Monday, March 26, 2012

Last Chance to Prepare

Bragging rights are at stake.

If you plan on participating in the excitement of the 1940 Census launch, you have precious little time left to prepare.

You know you’ll want to index a batch on the first day anyone outside NARA gets a chance to see pages from the 1940 Census.

If you haven’t indexed before (or even if you have), there are some things you’ll want to do beforehand if you want to hit the ground running next Monday.

  1. Visit https://indexing.familysearch.org. Optionally, try out the two minute Test Drive. This is a quick introduction showing how indexing works. The instructions whip by rather quickly. To see them again, click Done and then Restart. Fill in the Field Value column. The answer to the first one is “Normal.” The answers to the rest are highlighted in purple on the sample document. For each value, read the Field Help on the bottom right.
  2. Download. Click Get Started and Download Now. This will download the Indexing App to your desktop.
  3. imageRun the App. On your desktop, click FamilySearch Indexing. The app will load and then present a Sign In window.
  4. Register. If you don’t have a FamilySearch account (Wiki, FamilySearch.org, new.FamilySearch.org, and Indexing all use the same account), register using the button on the left.
  5. If you have an account and don’t remember either the user name or password, click the appropriate link. (Aren’t you glad you didn’t wait until next Monday? Now’s the time to get this figured out.)
  6. Sign In.
  7. Tutorial. Indexing is easy enough, many people dive right in and lean heavily on the Field Helps. I recommend you complete a tutorial. One place to find it is under the Indexing Links tab. (Look for the series of tabs on the right side of the app: My Goals, My History, Arbitration Results, and Indexing Links.) Click on Indexing Tutorials. Then click Indexing.
  8. Practice. There are two 1940 census practice batches that you can try now. Click Download Batch. Select the first project (*SIMULATION* 1940 US Census, Part 1) and click OK. Optionally, download a batch from the second project (Part 2).

Now you’re ready. Come Monday, April 2nd, you’ll be part of history. Index one batch on the first day and you’ll have bragging rights for a decade.

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