FamilySearch International has started an exciting Family History initiative for April and May. It is their new ‘Get Involved’ indexing app. Just download the app to participate in ‘reviewing names’ for the 1950 census. The 1950 data is the latest release from the U.S. Census. By law, the U.S. Census makes the data collected 70 years prior available to the public, so 1950 is the most recent available.
Here is how it works: handwriting recognition software scans the census to generate an index of names. These names will be reviewed for accuracy and edited for correction when needed. That’s where you come in: you help review batches. One batch contains 20 indexed names that generally take about 2 minutes to review, edit, or skip over. The app allows your experience to be more personalized by being able to review records from a specific location that has meaning to you. So, if you are interested in a particular area in Utah, Georgia, Ohio, or anywhere else in the U.S., you can do that. You might even find your ancestors. After the review, the names are saved on FamilySearch and become searchable by anyone, like any other records.
The census will release the 1950 records on April 1. Batches of computer-indexed names will load into the ‘Get Involved’ app for review.
This is your opportunity to participate in this “once in a decade” work. It is an opportunity to learn more about your family recorded in the census.
There are three activities to the review project
• Name Review
• Family Review
• Header Review
You can find out more about the app & the review process here.
You, your family, and your community can help tell the story of all our ancestors. You can download the app via the App Store or Google Play by searching “FamilySearch get involved” (blue family tree icon).
Thank you, and enjoy the experience of bringing to the world the details of our families.
Sema Hadithi Foundation.
