOURNING RINGS and other MOMENTO MORI
h) a zillion and one other groupings I have been able to compile - It has allowed me to often find items that I was looking for - but because I had no idea who the item was hooked to - I would have had no other way to find it.
- It allows people to more effectively collaborate amongst each other as it relates to Memories items they have uploaded.
- It allows one to do an incredible amount of work as it relates to ONE NAME STUDIES and other
similar research finding all sort of items that pertain to a given surname. - It allowed the user to realize that they could effectively access, search, locate, and take advantage - information about
MILLIONS of genealogical items from millions of users across the globe
and find many "Needles in Haystacks" that would have been impossible to find otherwise.
If the Memories FIND option is not there - then the only way to locate items is on a one person centric access
(via the memories tab of a given person in Family tree - but WITH the FIND option - there are millions (billions??)
of documents that become within our reach - even if we dont know who they are linked to.
PLEASE RETAIN the Memories FIND option!!!
To not do so - would be a huge step backwards - and a dis-service to millions of serious researchers.
Some features I have always wished The FIND Feature had:
- People should not be forced to type in compound AND operators
That should be implied (YANCEY BIBLES - should equate to YANCEY AND BIBLE)
and if you do retain the "AND" - please don't force us to type it in upper case. - Allow us to search by attributes of a person the item is hooked to
Example: Make it easier to search for BIBLE RECORDS hooked to people by name MARY SMITH)
without having to look for the name MARY SMITH in the keywords of the memories item.
Ancestry.com does a great example of this in their item searches.
another example - search for a probate record of someone who was born in Philadlephia.
(with it working whether or not the word "Philadelphia" was in the keywords of the memories item - rather that Philadelphia was the birth place of the person the item was linked to. - Allow for more AI / fuzzy type searching - but still allow for exact matches that are not "fuzzy" if the user wants that.
- allow for the creation of topic tags created by the system using AI type logic
so that even if the user did not input any topic tags - some could/would be created by the system.
(what good are topic tags - when so few people add them)
Comments
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PLEASE KEEP THIS OPTION! I USE IT OFTEN!
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Another feature of Memories that I wish would return in some form
is the process that when a person makes a comment on a memories item - It used to be that ther uploader of the item would be notified of the comment.This was, I believe, intentionally deactivated about two years ago.
It was so helpful . .0 -
Another serious FLAW with the FIND option was that when you did a search and came back with the results - you could not navigate from one item to the next - you had to actually refresh the query result.
This was extremely annoying.0 -
Thank you for all these thoughts and suggestions…I have logged each of them, and I will share them with the Memories Team.
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