A Call to Action – Help Move The Lord’s Work Forward Without Leaving Your Home.

New Web Indexing Has Never Been Easier

image of laptop

Whether you have an ipad, Kindle Fire, Nexus or any preferred tablet or laptop, you can now access Indexing easily and quickly. The application for mobile phones is still a work in progress.

Those involved in indexing will be familiar with working on a separate Indexing application.

Family Search has announced that Indexing can now be done directly on the web through the link  /https://familysearch.org/indexing. For those who do not have access to the internet, the old platform is still available for the desktop option.

Take a quick tour by using this link https://familysearch.org/indexing/batch/1c1b25c3-d57a-4e41-a37a-4720bc538441.

Study a few simple guidelines here:

https://familysearch.org/ask/salesforce/viewArticle?urlname=BasicIndexing-Guidelines-1381813432182&lang=en.

How does Indexing tie in with family history you ask? Family Search has been involved with indexing since 1921 and it has progressed to the point where more than a half million names are processed daily. People from around the world have had access to the documents and other items that have been indexed and added to Family Search over the years. Now you can link ancestors with documents that provide information about where they are from, who their families were, their livelihoods, where they lived and when and where they died.

By combining these two arms of family history into one platform, you can get help and discover your family all in one place. As you provide this service, you will be helping to link many people you may not know to their families and bring them closer to doing the temple work for their deceased ancestors. It is truly a labour of love.

These are some of the new indexing projects added:

US, Massachusetts Boston—Crew Lists, 1917–1943

South Africa, Transvaal—Marriage Records, 1870–1930

US, Texas, Swisher County—Death Records, 1903–1989

UK, Wales—Church Registers, 1754–2001 [Part A]

US, Texas, Swisher County—Birth Records, 1879–1937

Statistics Total Records

Completed 1,303,631,825

Total Records Completed in 2017 32,281,072

Records Awaiting Arbitration 11,202,248

Current Projects 552

You can choose to index any of these projects by clicking on “Find Batches” and then you are on your way to simply filling out a few details contained on the documents you choose.

The Spirit of Elijah will fill you, and your love for your family will grow as you record details about people who lived and loved, had hopes, dreams and families. It will spur you on to find out more about your own families, and as more projects become available worldwide, information about that lost ancestor you have been trying to find, will become available through either your own or another’s labours.

This is a wonderful way to introduce your family to Family History. It is simple to do, and help is available in many ways directly on Family Search. Use it for family home evening and have the whole family involved in reading old documents and trying to decipher names written in the handwriting of another era. If you are doing a project from your own country, explain the patterns of naming children, etc.  Imagine the excitement if one of the batches you have chosen contains information about your own family members!

This is a service in the Church that every member can be involved in. It takes no special experience other than a commitment of time and the rewards are great both temporally and spiritually.

Still not sure where to start? Here are some more references to get you started.

Find More Hints

Have questions about indexing in general? We’ve got answers. Check out these valuable resources: https://familysearch.org/indexing/help#/

Get Answers

Have more questions about web indexing? Here are answers to frequently asked questions: https://familysearch.org/blog/en/web-indexing-faq/

Please take up the Call to Action and sign up today! Become ‘Enlisted in the Lord’s Army’ and become an Indexer!