NEW INDEXING TOOL COMING IN 2014 February 2014

I ATTENDED A CLASS ABOUT THE NEW INDEXING TOOL AT ROOTSTECH14 IN FEBRUARY 2014

LET ME SUMMARIZE WHAT I LEARNED FOR YOU. THIS IS SCOTT FLINDERS, THE PRESENTER

SCOTT IS SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER IN CHARGE OF DEVELOPING THE NEW INDEXING TOOL.

HE EXPLAINED THAT THE OLD INDEXING SYSTEM HAS BEEN GREAT, BUT IT NEEDS AN OVERHAUL.

THE NEW TOOL WILL BE BROWSER BASED (NO PROGRAMS TO DOWNLOAD TO A PERSONAL COMPUTER OR NOTEBOOK.)

This is the welcome page. It is easy to see what you can do here in the boxes at the bottom.

THE INDEXING TOOL, ALL HELPS AND NEWS WILL BE LOCATED AT FAMILYSEARCH.ORG. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE INDEXING WEB SITE AS THERE IS TODAY.

HERE IS THE IPHONE LOOK, AND YOU CAN SHOW SOMEONE WHERE TO FIND THE INDEXING TOOL ONLINE AT FAMILYSEARCH.ORG.

However, you will not be able to index on an iphone; there is not enough screen area. You will need an ipad or tablet size device to index on the go.

ALL THE HELP DOCUMENTS, TUTORIALS ETC. ARE BEING COLLECTED INTO ONE PLACE! HOORAY!

WHEN I OPEN THE “INDEXER” BAR, THIS IS WHAT I SEE – LOTS OF HELP – EXPLORE ALL OF IT

FIND AN INDEXING PROJECT USING A MAP, FROM THE PROJECT PAGE, OR FROM THE START PAGE.

THE MAP PAGE HAS FEEDS WITH CURRENT STATS AND NEW PROJECTS ADDED – SCROLL DOWN TO..

SEE THEM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MAP PAGE.

HERE IS A SAMPLE COUNTRY PAGE – MEXICO

HERE IS A SAMPLE PROJECT PAGE. YOU CAN SELECT SPECIFIC PORTIONS OF A PROJECT TO WORK ON; FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MIGHT CHOOSE A CERTAIN STATE OR COUNTY OR EVEN VILLAGE.

“MY INDEXING” PAGE WILL SHOW YOU MESSAGES, AND BATCHES YOU ARE WORKING ON

DON’T WORRY. THE FIRST TIME YOU SIGN IN TO THE NEW TOOL, YOU WILL BE OFFERED A GUIDED TOUR.

EACH PAGE WILL HAVE “CALL OUT” WINDOWS TO POINT OUT VARIOUS FUNCTIONS

YOU CAN TRACK YOUR GROUPS AND THEIR PROGRESS ON VARIOUS PROJECTS

HERE IS THE “FIND PROJECTS” PAGE

THIS TEST DRIVE SITE WILL BE ON THE ACTUAL INDEXING TOOL; YOU CAN PRACTICE DIFFERENT PROJECTS; USE IT AS A SANDBOX TO EXPLORE

YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO PRACTICE INDEXING POPULAR NEW PROJECTS THAT AREN’T ONLINE YET.

YOU CAN LINGER IN THE SANDBOX UNTIL YOU FEEL READY TO TACKLE A REAL PROJECT

DEPENDING ON THE PROJECT YOU SELECT, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO ENTER DATA IN TABLE VIEW, FORM VIEW, COLUMN VIEW (ONE COLUMN AT A TIME) OR IN-LINE (WHEN THE FIELD WILL SHOW UP RIGHT NEXT TO THE WRITING ON THE RECORD- FOR HIGHLY STRUCTURED PROJECTS ONLY)

INSTEAD OF ARBITRATION THERE WILL BE AN “A+REVIEW” PROCESS

AFTER THE PROJECT IS INDEXED ONCE, A REVIEWER WILL LOOK AT IT, AGREE, DISAGREE OR DON’T KNOW.

WHAT ABOUT QUALITY? 1.This “A+Review” Process is expected to yield comparable quality, but increase productivity.

WHAT ABOUT QUALITY? 1.This “A+Review” Process is expected to yield comparable quality, but increase productivity. 2.Users will be invited to add their corrections to the A and B and Arbitrated or Reviewed values in the indexes.

WHAT ABOUT QUALITY? 1.This “A+Review” Process is expected to yield comparable quality, but increase productivity. 2.Users will be invited to add their corrections to the A and B and Arbitrated or Reviewed values in the indexes. 3.When a patron searchs at FamilySearch.org, all of these values will be searched.

CHURCH MEMBERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BELONG TO THEIR STAKE GROUP. BUT THEY CAN JOIN OTHER GROUPS TOO, WHICH ADDS A SOCIAL ASPECT TO INDEXING.

TIME FRAME: WHEN EXACTLY WILL THIS CHANGE? Scott Flinders said that they are close.

TIME FRAME: WHEN EXACTLY WILL THIS CHANGE? Scott Flinders said that they are close. They invited us to sign up to be beta testers in the indexing area in RootsTech14, and hope to have the new program ready to roll this year. Some projects will stay on the old system until they are finished, and some new projects will start on the new system, so there will be some overlap.

MORE INTERESTING STUFF 1.Can I work off-line with the new product? Not at first. This functionality will come later.

MORE INTERESTING STUFF 1.Can I work off-line with the new product? Not at first. This functionality will come later. 2.What will happen to all my points? Your statistics will migrate to the new program. But they will probably be dropping the points and inventing new achievements and recognitions.

MORE INTERESTING STUFF 1.Can I work off-line with the new product? Not at first. This functionality will come later. 2.What will happen to all my points? Your statistics will migrate to the new program. But they will probably be dropping the points and inventing new achievements and recognitions. 3.Archives can submit and manage their own projects at FamilySearch.org. Volunteers may be asked to help them divide the project into batches and perform other associated tasks.

REALLY COOL FOR THE DISTANT FUTURE! If you are working in “Browse Images” (records that are not indexed yet) and find a record of your ancestor, FamilySearch hopes in the future to provide a pop-up window so that you can index that record immediately and add it to searchable records. (Applause.)

MEANWHILE Enjoy indexing the wonderful obituaries that are being posted now. They are PURE GOLD. Take time to read all the training several times; they are easy to read but a bit tricky to do correctly.