Have you ever wondered why a project you indexed last year has yet to be published on FamilySearch? The answer to that question may have to do with the arbitration backlog. What? First off, what is arbitration? Arbitration is a final quality check before indexed records can be published on FamilySearch.org. When more records are […]
3 Confessions of an Arbitrator
December 31, 2015 By
First, a not-so-humble confession. I’m a good arbitrator! And I believe most of the arbitrators for FamilySearch indexing can say the same thing. We’re not perfect, but we strive to do our best. We read the indexing instructions. We index batches now and then to keep our skills honed. We can quote the basic indexing […]
Arbitration Today, Find Tomorrow
November 24, 2014 By
What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the word arbitration? Do you think of volunteers? Differences of opinion? Ancestors waiting to be discovered? For those who don’t know, arbitration is an essential step in the indexing process. Currently, every record is indexed twice and arbitrated once to resolve differences between the two indexes. […]
Learning to Like the Referee
August 10, 2014 By
I was once asked to referee a Church-league basketball game. As a former bench warmer on my junior high school team, I’d spent plenty of time watching the calls and signals of dozens of actual referees. I knew a foul when I saw one, knew what it meant to travel, and had the three-second violation […]
Magnifying Volunteers’ Gifts: A Progress Report
August 4, 2014 By
FamilySearch recently reached a significant milestone: one billion images of historical documents are now viewable on FamilySearch.org. That’s one billion pictures of documents. Of those images, how many would you say are indexed and searchable by name? All of them? Half of them? Would you believe less than 22 percent? Clearly more indexers and arbitrators […]
Peer to Peer: What Do I Need to Know about Arbitration?
May 7, 2014 By
Have you ever asked yourself, “What is arbitration?” “Why is it important to teach my stake about arbitration?” or “What role do I play in arbitration as a stake indexing director?” Many stake indexing directors around the world are wondering the same thing. Read more about their experiences: “Teaching the stake about arbitration is important, […]
Obituary Arbitration in 6 Easy Steps
January 16, 2014 By
FamilySearch needs hundreds of additional arbitrators to help with the new obituary projects, both to help publish the records and to help others get past the learning curve for this new record type. Follow these six easy steps to become a master obituary arbitrator. Commit the indexing tips found in “2014: The Year of the […]
Arbitration Ratio: A Rule or Guideline?
November 4, 2013 By
In Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth Swann protests her mistreatment at the hands of Captain Barbossa by accusing him of violating the “Pirate Code.” Turns out, quoting Captain Barbossa, “the code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” Is there a lesson here for arbitrators? Take […]
The Future of Indexing
November 1, 2013 By
We are so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of dedicated volunteers who willingly give their time to help provide indexed records on FamilySearch.org. Your efforts are very much appreciated. We understand that you contribute while patiently working through limitations in the current FamilySearch indexing system. While the current system has done a wonderful job […]
Personal Arbitration Mentoring
September 23, 2013 By
Are you a new or less experienced arbitrator? Would you like to increase your confidence and the quality of your work as an arbitrator? You can now receive personal arbitration mentoring! We recently conducted a peer-to-peer arbitration mentoring pilot program, which received positive feedback. Based on this feedback, we are launching a personal arbitration mentoring […]