Do you have 5 minutes?

 Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Do you sometimes feel that your schedule is so busy that you just cannot add one more thing?  We all know that family history takes time and, if you are like us, your family history tasks can be put on the back burner when the schedules get really crazy.

Did you know that you can still do family history even if you only have 5 minutes?  FamilySearch is looking for volunteers to help correct place names in the program and it only takes a couple of minutes to help out.  You can do it while waiting for a doctor appointment or while taking a water break at work or at any time where you can log into your FamilySearch account on your phone, computer, or tablet for a couple of minutes.

Just follow these simple directions:

Log into FamilySearch and look in the upper right corner of your home page for the Pink/Purple box that says Volunteer Opportunity.  Click on the Try It box.  (On an iPhone, go to the More icon at the bottom of the screen after logging into FamilySearch.  Choose Improve Place-Names. This may be the same for all phones). 

The next page will list what you do as a volunteer to help correct place names.  Below the directions, click on Select Country (or Any Country on the phone) and choose the country you would like to work with from the drop down box.  For this blog post we are using the United States in the examples.

Click on the blue box Review 10 Places. 

The next page will show the first place that needs to be corrected.  The page will also show the dates on this record so you can use them to make an informed decision.  The goal is to change the place to a standardized format.  In the United States the standardized format is as follows:

City, County, State, United States (all words spelled out – no abbreviations)

Click on the box Select Standard Place (or Add a Standard Place)

The suggested standardized format for the record will be listed first and may be highlighted in light blue.  However, it may not be the correct one for the record based on the birth dates, death dates, etc that are on the record.  Compare all the information and if you feel one of the options listed is correct, click on it.  If you are unsure, click on Skip.

If you chose an option, you will be taken to the next page for this record where you can review your choice.  When you have reviewed it, click on Save and Continue to go to the next record. (On the phone it just has a Save button)

Many times the place name only needs to have the name of the country added or spelled out.  Sometimes there are misspellings that need to be corrected.  Sometimes the place just needs to have a comma and space between the names of the cities, counties, states and countries. 

When you have completed 10 records, you can choose the Done button or the Keep Going button to do 10 more.  (On the phone your choices may be Keep Going or Close)

This opportunity to help correct place names is such a blessing for those of us who have only a couple of minutes each day to further the work of Family History.  Check it out!  Let us know if you have any questions.  We are here for you!  Brother and Sister May

 

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