I talked about the Worldwide Indexing Event the other day. Did you participate in the Worldwide Indexing Event? I did! The anticipated goal was met and far surpassed. They hoped to have 70,000 participants, but had over 100,000!
Some missionaries call me on Saturday and ask me to start indexing in a different language if possible, so I tried my hand at some Spanish records. It actually wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be! There were very helpful instructions along the way, and even video tutorials that I could watch. The missionaries were telling me that the majority of all the indexed records are in English, but clearly there are many more people around the world who speak other languages and are just as excited to find out about their family history as we are.
Of the more than 3.5 billion searchable records on FamilySearch.org, more than 90 percent are from English-speaking countries. To put that in perspective, searchable records in English outnumber the combined total of searchable records in all other languages 20 to 1. (via familysearch.org)
Why Index?
Indexing is the way that records become searchable online. Check out this video:
I love how indexing basically proves that the people were real people and actually existed. Through Census Records, Birth and Marriage Certificates, etc. you are able to find a plethora of information on your ancestors.
If you haven’t quite figured out how to find your own family members to add to your family tree, indexing is the best way to start. This program was key to getting me interested into my own personal family history, and now I’m hooked!
Have you tried indexing?
