Thanks, Polly, for that readily-understandable summary of both the DoVE and MAGPIE projects. But I wonder just how much time, effort and money was spent to devise those three cutesy acronyms - a brilliant idea, especially as they all seem to've been bird-limed... I'm sticking with my expectations fixed on 2015 for actual completion and availability - but I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong. Gus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Polly Rubery" <[email protected]> To: "Eng-Worcester" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 8:35 PM Subject: [WOR] DoVE and MAGPIE And if you read this carefully and the GRO links for the DoVE Project (Digitisation of Vital Events) you will learn that: The DoVE Project is digitising the microfilms of the Quarterly Returns of BMD that the GRO uses to produce certificates by scanning the films - WHERE they are readable. How many certificates have you received from the GRO where the details are printed as the film copy is not legible when scanned. How are the people in India going to cope with these? This re-indexing should cure problems in the Indexes where the QRs have been made to the GRO, even if late (as many marriages are), BUT if the event was never returned to the GRO by some error or oversight, or was copied wrongly by the person making the QR, then it will *still* be missing or wrong in the DoVE index. However the DoVE index and digitisation is for the benefit of the GRO - they will be able to locate events and print off certificates much more quickly, by means of the EAGLE system. It was never intended that the DoVE index was going to be made available to the public. Instead it was going to be used to inform the "Multiple Access to GRO Published Index Events (MAGPIE) Project", which was what was going to be made available online to the public. I now quote from the FFHS about MAGPIE: "# The January 2007 FRC Newsletter stated these indexes would start to be available on the internet from early 2008 # The April 2007 FRC Newsletter stated that most index searches would be possible online by April 2008 # At the July 2007 FRC User Group meeting, the GRO stated completion had slipped significantly beyond April 2008 and, because there are currently no funds agreed for the following financial year 2008-2009, **the project has been suspended** Now that the future position of the GRO has been resolved (it is to become part of the Identity and Passport Service see: http://www.passport.gov.uk/press-2007-10-9.asp) hopefully they will reinstate the MAGPIE Project..... I am not holding my breath! Polly ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Prescott" <[email protected]> To: "Firebird" <[email protected]>; "Eng-Worcester" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 7:09 PM Subject: Re: [WOR] DoVE And here's the history of how it's fallen behind schedule. Sadly, par for the course for a large public sector IT project. http://www.ffhs.org.uk/archives/gro/civil-reg-0707.php Best wishes Paul Prescott ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Prescott" <[email protected]> To: "Firebird" <[email protected]>; "Eng-Worcester" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 7:02 PM Subject: Re: [WOR] DoVE > I've now found the source. > > http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/aboutus/lookingahead/Digitisation_of_Vital_Events.asp > > Best wishes > > Paul Prescott > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul Prescott" <[email protected]> > To: "Firebird" <[email protected]>; "Eng-Worcester" > <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 6:51 PM > Subject: Re: [WOR] DoVE > > >> Mike, Vivien: >> >> I understand that DoVE will create a new index by going back to the >> original >> records, which are being scanned. Births will have mother's maiden >> names, >> marriages will have spouses, and deaths will have ages, all from 1837 >> onwards. >> >> Having written that, I can't now remember what my source for it was. >> Possibly an earlier edition of the FRC newsletter. >> >> Best wishes >> >> Paul Prescott >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Firebird" <[email protected]> >> To: "Eng-Worcester" <[email protected]> >> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 6:10 PM >> Subject: Re: [WOR] DoVE >> >> >>> Mike Palmer wrote: >>> >>> >>>> I understand that the information will be taken from records already >>>> available at the GRO, so any already missing which never made it from >>>> local >>>> Registrars and Churches will still not be available online. Is that >>>> correct? >>> >>> This is what I understood, but others have said the missing entries >>> *will* be included. >>> >>>> And will there be any other new information available to us in this >>>> index >>>> apart from a spouse's surname and a mother's maiden (or former) name? >>> >>> Spouse's surname, mother's maiden name, not former name, and age at >>> death, but that's all. >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >>> the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message