2011 Goal Setting

I am not much of one to determine on December 31 how I should change my life on January 1. Not that I think it's a bad idea. I believe we should be ready to do this regularly in our lives. It's important to stop and evaluate where we are and whether we are headed in the direction we aimed to. Besides it is often necessary to redirect our course as we go, not once a year...

When the kids were little I would often tell them that before they made a decision they should choose a destination and make their choices accordingly. I would often simply ask them which direction they should go if they wanted to go to Logansport from our house. Ultimately there was more than one way to do this of course but the shortest route was to turn right on Main Street and keep going West. Of course they could have turned left on Main Street but they would inevitably have to change direction to head West if they ever intended to reach their destination.

Many years ago I learned how to set goals while working with the Young Women of our ward. They used a Personal Progress book that divided goal setting into categories:
Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works and Integrity
There were short-term goals as well as long-term goals. They had to be realistic so as to make them reachable but they also needed to make me stretch so as to help me really grow.

We don't often think about this but it is a fact that writing down one's goals helps us actually achieve them. Otherwise we can easily lose track of them and thus never reach our destination.

So... what do I want to accomplish in 2011?

Sherri and I have been talking about setting up a booth at craft shows. That means I need to get busy knitting. What I would really like to do is to invest in a knitting machine and take the classes to learn to make the most of it.
Now what does that entail?
Making a phone call to the Knit-Knack Shop north of here - that is a HUGE thing for me because I don't like making calls.
Of course I could just drive up there. Hey I took a step in the right direction... I found their website! If only I could do all this online... ok... got to get out of my shell, I know...

I should really also set a monthly number goal for FamilySearch Indexing this year. The last time I did that I got sick and have not been able to get back to it as productively.
Having 2 logins does not help much either but I have no control over that part as one is my official login and the other for the Belgium Project. My preference is with the latter but I should not look like a slacker as Indexing director since the stats won't be combined, so it looks like I may remain divided for a while.

What else is on my mind...
- learning new recipes. - I am far from being short on recipes, that's for sure!!!
- transcribing Stanley's war letters
- translating Papa's letters into English
- transcribing Bobonne's letters
- transcribing Marraine and BonPapa's letters - with eventual translations
- scanning the old pictures that came from Los Angeles
Big elephants... all of these projects are... One bite at a time...

Of course there is also a wish to renew and strengthen friendships and family ties.
Maybe find a special service project to get involved in too. I really enjoyed making those 2 scarves for the upcoming 2012 Superbowl in Indy, and found that there are many other opportunities out there to help others. I might even knit a couple more.
AND I almost forgot: I would love to participate in recording audiobooks for people to download for free online.
Bottom line... I have a few ideas but need to sit down and write it all down...
Might be good too to take another look at those other categories I made no mention of and help ensure balance in my goals...
And maybe they will become reality by the end of 2011.
For now I had better close... maybe finish this later...

The Belgian Archives Online

In February 2009, FamilySearch began uploading digital images of Belgian civil records onto its Record Search Pilot site, enabling genealogists researching their Belgian ancestry to access original records right from their homes.

It was however short lived as the Belgian Archives quickly requested access to the public be restricted. I won't lie when I say that it was a terrible blow to researchers, especially since the creation of the index for these Belgian records had just begun.

What a treat it was to have been one of the first countries online!!!
Even if it was short lived.

On November 18, FamilySearch made an announcement about having added another 15 million names to its site. Many of them are linked to digital images of original records.
Dick Eastman composed an article on the subject, to which I would like to refer you: A Lot to Be Thankful For

I have had the opportunity of using this wonderful new tool and can't wait till more is uploaded.

While researching on microfilms at our local Family History Center, I have learned to appreciate paging through the reels and finding information in documents that apparently did not fit in my direct lines. Actually that has helped me more than once in stumbling onto great-grandparents I had not found on my direct-line ancestors' records. So when I saw the "Browse the images" option, I jumped on it with both feet.

It didn't take me long to realize that - and that is by no means a criticism, but rather motivation for me to help more - however incredibly wonderful it is, using the browse feature is slow and tedious.

Belgian registers usually have one index at the end of each year.
Some group all the records into one annual book with three indexes at the end of the year, in other words, the records are divided into three parts (sometimes 4):
1. Births,
2. (Marriage Publications - which have no index),
3. Marriages,
4. Deaths.

On a microfilm reader, you just crank up the wheel, find the index, locate the name you are looking for, then if you find something that is relevant to your search, you backtrack (or go forward if the index is at the beginning of the year) to the right page.
It is tedious but I have found this method very efficient.

On the computer, the process is more or less the same, except it is more or less slow depending on your computer's ability to handle the image but also on your internet connection.
And the big question comes up: "Where is the right image?"

You soon learn that you do not need to thumb through each page if you don't want to. You can skip a few forwards and backwards, pretty much in the same way that you would crank up the microfilm reader's wheel forwards and back.

So what has this taught me?
It has taught me the reason why it is so vital to work on the indexing of all these images.
We are incredibly blessed to be able to use this 'browsing' system in the first place but how much easier it would be if all we needed to do is type in a name and narrow down the search.

HOW can this be done?
Through FamilySearch Indexing

Some people have been unhappy with me for getting on my soapbox and encouraging others to get involved with the Indexing program.
This site is for my voice, so I will shout it from the roof tops and as loud as I can.

GET INVOLVED!

There are so many records to index out there!
The goal of FamilySearch is to digitize all the microfilms that are in the granite vault and to create an index that will enable people to better use these images to research their roots.

There are many English records to work on, but there are records from everywhere to work on too. I have worked on census records and vital records of several countries and what i find is that it is easier for me to read those whose languages I am most familiar with.

My first experience with this came when we were working on the 1880 US Census.
I had come across a name that, no matter how I looked at it, I was unable to make sense of.
The handwriting was not even the problem. It was actually beautiful.
So, I turned to another indexer who was working on something else and asked her what she thought it was. Without hesitation she said "Felicity" and sure enough once she had said it I could see it too.

There is a need for multilingual people to help.
Not only because you understand the text you are looking at but because you will be more familiar with the names and more likely to recognize them, especially when the handwriting is difficult to decipher. What is hard for you becomes impossible for another and this can affect the accuracy of the end product.

Now, this sounds like the proverbial carrot, I know, but FamilySearch has made good on their promises and will on this too, I have no doubt. "Qualified Indexers" will be given access to databases that are otherwise closed to the public per request of the Archive owner.
A point system has been set up for this purpose.
Some things still have to be worked out at this point (for the Belgian project anyway) but I truly believe it will happen.

Come and help with the Belgian project. You will find greater satisfaction working on this project
- if you are Belgian
or
- if you read/speak Dutch, French or German fluently

Contact Jean Huysmans and tell him you want to help.

If you want to help with other projects, visit FamilySearch Indexing and click on
"Get started"

There are tutorials to help you learn how to index.
The program is a free download (it is a big program, best downloaded with a high speed connection)

You don't have to go it alone.
There is a feature in the program that enables you to share your work with someone to have them take a look at what you're doing - if you want them to.

Otherwise, the system is simple, with line-by-line instructions right into the form lay-out.

You work as much or as little as you want.
There is no expected quota you must meet.
The batches are small enough that you can index them within 30 minutes but you don't have to do a whole batch in one sitting if you don't have time.
Just close the program and pick up where you left off later
You have a whole week to submit your work.
If you run into a time problem and can not finish, the batch is automatically returned and someone else can pick up where you left off. No questions asked. No bad feelings.

If you are looking to make a difference... consider taking a bite out this elephant...
The task is HUGE and requires many hands.
Many people are already involved but more means faster access but it also means "lighter load" for those who are indexing already.

Adventures in Indexing

It was in September 2006 that I registered as an indexer for FamilySearch indexing.
I had seen a PowerPoint presentation saved in pdf format given at the 2005 FGS Conference announcing the plan to digitize all the records preserved in the Granite Mountain.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/News/frameset_news.asp?PAGE=Press/2005-9-9_FGS_Presentations.asp
Quite an ambitious project but what amazing possibilities it projected!
I signed up and started indexing census records along with a growing number of other volunteers throughout the country and before long throughout the world.
It was simple, in fact much simpler than the old way we used to use to participate in the old Extraction program. This way your work is submitted directly to Salt Lake. They organize everything.
Back in 1998-1999 our Young Women had shown an interest in extracting records and we had had to contact Salt Lake and accepted the challenge to tackle records from Argentina. Some of our Young Women were studying Spanish but for most of us – and even for them – it was a challenge to deal with the handwriting, let alone the Spanish.
We received a microfilm that had to be divided up, into batches that would not be overwhelming and organized these batches into microfilm indexers and data encoders. We also had to prepare a sample record so that those who were taking the information off the original records could find their way.
And because this was part of a special Laurel project we had to keep track of the hours spent on all this.
The records were death records from Cordova, Argentina. There were a lot of infants in those records, and there were slaves too… This prompted me to try and contact someone in Argentina who could give us some background history on the records and the area. We were in such luck! The lady who answered our request was working on the original records and so she could even help us if the images were bad.
She explained that the Indians were protected by the Queen Isabella and could not be held as slaves. So the slaves mentioned were African slaves. More questions came up when we found slaves married to free people and we learned that a child always took on its mother’s status. So if the mother was a slave, even though the father was free, the child was deemed a slave. However if the mother was free and the father was a slave, the child was free. Slaves could also buy their freedom, in a very similar way that the Romans of old used to.
Yet we never saw the product of our work become available to all.
So the prospect of working together with so many other good people on a project that was going to make records accessible online had great appeal.
At the 2007 FGS Conference held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I found out how to participate in a project that was and is much closer to my heart than the US census or Argentinean records. They had just opened an indexing project for Belgium. Since this project was still in its trial period, it was not listed among the projects people could pick a batch from. It required a special log in and the project manager had to give his ok.
To my disappointment the project only had records from Flanders but there were French ones as well as Dutch ones. I could find my way through the Dutch ones but felt much more comfortable with the French ones so I stuck to them.

Later that year I was called to serve as Stake Indexing director and I became an arbitrator.
So I juggle 2 logins and wear 2 hats: a regular indexer with the Belgian project and an arbitrator/administrator for my stake.
I like arbitrating most of the time because it doesn’t take as much time to go through a batch but each project has special rules and it is important to read the project specific instructions.
Lately I have spent most of my time on the Antwerp Foreigners index. I index for the Belgian project and I arbitrate for the stake in the same group of records. I think there is a prerequisite to doing this work. It’s to have the ability to decipher old handwriting. The projects are in various languages too now and so it is better to stick to project in a tongue that is more than just familiar. You need to be fluent in the records’ language if you want to keep yourself from being frustrated. The words sometimes just jump right at you, but not always…

The trick with the Antwerp Foreigners Index is to first disable the highlight as it jumps right to the next page and does not take into consideration that there are 2 columns for each page.
When I arbitrate these batches I sometimes find some half way done and it is obvious the highlight is the reason as only half the page is indexed, 30 names on the left and 30 names on the right.
When that happens, I have to return the batch to be reindexed by whichever indexer who didn’t complete the task fully. I suppose I could just check that the one indexer did the work right but I was told an arbitrator should not think or act as an indexer so to keep things the way they were intended to work, it is simpler to just return the batch so it can be completed.
Sometimes an indexer also needs to return a batch because the image is too light. At first I used my Ancestry.com subscription to see if there was not a better copy of the image that I might be able to read its content but I was told this was not a good idea as poor images would end up online with the index and would not be of great value. By returning the batch and signifying the image is of poor quality, the indexer ensures that the image is retaken.
I love the site where the product of our work is being deposited: http://www.familysearchlabs.org/
Click on “Record Search”
In fact you can access it directly from http://www.familysearch.org/. Just hover over “Search” and you will have the option to click on “Record Search”
The work I do with the Belgian Project is only tallied by and for that project. There is a plan to consolidate IDs and add the totals, but until that time, the only number recorded for me as work for my stake is the one under which I serve as Stake Indexing director.
We do have indexers but I am still a one-man band as no assistants have been called to help with training indexers or helping with increasing the number of indexers.
I have asked several times to no avail. If I had less worries with my family I would probably approach local groups but the timing is all wrong for me so… I am waiting for the local leadership to step up to the plate and do something. When things calm down for me, we’ll see…
Until then I’ll just keep indexing… It’s a very rewarding thing to do and sure beats playing games online!