Indexing has a lot of unique terms that can be confusing. Here's a list of these terms and their definitions to help you in helping us in making these records more available. Thank you for the time and effort you have put into volunteering.
Batch: A batch is a small part of a project. Projects contain up to hundreds of thousands of historical document images. To facilitate indexing, projects are broken down into batches of up to 10 images. Batches are checked out by volunteers who index them, while other volunteers review the work of indexers.
Check Out: Check out is the process by which a volunteer selects a project and receives a batch to work on.
Data Entry Area: The data entry area is the area of the indexing screen where volunteers type the requested information from historical documents.
Data Entry Modes: There are four data entry modes: form, table, row, and column. The default mode is the form entry mode, and it is available for all projects. The other modes may not be available if the project has more than one entry type, such as a church records project containing baptism, marriage, burial records.
Document: A document is a historical document on which an event is recorded. The document may appear as a ledger page of information with multiple records, such as a census; certificates with a single record, such as for marriages or naturalizations; or various other kinds of forms, such as military draft records or school records.
Duplicate Image: A duplicate image is an image that is identical in every way (that is, the same type of form or document, the same information, and no additional information or markings) to a preceding image in the same batch.
Entry: An entry is information about a record from a historical document that has been entered into the indexing program. An entry is often required for each person mentioned in a historical record. An image may show more than one record of an event. For example, an obituary may mention the name of the deceased as well as give a list of relatives, or a church record may show several marriages on one document.
Favorites: In the Find a Project window, volunteers can designate a project as a favorite by clicking the star above the Index button. This designation creates a list of favorite projects, which volunteers can see when they click Favorites in the Find a Project window.
Field: A field is a named box or cell for entering information in the data entry area. Some fields require information be entered and are marked with an asterisk after the field name.
Field Help: Field helps are instructions that explain how to index information for the indexing fields. The field helps icon, a purple circle with a question mark (?), appears when you select a field for data entry.
Group Home Page: The group home page is the page you land on when clicking the group's name. It includes the following sections: Header, Announcements, Members, Progress, Adopt a Project, and Related Groups (subgroups and parent groups).
Guided Tour: New volunteers will see "Guided Tour" in their list of batches for the first few times they index. Selecting this tour lets them try indexing with a practice batch before indexing a live batch. A different type of guided tour is available when you click Show Me How on the lower right side of the My Batches page or the Tips icon next to the Feedback button when indexing a batch.
Image: An image is a picture obtained by a camera, telescope, a microscope, or other device, displayed on a computer or video screen.
Image Adjustment Toolbar: This vertical toolbar in the upper left corner of the image area allows you to adjust the image in various ways, such as zoom, rotate, adjust contrast and brightness, invert the image, and open reference images in the image gallery.
Image Gallery: The image gallery is a series of thumbnails of the images (smaller versions of the images) in the same batch that appear at the bottom of the image area. For batches with only one image, an image gallery does not appear.
Index: An index is a group of records (usually in a register or ledger format) that does not have complete information about events. An index often gives names, reference information, and limited date information (such as the event year).
Indexer: The indexer is the first volunteer in a two-person process to create online searchable records available through FamilySearch.org.
Indexing: Indexing is the process of capturing pertinent information from historical documents and making that information available for publishing on the internet.
Internet Browser: An internet browser is a program that allows connection to websites such as FamilySearch.org. Supported internet browsers for FamilySearch indexing are Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge version 11 or higher. The Chrome and Firefox browsers have fewer issues.
Labs: Labs is a location online where new features are placed for users to try out and give feedback. When the features are deemed ready, they are put into live production.
License Agreement: A license agreement is a contract between FamilySearch and volunteers. Among other things, the contract states that FamilySearch owns the rights to the information gathered by volunteers. Volunteers agree not to use the images for any other purpose. The commitment NOT to copy images is part of the license agreement.
My Batches: My Batches is the main page for FamilySearch indexing. The My Batches page has the following areas: My Batches, Find a Project, Messages, Totals, Groups, and Progress.
No Extractable Data: No Extractable Data is an option in step 1 of the indexing process. It is a way for indexers to indicate that an image does not have information to be indexed.
Nonrequired Fields: Nonrequired fields are fields that are not marked with an asterisk (*). If information for these fields is not available in the document, these fields can be skipped.
Overlay: An overlay is a document or paper that covers part of another document or record. Overlays sometimes have information that should be indexed.
Principal Person: The principal person is the primary individual in the record of an event. For example, in an obituary, the principal person would be the deceased person.
Project: A project is a collection of historical records that are grouped together by time, locality, kind, or other similarities for indexing purposes.
Project Instructions: The project instructions give information about a project that helps volunteers understand how information in the project should be indexed.
Quality Check: Quality check is a process the indexing program goes through before a batch is submitted to ensure that all required fields contain information.
Record: A record is information about an event, such as a birth, marriage, or death, from a historical document. A record is not to be confused with an entry, which is information about the record that has been entered into the indexing program.
Record Custodians: Record custodians are owners or caretakers of collections of records. Record custodians make contracts with FamilySearch regarding when collections are indexed, how they are indexed, and what information is indexed, as well as when and how the information is viewed after publication.
Record Type: A record type refers to the kind of event recorded on a historical document. Some projects, such as church records, have multiple types of records, such as birth, christening, marriage, and death records.
Required Fields: Required fields are fields that must have information entered into them or they must be marked blank before the batch can be submitted. Required fields are marked in the data entry area with an asterisk. These fields may not be hidden.
Returning a Batch: A volunteer can return a batch for any reason, rather than indexing it.
Review: A volunteer who has indexed at least 1,000 records is given rights to review another volunteer's work. Every field needs to be reviewed and either corrected or left as is before a review batch can be submitted.
Review Process: The review process gives a second volunteer an opportunity to make sure a batch has been indexed accurately. If more than 20 percent of a batch is corrected in the review process, the information submitted by the reviewer goes through another review. Every 20th batch goes through the indexing and review process again to ensure accuracy.
Ruler: A ruler is a colored bar that you can use in the indexing program to help you keep your place in a document. To change the location of the ruler, you must move it manually.
Share Batch: Share batch is a feature that allows volunteers help each other with a batch. The person viewing the shared batch cannot add or delete information or submit the batch.
Step 1: Images: This step is the preliminary step in which volunteers indicate whether an image needs to be indexed. If they determine that an image should not be indexed, they indicate the reason, either that the image is a duplicate image or that there is no extractable data on it.
Submit Batch: Submitting a batch is the process of sending the batch through the quality check process before it is sent on for further processing prior to being published.
Support: FamilySearch Support is a team of FamilySearch employees and missionaries who serve in various capacities to help volunteers who are indexing or reviewing.
Toolbar: The toolbar is a bar of icons across the top of the image area that enable various actions when they are clicked.
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