Tech Forum

Hi all. Need some help. I am coordinating an indexing challenge for our ward (Men vs. Women). My first path was to create 2 subgroups of my ward group in FamilySearch and have people add themselves to it. BUT, one of my committee members just taught a class showing the "Get Involved" app as an indexing app, so now my ward now thinks using "Get Involved" is indexing (yes it is a form of indexing, but not in its truest form). The issue is that activity in that app is only shown in aggregate for the ward. I can not get detailed reporting as far as I can tell. Any ideas on how to get activity in this app counted and split our by ward member name or gender?

Thank you!

There's a screen in the Get Involved app that shows your personal contributions. Maybe members could send screenshots or show their contributions screen to leaders periodically, who can total things in a spreadsheet.

FamilySearch hasn't been emphasizing indexing as much recently, as a lot of the traditional indexing tasks can now be done by computers.

You could also try posting the question in the FamilySearch Community forum.

I have no special inside information, but like other organizations, I have seen FamilySearch eliminate reporting of personally identifiable information in some cases. We can speculate the reason, but that has no bearing on this discussion. Lack of details makes it more difficult to track an activity like you have, but it also prevents individuals from being singled out (both positive and negative details). Getting members to self-report may be difficult, but I think it's the only way you will get the information you want. However, any comparison could end up doing more harm than good. If someone is discouraged because they are not in a position to do more than what is reported, the reporting may have the opposite effect you want.

A few years ago in another ward, we did an exercise with the youth and asked them to self report their indexing results as the campaign progressed. We reported the percentage of YM and percentage of YW who were indexing along with the total records indexed (by total youth, not by YM or YW). The goal was to meet a set number of records indexed before the end of the year (I was tracking it and posting a graph tracking the results on a bulletin board in the church - we had to re-set the goal several times during the year as the youth kept pushing past it, LOL) The campaign was to increase participation and interest in indexing, not to see which group did the most (which is highly depending on the projects available, the technical difficulty of the projects, and the skill of those indexing).

davesudweeks wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2024 1:47 pm A few years ago in another ward, we did an exercise with the youth and asked them to self report their indexing results as the campaign progressed. We reported the percentage of YM and percentage of YW who were indexing along with the total records indexed (by total youth, not by YM or YW). The goal was to meet a set number of records indexed before the end of the year (I was tracking it and posting a graph tracking the results on a bulletin board in the church - we had to re-set the goal several times during the year as the youth kept pushing past it, LOL) The campaign was to increase participation and interest in indexing, not to see which group did the most (which is highly depending on the projects available, the technical difficulty of the projects, and the skill of those indexing).

I was also in a ward that did an indexing competition between the brothers and sisters based on the number of individuals participating, rather than the number of names indexed. It reduces the pressure for members who have busier schedules, but still want to participate. I like your idea to set an overall ward goal as well.

sbradshaw wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2024 1:59 pm rather than the number of names indexed. It reduces the pressure for members who have busier schedules, but still want to participate. I like your idea to set an overall ward goal as well.

I like that as well. Going by number of names would reward sloppy work.

russellhltn wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2024 2:02 pm

sbradshaw wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2024 1:59 pm rather than the number of names indexed. It reduces the pressure for members who have busier schedules, but still want to participate. I like your idea to set an overall ward goal as well.

I like that as well. Going by number of names would reward sloppy work.

This is a valid concern. Our case was during the time when City Directories were available to index (they were typed). This made it easier for the youth since many don't read handwriting well these days...

Thank you all for the advice. I appreciate the wise counsel. Unfortunately, I have started the competition and can't turn back. I will have to be careful in my encouragement and updates...I'll think about how I present updates and results to try to avoid any issues.