1911 census

[Segilla]

What is the overall accuracy of the Phillipines transcribed 1911 like, compared with the pretty awful 1901, done in India?

[dot.haukes]

if the 1901 transcription work was contracted out to India then i can understand your frustration when trying to access your ancestors records. On the 1911 there should be access to the actual original enumerators record which if the return was following the UK guide, would have been filled in by the householder themselves, I have not looked to see if the records are online at all, but certainly i would go for the OS rather than a transcription.

[Segilla]

dot. Of course any original record stands a better chance of being accurate than any transcript, but the point about the latter is that its index should point to the names we seek. Too many of my folk do not appear in 1911; they can't all be 'not at home'.
Despite the assurances I read in Prophile, (Journal of the Friends of TNA) if the 1911 set-up for overseeing the work was anything like the farcical one organised for 1901, then it is no wonder many are missing.
During my year's sub. to ancestry.com I corrected around 300 errors many of them obviously wrong, hopelessly wrong. They looked wrong, (admittedly, occasionally what was written was accurately transcribed).
I've spent c. 10 years organising, checking, editing three county censuses and although I'd happily have a go at any county far removed from where I live, local people or those with local knowledge of surnames are bound to be best at getting names right.
(Stallard not Hallard; Worgan not Morgan; Hambidge not Hambridge etc). Those living abroad, as ancestry's efforts show, are not best placed for this work. I think less haste and more accuracy outweighs volume - even if we do have to wait a few more years.
This is not an attack on foreigners. It is a plea for accuracy; and anyone who can stand being demoralised over our BMD records should take a look at

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mikefost/

or better still, read the books!

[dot.haukes]

I totally agree with your point about the transcriptionsd being done by people with local knowledge, during the early 1990s the FFHS 1881 transcription project was carried out successfully by using volunteers at local level, people living in the modern enumeration dostricts were transcribing the EDs from the 1881 books and this worked so well. It was voluntary of course, mainly using members of the local family history societies, but there were set guidelines and everyone followed these, with checkers and double checkers. I checked several EDs that people had done locally to me, and found very few errors and very few omissions, the problem seems to be now that there is an element of money making in the hobby that means the whole thing is on a different scale and agencies cash in by submitting tenders for the transcription work. As this can all be done over the internet, it is obviously going to be the case that companies that offer not just the best quote, but the fastest turnaround, will not necessarily be therefore chosen on any proof of accuracy. Plus, where would they factor into the costings the checks and double checks the FFHS were so proud of?

[Segilla]

I organised Glos 81 and as I was near the centre at East Grinstead(?) one day, called in to see the folks there. Most were Americans who had paid thier own fares and for accomodation to work on the project, checking incoming work against images showing up on huge screens - but I noted they lacked geographical knowledge. .. .
The corrected scripts were then double entered.
At a later date I was passing a Mormon temple just before it was rededicated after renovation, so I went in. It was an amazing experience. Lavish, Hollywood-like, no expense spared. Some of the main features I recall. The most impressive was the font, probably 15 feet in diameter, it was seated on the forequarters of several bronze oxen, and part of the upper area, access by ladder, was occupied by a computer console. The rear half seemed to be a total immersion pool. Robing rooms, marriage sealing rooms and so on.
UpstaIrs was a large room fitted out in French 18C furunishings with numerous chairs where believers could sit and contemplate under a ceiling painted with blue skies and clouds.
As I came away, crowds of people were arriving, coaches pulling up from the Continent etc.long queues.
An unforgettable experience. Where would we be without the LDS?