A few noteworthy updates…


Every once in a while (at least once a day) we stop and think about what changes we could make to the project that would make keying it easier.  For the past few days we have been working on the directories projects.  Based on feedback, message board posts and individual emails we realized that there was a need for clarification.  After identifying where the trouble areas were we started working with the team (thank you to everyone involved!) to make sure we had the right answers and that we were keying what should be keyed.   Yesterday we published the Directories Keying Guidelines — the guidelines outline how multiple name records should be keyed, how to identify the title and include other general keying tips.

Another change we made yesterday was the addition of the Postcards message board.  And a few days ago we added the Keying Tool message board.  Although the message boards can seem daunting with the hundreds, and thousands of messages, they are a great resource for contributors to discuss the projects they are keying and arbitrating.  When you visit the message boards it is a good idea to start at the project specific boards.

We appreciate all you do to contribute to the World Archives Project.  We have a great community of contributors!

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September 24th, 2009
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Robert Back
Posted on:
September 24, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Anna,
This is a good start. I noticed that we now include the wife. I don’t know when this started.

The things that I think are missing are what we don’t type.

In reviewing the U.S. Directory the list includes: Government Offices; apartments; buildings

Also, according to the latest release of the keying program we no long include the adds.

I don’t know what I have missed but it would be great if these were include.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Kate Strong
Posted on:
September 24, 2009 at 4:33 pm

I stopped keying and arbitrating directories because the rules kept changing. I thought I understood them, arbitrated a set where the keyers had responded differently, one like me and one diffrerent. Of course I favoured the set that had been keyed as I would have. Then I noticed that the field help had changed. No warning or flagging! The keyer I thought was wrong was now right! If the rules change it should be flagged, flashed, SHOUTED at us!

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Michelle
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 5:19 am

Just a couple of editorial request(s):

Country Born needs to include Jugoslavia; Roumania needs to be added and Roumanian needs to be removed as we don’t call anyone else Germans, Russian etc….

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Karen Hobbs
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 9:05 am

I agree with Kate. I also stopped keying directories because the rules changed and I simply don’t have the time to trawl through message boards. There should be some sort of message that appears when you select a project that leads you to a page where all the info is held.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Denise Horton
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 10:35 am

I noticed the post about Roumania & Jugoslavia. The correct names are Romania and Yugoslavia. What I don’t know what to do with are the ones I know are not countries (geography being “my thing”) but are cities or “other” places.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Lesley
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 3:36 pm

I am working on the Sydney Street Directories. At last I have stopped getting error messages. Now I can only see the line that I am keying, which makes checking very difficult. When there are no street numbers it is so easy to miss an entry.
Could you possible change the form so we can see three lines?

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
justask120
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 9:10 pm

I still can’t see data entry lines below the header. Can’t this be fixed? I love doing directories but can’t do them blind. I can do Naturalization data because there is no header box but no directories with headers.
Thanks for the consideration

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Judy Perlman
Posted on:
September 25, 2009 at 9:39 pm

There is an inconspicuous, short, dotted, horizontal line between the image and data-entry panels on the keying tool. If you position your mouse upon it, click, hold and drag, you can change the relative heights of the two panels until you get the proportions you need.

Also, click on the word File in the menu line and then on Options to open a panel with a number of possibilities. One is for changing font size in the data entry panel.

Play with this and the other options until you see what you need for optimal keying.

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Skip Christensen
Posted on:
September 26, 2009 at 6:29 am

I’m glad to see us keying the spouse names … provided they are in the parens as denoted in the example. And I sure hope arbitrators pick up on this else the accuracy ratings will take a big hit.

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
smallwood
Posted on:
September 30, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Type your comment here.

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Nancy9003
Posted on:
October 5, 2009 at 3:45 pm

I’m sure you’ve been bombarded with questions about accuracy percentages, but I wanted to make my case for the WAP finding a way to tell us why our accuracy rate is what it is.

When I was working I had an extremely high accuracy rate for input in both insurance and with the National Park Service and their archived records. So it concerns me that I currently have a 88% accuracy rate.

I understand some thing automatically go to arbitration and that effects the ratio, but if we do not know the reason for our accuracy rate, I’m sure many will just quit doing the input thinking they are not accurate enough to do the work. For myself, I’m going to continue and hope I’m not doing anything wrong, but just an automatic arbitration because some fields had to be left blank – especially in Post Cards as 99% of them have blank backs.

In addition, if we do not know the cause of the percentile, we could make the same error, over and over again, unless told specifically to the keyer what they are doing wrong.

Maybe you’ve already found the way to do this, but I’ve read about 150 queries on this subject and did not see a solution given. If there is one, please let me know. If not, do you think this is something we can have in the future?

I just want to be helpful in doing the input, but if I do something wrong, then I need to know exactly what so I can take the steps to improve in that area.

Thanks for listening (or reading!) Nancy