Genealogy Chat

The Norfolk co ordinator is also one of the project co ordinators and I told him how disappointing it was that people were offering to help and receiving no replies. He says that the project has only been running for 3 months but co ordinators were recruited long before and may have lapsed. He has asked for a list of all those counties where people have received no reply. If you could let me know, I will tell him. Thanks.

nudge to encourage more volunteers

It does seem hit and miss with the co ordinators - Id be horrified if Id got 6000 like Glen - my trial images came within hours of my enquiry and numbered 22 burials in a local church and I was familiar with all the names so reading the register page was no trouble at all. My Norfolk chap replied immediately to my every query and I must have sounded a thicko re loading the winreg program and then transferring the image and such like - he was lovely and very encouraging - and he lives in Canada. So I guess I struck lucky with him. I sent off my trial page of 22 burials and received a mail saying 'PERFECT, your work has now been uploaded and I will send you a cd of more to do and if you want some more images whilst you wait for the cd' If anyone is interested and doesnt get a reply or a duff co ordinator, then do try another county and if you have anyone in Norfolk, do come on the Norfolk group as Kirk seems a lovely chap.

Have now volunteered for Somerset and received my first batch of transcriptions to be checked (not transcribed). Received a reply within 2 hours.

Greg You need to go to freereg*rootsweb*com (replacing asterisks with the usual), & click on 'Contributing to the project'. Good luck. Angela

Hi, Go on then I will add my name to the list I can spare an hour or so a week. Please get in touch at [email protected] yours greg

Glen/Kate It's a shame if there are people ready & able to transcribe but not being given adequate assistance. Please don't let this put others off volunteering! I may try another county if I don't get a response. Angela

I emailed the Nottinghamshire county coordinator (who I had emailed a couple of years ago but never had a reply), and my email was bounced back as his email address doesn't exist any more. I have sent an email to the England coordinator asking if I can do some Notts transcribing, but not had a reply yet. Kate.

He does need something, though at the moment i don't think it is me!! I'm still waiting for some information from him and have decided that anything i try at present will be neither use nor ornament. I did check the county page and it looks like only about 60,000 records have been entered on the site, no marriages at present so the 6000 i have beem sent would make a large addition, shame he won't come back with a couple of answers. To be honest it has put me off trying, there doesn't seem to be a coherent plan in place to assist a newbie transcriber like me. Maybe i just have had a bad experience but Freebmd never replied to two attempts i made to them and this lot don't seem sorted out yet. Oh well, i'll just stick to what i'm good at. Glen

Hi Glen, Heather et al, Still waiting for a reply from the co-ordinator of my chosen area after 48 hours - she may be busy/on holiday. Glen - I've read your post & it does say on the FreeReg homepage that baptisms & burials are the best ones to start with - not marriages! Could it be that your co-ordinator needs some training? Angela

nudging for later...

Oh well in for a penny...I've just e-mailed the county co-ordinator for some info etc.

I love this mention of trial images. I sent an enquiry and mentioned i had never transcribed before and not that it was vital but my knowledge of the county was a bit ropey for a certain area. I have been sent a pdf with over 6000 marriages for my ropey area and a quick three line message indicating how dates/years are recorded (eg 01, 15 and 21 for dates and 1599,1794 for years) Despite asking a couple of basic questions the reply was just a repeat of the original three line message with the added comment that the entries had previously been transcribed they were not put into Excel. In essence i am (supposed to) transcribe documents which are transcriptions of transcriptions of the original register. Call me cynical but is a third generation transcription of 6000 entries really a benefit to anyone?When you add all the potential errors of the first version, then the second and the ones that i will possibly add is the end result of much value?

nudge

Oh I just received my trial image - its a page of burials from a Norfolk parish - oh Im nervous!

Hi people, sorry had to trudge round B and Q and MFI :( It seems to depend on which area you do. I contacted the co ordinator for Norfolk and he said all I need is fingers and a computer. Glen Tinsel contact Lincoln and they asked if he had a fiche reader. So it seems to be a case of finding one that sends you the images rather than having to do fiches. Please have a go, itll be nice in years to come to see all the familiar names shown as transcribers on the site!! SHARON, go to the site and have a read about it. Contact the co ordinator for the area you are interested in doing. Tell them if you dont have a fiche reader (which I certainly dont) and that you want to do it from home. Ive contacted the Norfolk person and he seems very friendly and laid back! SARAH, the chap said hell send me the images via broadband.

I have contacted the Warwickshire co-ordinator. Hope to hear from her soon. Sheila

Hi Heather, I would like to give this a go if it doesnt require needing a fiche reader. What would I need to do? Claire x

hi all not working at mo could do with using my brain, tell me more. sharon

Hi Heather I would love to do some but it seems you need to get hold of the microfilm yourself (via the LDS or local records office). Is this so? As I live abroad this is a bit complicated.