Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Rush Indexing Project

FamilySearch Indexing just did a rush job indexing West Virginia marriages for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH). "Their goal is to identify individuals by county, name, and year of marriage and then link the results directly to the image of the original record where all the other data will be available for researchers," according to the FamilySearchIndexing site. To complete the project quickly, FamilySearch took a number of actions.
  • The number of fields to index is minimal.
  • Highlights weren't developed for the various register types.
  • Sample images weren't setup.
  • They sent out a message to indexers on Wednesday describing the project as "highest priority" and asking that it be done with the "utmost urgency."
  • The Download Indexing Batch button downloaded batches from this project.
  • FamilySearch sent out a message yesterday announcing that instead of seven days, indexers had one day to complete a batch and if a batch sat inactively on your computer, they would take it back and reassign it.

A representative of FamilySearch reported today that this indexing project is very nearly complete. If you attempt to download a batch for the project, don't be surprised if no work is available. This project indexed 17 digital films:

4130632 - Cabell county marriages
4130633 - Cabell county marriages
4130642 - Logan county marriages
4130680 - Braxton county marriages
4130710 - Wood county marriages
4130749 - Wood county marriages
4130803 - Lewis county marriages
4130804 - Lewis county marriages
4130811 - Jefferson county marriages
4130812 - Jefferson county marriages
4130813 - Jefferson county marriages
4130817 - Jefferson county marriages
4130818 - Jefferson county marriages
4130824 - Marshall county marriages
4130896 - Mingo county marriage bonds
4130906 - Wood county marriage consents
4130907 - Wood county marriage consents

This project is just one piece of the Vital Research Records Project of the West Virginia State Archives to place West Virginia birth, marriage and death records online. The first phase was completed in 2005 with county records for Calhoun, Gilmer, Hardy, Harrison, Mineral and Pendleton counties and statewide death certificates from 1917-54. Since then, records have been added incrementally.

"Early indications from genealogists who have begun using this new online resource are extremely positive," said Troy O. Body, WVDCH commissioner. "I encourage anyone with roots in West Virginia to take time to check out our website and make a connection with their past."

FamilySearch (aka Genealogical Society of Utah) microfilmed, scanned and indexed the records for the WVDCH. The West Virginia vital records database is available at www.wvculture.org/vrr and the FamilySearch Indexing website is at www.familysearchindexing.org.

2 comments:

  1. Nobody ever told us the reason for the rush. Did you find out why it had to be completed so quickly?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Anonymous,

    Sorry; I haven't been able to find out.

    — The Insider

    ReplyDelete

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