Six New Projects and Four We’ve Been Piloting


If you missed our big announcement yesterday be sure to read it here. And, to all of the new keyers who have joined us in the last 24 hours – Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined our community.

Ten World Memory Project collections are now online and ready for keying. We are indexing deportation lists, immigration records, displaced orphan registers, family questionnaires and more. Most of these collections are in Czech, French, German, or Polish. If none of those are your native language, do not be discouraged. Many of these records are cleanly fielded and we provide you with detailed instructions on exactly what to key from each field. You will find this “field help” in the keying tool on the left-hand side as you are keying. So, why not download an image set and give it a try?

We also provide a project page for each collection that includes detailed keying instructions, image samples, and, on some projects, even a video showing you exactly how to transcribe the information from the images to help create a searchable index.

To help you decide which collections you might be interested in keying we have provided a little information about each one.  To find those project descriptions, click here.  On the right-hand side of the page you will see “Collections Ready For Keying.”  Select a project you are interested in learning more about and click through to read more about that project.

When you find one that interests you, download an image set and start keying.  Then, come back here and leave a comment letting us know which collection you chose. I know I have had some very strong reactions to keying some of these records.  I would love to have you share your experiences with us.

The World Memory Project – The power of truth is in your hands.

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May 4th, 2011
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Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Susan
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 12:30 pm

I joined this project last evening and am so excited to find out about the project and to be part of it! Although my accuracy is not up to standard, I expect to improve with experience and as I seek out help.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Sue
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 5:48 pm

Looking forward to this adventure, but sure don’t know where to start. HELP!

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Carol
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 5:56 pm

I just got started on this, and am excited to help. However, I can’t find anywhere that I can submit a question about the image set I’m keying. Following the instructions, it looks like some useful information is being lost. I tried submitting a question through Support, but got an error message after submitting it.

Anyone out there….?????

Thanks!

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Hi Carol… Several methods of asking for help

1) You can post questions on the discussion page of the project you are working on.

2) the message boards
http://boards.ancestry.com/wap/mb.ashx

3) you can try to email Support directly

worldarchivessupport@ancestry.com

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 7:48 pm

Hi Carol… Several methods of asking for help

1) You can post questions on the discussion page of the project you are working on.

2) the message boards
http://boards.ancestry.com/wap/mb.ashx

3) you can try to email Support directly

worldarchivessupport [at] ancestry.com

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 7:49 pm

Hi sue… There’s a video tutorial.

http://c.mfcreative.com/Affiliate/Knowledgebase/Video/Ancestry/key_indexing_tutorial.html

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 7:50 pm

… and also a getting started guide

http://c.ancestry.com/affiliate/Knowledgebase/Guides/Ancestry/WorldArchives_GettingStartedGuide.pdf

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Lori
Posted on:
May 4, 2011 at 9:57 pm

I joined yesterday after learning about the project for the first time. I think it is so neat that you’ve come up with a way for volunteers to participate. I’m sure a lot of work went into developing the software. This is my new favorite pass-time!

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Laura
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 12:02 am

Hi – I just completed my 1st set tonight. I am especially interested in helping with the Terezin project, because I have Czech language skills and have visited Terezin. The other Czech project seems too advanced for me.

But, I have only found 1 set from Terezin and no others ever come up when I am looking. Any idea when more might be released?

Also, as a suggestion, it would be great if the international keyboard could sort by language, and if you could keep it open – I think it would make keying much faster. This is a great project and I am excited to help!

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
Laurel732
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 8:01 am

Do records keyed as part of this project count towards the number needed to get the subscription discount?

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Rolande M LaMarche
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 9:26 am

Sounds like great way to presrve family history.

Comment Number:
12
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 11:55 am

@laurel

Yes

Comment Number:
13
Written by:
paulmd199
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 11:58 am

@laura

Terezin is a very small project.

see here about setting up an alternate keyboard, and type international characters directly.

http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=World_archives_Project:_Alternate_keyboards

Comment Number:
14
Written by:
Laurel732
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 1:20 pm

@Paul,

Thanks. I would have keyed anyway, but lately I have limited time to do so, but I’m getting close to my subscription renewal date, and wanted to make sure that I had enough records keyed for the discount. Someone on the Facebook Ancestry.com page said she didn’t think these records counted towards the discount.

Laurel

Comment Number:
15
Written by:
M Cooker
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 4:14 pm

first attempt to enter the Ain French data – presented with carte de voyage which I was unable to fit into the page selections offered. some pages had no names on but may have the identifying info e.g. colouor of eyes, hair etc. Should I presume that the name from the previous page/pages applies to this one too?

Comment Number:
16
Written by:
Laura
Posted on:
May 5, 2011 at 7:12 pm

@Paul – thanks for letting me know – I will keep an eye out for other Terezin files if they do come up. I seem to have gotten the hang of the other Czech project – it happened that the first image file I received was a bit daunting, so once I changed to another image set, I realized it was easier than expected. I will definitely look into setting up the alternate keyboard.

Comment Number:
17
Written by:
Sue Muiznieks
Posted on:
May 7, 2011 at 3:53 pm

I just started and am very worried that I might make mistakes and I don’t want to be asked to give it up, I really believe in doing whatever is required to help get these records of information out to the public. We as Americans need to help preserve our ancestors information and pass it along to those who are looking for it. Hope whatever work I do will be of help down the road. Thanks for putting this out there for us to be an active part of.

Comment Number:
18
Written by:
Patricia Lewin
Posted on:
May 19, 2011 at 11:43 am

I also tried to submit a question via support and got an error message when I tried to send it. My request was to be given a list of Jewish Party Affiliations that might be given as an answer to that question on the Memorandum of Personal Data page 2 in the project Palestine Illegal Immigration from Nazi Occupied Europe.