Saturday, July 16, 2016

I Am In AWE! Please Read

So while the weather was absolutely PERFECT outside today, I spent most of it inside indexing for familysearch https://familysearch.org/worldsrecords trying to do a little paying back for all the FREE records they have given me over the decades.

It's not totally easy - you do have to READ - but once you do you'll find you can choose the country and record set you'd like to help with. And about once an hour I had to take a break from my Irish Death records to get outside and rest my eyes, and brain. So hard to read, and so sad to read. I have never worked behind the scenes with familysearch, but I do know that it would be much appreciated for indexers to choose an area they are familiar with to index. Such is not the case. So every single time I volunteer to do some indexing, for whomever, it makes me a much better researcher. Why? Because I 'get' the challenges indexers have. The never ending challenges, especially as they are almost always working in an unfamiliar area, with unfamiliar place names, and unfamiliar surnames, and unfamiliar circumstances.

So today I indexed mostly death records from Ireland Civil Registrations. This is a series of records that are super hard to come by for researchers. Today I understand that. I won't swear, but Holy CRAP are they hard to read!!!!!! And when I could read, soooo many of the ages were for babies which have to be indexed as 0. Once you read the rules for indexers, you just might learn new tricks to assist you in your personal research!!

Please remember that the LDS records are FREE on familysearch, and those you order in through your local FHC is postage cost only. How does this happen? Well boy and girls, it happens through volunteers like you and I. Maybe I will index something that will help YOU! I hope so. Maybe you will index something that will help ME! I hope so. Working together is just THE BEST!!! So while we get frustrated when we can't locate a record, chances are the LDS Church has already microfilmed that record. They just need indexers to get them online, FREE, and easy to work with. Won't you help? AND appreciate what indexers go through to help.

It doesn't matter if you're only able to do a few. It doesn't matter if you can't help until late Sunday. Every bit of assistance is so appreciated by the person who finds what they're looking for! Could that be YOU? Pitch in.


Cheers,
Pat

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