The FamilySearch* Indexing initiative announced that it has indexed 250 million genealogically relevant records in just two years—an incredible feat achieved by thousands of online volunteer indexers who, donating a little time here and there, using a web-based application built by FamilySearch, pore over digital images of historical documents to create searchable indexes online. The records are predominantly census, civil registration, or birth, marriage, and death records. In an effort that is beginning to fundamentally change the research process, fully searchable indexes of historic collections are available online. In lieu of traveling or writing to a remote archive or record custodian, genealogists will, in time, be able to search across millions of names in an online database and within seconds receive a result.
To create these indexes takes considerable time and effort. FamilySearch Indexing harnesses the power of a global community of willing and able volunteers to do the job. Taking advantage of the reach and convenience of the Internet and the goodwill of volunteers worldwide, FamilySearch Indexing provides the web-based tools and administrative support. The volunteers add the fuel (time and data entry) required to propel projects along at an unbelievable pace.
The key to FamilySearch Indexing’s success is mass collaboration. The program has fostered, if not the largest, one of the largest volunteer workforces in existence. By July 2009, the initiative had 213,000 registered volunteers. Two to three hundred new volunteers register each day. Currently, 78 projects cover North America and a growing number of countries on other continents such as Argentina, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Spain. Between 10,000 and 13,000 batches are delivered daily, each batch representing from 30 minutes to 2 hours of work.
Some projects are developed jointly with other organizations, such as the Arkansas Genealogical Society, Black History Museum, Footnote.com, Indiana Genealogical Society, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society, Utah Genealogical Association, and multiple archives in places such as Australia, Austria, and Georgia.
FamilySearch Indexing provides additional benefits. It involves volunteers in a meaningful experience. One man diagnosed with terminal cancer continued to extract records until three days before he died. In his hospital room with a laptop, still indexing records, this man extracted more than 200,000 names.
Volunteers contribute at a pace they set themselves, and they see the results of their work much sooner than ever before. Improving access to records has the potential to increase the success of persons not well versed in research skills. Perhaps their success might spark a desire to pursue records that are not indexed. Thus, in totality, we believe that the program will advance the cause of genealogy and strengthen the genealogical community.
History of the Project
Amazing technological gains of the past decade have made FamilySearch Indexing possible. The progression from indexing paper-based records to extracting Internet images occurred during the period 2000–05, in which FamilySearch staff continually pushed the envelope of what was technologically possible. After FamilySearch Indexing was released in 2005, another four years were needed to create the production system that now extends to every part of the globe that has Internet access.
In 2000, FamilySearch printed hundreds of thousands of pages of images of raw data a year and mailed them to volunteers’ homes for indexing. It was clear to Family Search personnel that it would be preferable just to send the image rather than paper, but we had no program to display the image and incorporate the indexing text.
Independent of FamilySearch, a computer programmer developed a Windows version of the DOS-based indexing program then in use. When FamilySearch became aware of his work, it engaged him to develop a prototype that both displayed the images and provided a template for text entry. This stand-alone program was distributed for use on individual computers. By the end of 2001, approximately 70 percent of the indexing production derived from digital images was accomplished by using this program.
Images still were distributed on CDs, but Internet technology was advancing rapidly. It was obvious that an image delivery system would be used when computer processing power and transmission bandwidth made it possible to send and receive images in homes. A prototype was created and tested in 2004 to pursue this dawning possibility.
After the public launch of the FamilySearch Indexing prototype in May 2005, usage spread through North America in 2006 and internationally in 2007—a process still in development as FamilySearch faces the challenges of developing instructions in multiple languages and dealing with non-Roman scripts, to mention only two issues.
Impact
The first major project completed through FamilySearch Indexing was statewide Georgia death records. Indexing of Ohio death records followed. Permission was received in 2007 to extract the 1900 U.S. census of approximately 76 million names. Within a year, volunteers had indexed the entire census. By contrast, the 1880 U.S. census of approximately 50 million names took volunteers using the older method 17 years to index. Likewise, the Ellis Island Immigration database of 22 million names took 20,000 volunteers 12 years to complete. That project involved copying film images onto CDs and mailing them to volunteers who then entered data from the images on a desktop utility that then was returned to FamilySearch. With our new tool, a fraction of these volunteers can perform the same task in a matter of months.
Not only is the current tool faster, it also increases index accuracy. Each image is keyed by two different indexers, and discrepancies are arbitrated by a third. The result is a highly accurate and easily searchable index online.
The new method has created a revolution in the entire model of how data is produced. Other entities, such as Ancestry.com, the premier commercial provider of genealogical indexes and images, have copied the model to create their own volunteer indexing initiative. Simply put, this is the only cost-effective way to engage volunteers from all over the world. It makes economic sense even for commercial companies. The process has changed the landscape of how data is produced and the model of what a volunteer can do to produce data rapidly at a level of quality far above the indexing industry standard.
FamilySearch Indexing also has radically changed how people become involved in family history activity. A person, with relatively minimal effort at skill development, can spend only 30 minutes daily making a contribution that will reduce the research task for hundreds of others who will find ancestral records quickly and efficiently.
Records Access Program
The Records Access Program launched in May 2008 focused on helping record custodians to digitize and manage their own images. As a result, FamilySearch Indexing is poised to provide more access to extensive runs of the world’s genealogically significant records, both quickly and economically. This behemoth initiative starts with the conversion of 2.4 million rolls of microfilm created over 70 years to digital images for online viewing—forcasted to be an eight-year project. Concurrently, 200-plus microfilm cameras used by FamilySearch in archives all over the world started to be replaced by special digital cameras. Digital cameras enable FamilySearch to capture future records digitally at the moment of recording them, which in turn makes it faster to publish them online. Currently, FamilySearch operates more than 200 image capture projects in 45 countries on a daily basis, generating approximately 60 million new images annually.
Getting Involved
Additional volunteers are needed to achieve the potential of FamilySearch Indexing. More digital records wait to be indexed than the current cadre of volunteers to index them. Volunteers range in age from 12 to 90. They have varying interests and motivations, but all want to preserve and improve access to the world’s historic records of genealogical significance. Those with skills in languages other than English and the ability to read archaic scripts are particularly in demand.
To participate, indexers register or log in at . An optional 10-minute tutorial provides excellent tips and shortcuts. The indexer selects a project (batch) of interest. Projects change daily and weekly. A batch appears on the volunteer’s computer screen and the indexer then types what he or she sees in the highlighted areas. Each batch requires about 30 minutes to complete; more than 40 projects are available to choose from at any given time. AVOTAYNU readers might have particular interest in the 1905 New York State Census or a project in Austria, Germany, or Eastern Europe.
After trying the online indexing tool for the first time, a recent new indexer commented:
It’s really fun to think of being part of a huge collaborative effort like this. And I was surprised at how easy it is. You…transcribe on or offline at your leisure, then click a button to send your transcription back. They have it all triple-checked for accuracy, and publish it to share with the world! This is something even I, with three little kids and sharing a car, can do as a meaningful service to others. Simple, easy, and doable in small time segments.
For more information or to see a list of current projects, go to <FamilySearchIndexing.org>. Completed indexes may be searched free of charge at (click “Search Records,” and then click “Record Search pilot”). The current offering is still nascent but is expected grow exponentially in years to come.
Note
*FamilySearch, previously named Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization sponsored by the LDS (Mormon) Church that has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for more than 100 years. Its services and resources are free online at <FamilySearch.org> or through 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
