Over the past 15 years, many of the genealogical discoveries available on FamilySearch.org have been made possible thanks to the efforts of volunteers. Volunteers helped with earlier projects such as name extraction and microfiche, online projects such as manually typing indexes for digital images of records, and, more recently, reviewing automated indexes that were first created by a computer. The time and efforts of these volunteers have enabled people all over the world to find their ancestors in historical records.
Just as volunteer efforts have evolved over the years, upcoming changes to our online volunteer platform are also occurring due to rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
One of these changes is that the initial indexing of records from historical documents will now be done by FamilySearch’s artificial intelligence rather than by online volunteers. Volunteers will review these initial indexes to catch any mistakes made by AI. Together, AI and volunteers like you are helping people around the world discover more family connections at a faster rate than ever before!
What's Happening with Indexing?
The current FamilySearch indexing platform, in which volunteers manually record information from a historical record to make it searchable online, will no longer be available as an online volunteer opportunity on Get Involved.
But don’t worry, your indexing skills will still be needed! Instead of downloading a batch of records onto your computer to sift through and index, you can review and refine indexes that were created through computer automation and machine learning.
What Will Indexing Look Like Moving Forward?
Indexing used to be defined as the task of manually entering information from historical records into an informational index. With the upcoming changes, indexing can be more broadly defined as the process of digitizing records and making them searchable online. The fundamental purpose of FamilySearch volunteer work—helping make records accessible for everyone around the world—is the same.
Volunteering with FamilySearch is not ending. Much of what we do would not be possible without our volunteers. Projects will still be available on Get Involved for volunteers to help improve record accessibility. This combined effort from AI and volunteers will help make indexed records available faster, while still creating quality indexes.
Over time, Get Involved will also continue to add new activities and records for volunteers to help with, in addition to the ones already available on its online platform and mobile app.
Will I Still Be Able to See My Old Indexing Stats?
A popular feature of indexing has been the ability to view your indexing statistics. While the initial recording of historical documents to make them searchable online will now be sourced to AI, your past contributions to this task will still be available for you to view. Be sure to check out this FamilySearch article to see how you can find your indexing statistics!
Thank You, Volunteers!
Your contributions to family history and genealogical work continue to make a difference in the lives of millions. Thank you for your efforts—past, present, and future.
We look forward to continue working alongside you as we make indexes available and accurate and, through this and many other efforts, enable people everywhere to connect to their family and family history.
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At FamilySearch, we care about connecting you with your family, and we provide fun discovery experiences and family history services for free. Why? Because we cherish families and believe that connecting generations can improve our lives now and forever. We are a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about our beliefs, click here.
