Arbitration is an essential part of the stake indexing director calling—so much so that it might occasionally be good to think of yourself as a stake arbitration director as well as a stake indexing director. Yet arbitration is part of the calling that some stake indexing directors struggle with. Consequently, it sometimes gets neglected. The cumulative effect is evident in the following chart.
Currently, nearly 5 million images are waiting to be arbitrated! That represents about 12 million people whose names are waiting to be published and found on FamilySearch.org so they can be submitted for temple ordinances.
Of the 5 million images, more than 34% are English-language records, 25% are Spanish, with Portuguese and Italian hovering around 9% each. Many other languages are represented in the total as well, so the need is worldwide.
How You Can Help
You are the key to keeping arbitration in balance with the indexing in your stake. If you’re a stake indexing director, you should also be arbitrating. By becoming an arbitrator yourself, you will better understand the role and be able to teach it to your stake members who qualify. If you have one or more assistant stake indexing directors, they should be considered as well.
Your most experienced and quality-minded indexers are likely qualified to be arbitrators. It’s not for everyone, but if you are tracking the progress of your stake’s indexers, you will have an idea of who might be an arbitrator candidate. By meeting with them, observing their indexing, and mentoring them through the process, you will know who is ready to contribute in this important way.
Help Is Available
There are many resources available for you to receive arbitration training, as well as to train other arbitrators in your stake.
- Arbitration Tutorial: View this tutorial to become familiar with the arbitration tool and instructions.
- Arbitration Self-Assessment: Take this self-assessment to measure your knowledge and understanding of arbitration.
- Arbitration FAQ: Read this article, and many of your questions about arbitration may be answered.
- Share Batch: Review this article to learn how you can collaborate with arbitrators in your stake.
How to Grant Arbitration Rights to Qualified Indexers
As a stake indexing director, you can give arbitration rights to qualified indexers in three simple steps:
- Examine your stake reports for 2012 and 2013. Please prayerfully consider potential arbitrators in your stake. Indexers who regularly contribute more than 2,000 records with relatively few redo batches may be qualified to arbitrate. Learn how to view these reports.
- Assign arbitration rights to qualified indexers.Sign in to your administrative account to assign arbitration rights. If you are unfamiliar with this process, view these step-by-step instructions.
- Train and monitor your new arbitrators. After assigning arbitration rights to qualified indexers, please contact these new arbitrators, and provide necessary training to help them become comfortable with the arbitration process.
For additional assistance with this process, or if you are no longer a stake indexing director or group administrator, please contact FamilySearch support.
Thank you for furthering the Lord’s work by assigning arbitrators and supporting indexers in your area. Together, we can help publish approximately 5 million waiting images online, making these records available for research and temple work.
