r I am excited about the upcoming Worldwide Indexing Event and thought I would share that excitement with you. The following is adapted from the FamilySearch Indexing website. https://familysearch.org/indexing/rIndexing is the process of entering information from the world’s digitally scanned historical documents into a database, making it easily searchable online. People around the world can then search these indexed records to find their ancestors. Anyone with a computer and Internet connection can index records.rWhether you’ve indexed before or are new to indexing, you’re invited to participate in the annual Worldwide Indexing Event July 15–17, sponsored by FamilySearch.org.rThe goal for this year’s event is to have at least 72,000 volunteers index as many records as possible in a 72-hour period, July 15 to 17.rFamilySearch Indexing is a great activity to introduce people to family history and help them become familiar with records people use to identify their ancestors. FamilySearch is especially interested in the participation of those with non-English language skills, since there is a huge opportunity to make more records available on FamilySearch.org for non-English speaking countries.r“This is a wonderful opportunity to serve people worldwide who visit FamilySearch.org to find their ancestors,” said Jim Ericson, product manager at FamilySearch. “Indexing is a fun and engaging way to provide meaningful service and get involved in family history. Ultimately, those who index records enable joyful discoveries that strengthen family bonds around the world.”rA while ago, I was facing a somewhat challenging research problem. I had a family pieced together, but I could not extend the mother’s line. I dropped that part of my tree temporarily and focused on another line.rAbout a year later, I tried again. After searching indexed records on FamilySearch.org, I couldn’t believe how quickly I was able to find a marriage record that gave the maiden name of the woman in question, along with her parents. In the time I deferred my search for this family, someone had indexed the exact record I needed! I realized that it was not just the indexer that brought this record to me, it was the arbitrator and people at FamilySearch who get the records ready to publish, and all the others that touched that record—from the camera operator who photographed the record down to the recorder who sat with my ancestors and wrote the information that I now had in my hands.
