FamilySearch Indexing has the promise of becoming the premier tool for family history enthusiasts. We've read the announcements about the partnerships between the Family History Society / FamilySearch and many large historical resource companies.
If you haven't read about the scope of FamilySearch Indexing, start here with the church article about the Scanstone project.
The wonderful news is that the church is scanning every document and book in the family history vaults and creating digital images of the lot. Those that can be posted under copyrights, contract, etc. will be posted on the web for free access by anyone.
BUT...
They need our help in the Indexing. I've been indexing census records for the project for a while now. It is easy and only takes a few minutes a day. You download a batch to your computer, do the indexing at your convenience and then upload the file and get another one. No pressure, no quotas. The average batch takes 1/2 hour to 1 hour.... Your time will be faster after you get used to doing a batch. There are 2.4 million rolls of microfilm that need to be indexed, so there is plenty of work for all of us (and the need for all of us to participate).
This project is an excellent way to for us to participate in the indexing and 'Pay It Forward' ... meaning our repayment for free access to all of the records held at the Family History Library and branch FHL's worldwide.
If you want to sign up, go to the page below... If you have family and friends who can help, (you don't have to belong to the LDS Church), tell them about it too.
Here's a list of the current indexing projects. As soon as one project is completed another is added.. We'll see records from all over the world on this list as time goes on... Click on the link at the top of the page to see the projects that are in the cue waiting for us (meaning you and I) to get to them...
And lastly... a few links you'll enjoy ...
If you haven't read about the scope of FamilySearch Indexing, start here with the church article about the Scanstone project.
The wonderful news is that the church is scanning every document and book in the family history vaults and creating digital images of the lot. Those that can be posted under copyrights, contract, etc. will be posted on the web for free access by anyone.
BUT...
They need our help in the Indexing. I've been indexing census records for the project for a while now. It is easy and only takes a few minutes a day. You download a batch to your computer, do the indexing at your convenience and then upload the file and get another one. No pressure, no quotas. The average batch takes 1/2 hour to 1 hour.... Your time will be faster after you get used to doing a batch. There are 2.4 million rolls of microfilm that need to be indexed, so there is plenty of work for all of us (and the need for all of us to participate).
This project is an excellent way to for us to participate in the indexing and 'Pay It Forward' ... meaning our repayment for free access to all of the records held at the Family History Library and branch FHL's worldwide.
If you want to sign up, go to the page below... If you have family and friends who can help, (you don't have to belong to the LDS Church), tell them about it too.
Here's a list of the current indexing projects. As soon as one project is completed another is added.. We'll see records from all over the world on this list as time goes on... Click on the link at the top of the page to see the projects that are in the cue waiting for us (meaning you and I) to get to them...
And lastly... a few links you'll enjoy ...
- Linkpendium - over 5 million genealogy related web pages indexed by surname
- Linkpendium - genealogy related U.S. locations indexed by alphabet...
- Pedigree Viewer -- Here's a sneak peak of a new product under development by the Church... Don't know if it will ever go live, but you'll enjoy scrolling in and out around and around seeing how a pedigree can be presented on the web.
- PAF Tutorial - BYU has an excellent PAF tutorial on line. If you have questions beyond the training files on your computer or more detailed assistance, see this site
- Census Tutorial - I've sent this link before, but after our discussion on census records last Sunday, you may want to review the BYU census tutorial again...
- Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War - burials Find the graves of your ancestors who's father fought in the civil war.