One of my transcribers has written to me as follows: "Dear John I have just looked at my statistics and discover that in the month up to 13November Marjorie and I transcribed approximately minus 10000 names. Our totals dropped from 57700 to 47164. Is there any reason for this, does it mean that a question mark in place of a non existent age deletes it from the record? This does not give a great deal of encouragement to us and we will put our transcribing on hold until we get an explanation from the powers that be. Sorry to load you with this but it is discouraging when ones work seems to be discarded for no apparent reason. Earlier this afternoon I discovered a way of editing out the question mark in the uploaded files and I was feeling quite pleased with myself, now I feel like throwing in the towel" Please could I have a comment from the Powers that be. John

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:29:01 -0000, you wrote: >One of my transcribers has written to me as follows: > >"Dear John >I have just looked at my statistics and discover that in the month up to 13November Marjorie and I transcribed approximately minus 10000 names. Our totals dropped from 57700 to 47164. Is there any reason for this, does it mean that a question mark in place of a non existent age deletes it from the record? >This does not give a great deal of encouragement to us and we will put our transcribing on hold until we get an explanation from the powers that be. Sorry to load you with this but it is discouraging when ones work seems to be discarded for no apparent reason. >Earlier this afternoon I discovered a way of editing out the question mark in the uploaded files and I was feeling quite pleased with myself, now I feel like throwing in the towel" > >Please could I have a comment from the Powers that be. The new check on inappropriate age at death caused any file which contained age at death before 1866 to be dropped (the whole file is dropped, not just the records in error). These records will return to the DB once the files are corrected. I do appreciate that the whole thing is an inconvenience to those who must correct files, but the long and short of it is that these files contain incorrect data, that we failed to trap at the time it was uploaded. Incorrect data damages the reputation of FreeBMD, and we need to deal with it. -- Dave Mayall

I would like to seek further information and clarification before going further. Dave said; "> The new check on inappropriate age at death caused any file which > contained age at death before 1866 to be dropped (the whole file is > dropped, not just the records in error). > > These records will return to the DB once the files are corrected." First, please could Dave confirm that this means the files uploaded by any transcribers who have included a query mark in the AaD column have had them transcriptions totally erased so that they need to be uploaded again after the question mark has been removed. If this is so could they be restored? Second, if they have been totally deleted should I remove the uploaded signal from my allocations work book? Third, where the transcriber has ceased to be active am I free to reallocate the scans whose files have been dropped and regard them as new work? Fourth, could Dave explain how the results of a search would have been displayed if the question mark had remained? Fifth, if the question mark was displayed in a search could it's presence have been explained by a note? Sixth, why was it imperative to take action now, why not wait for the second keying? Further on Dave said: ">These records will return to the DB once the files are corrected" First, could Dave explain what will happen if no-one corrects some or all of the affected files and I decide to take no action? Second, does he agree that the phrase quoted above could be construed as blackmail? Elsewhere Dave said ">* indicates one or more missing characters >_ indicates one missing character >- indicates the literal "-" >? indicates an unexpectedly blank field >None of these values validly represent what is found in deaths to >1865, which is an expectedly blank field. But clearly "unexpected" to a fairly. long list of transcribers. And finally this is another time when the failure to warn co-ordinators has resulted in upsetting valued transcribers. The one principally affected in my syndicate is a couple who have devised a system for working together that produces accurate and speedy results from some of the most indifferent material they have to use. They have never complained until now. Some 10000 roughly 25% of their input has been arbitrarily removed from their input. This represents about 250 files. The task is daunting, and they would have my sympathy if they suggested that as far as FreeBMD is concerned it should find a large expanse of water and then engage in an athletic pursuit that results in getting wet John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Mayall" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 7:47 PM Subject: Re: Statistics > On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:29:01 -0000, you wrote: > >>One of my transcribers has written to me as follows: >> >>"Dear John >>I have just looked at my statistics and discover that in the month up to >>13November Marjorie and I transcribed approximately minus 10000 names. Our >>totals dropped from 57700 to 47164. Is there any reason for this, does it >>mean that a question mark in place of a non existent age deletes it from >>the record? >>This does not give a great deal of encouragement to us and we will put our >>transcribing on hold until we get an explanation from the powers that be. >>Sorry to load you with this but it is discouraging when ones work seems to >>be discarded for no apparent reason. >>Earlier this afternoon I discovered a way of editing out the question mark >>in the uploaded files and I was feeling quite pleased with myself, now I >>feel like throwing in the towel" >> >>Please could I have a comment from the Powers that be. > > The new check on inappropriate age at death caused any file which > contained age at death before 1866 to be dropped (the whole file is > dropped, not just the records in error). > > . > > I do appreciate that the whole thing is an inconvenience to those who > must correct files, but the long and short of it is that these files > contain incorrect data, that we failed to trap at the time it was > uploaded. > > Incorrect data damages the reputation of FreeBMD, and we need to deal > with it. > > > -- > Dave Mayall > > > ==== FREEBMD-SYNDICATES Mailing List ==== > Thank you Rootsweb for hosting the FreeBMD project and its mailing lists. > See http://www.rootsweb.com/ > > ============================== > View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find > marriage announcements and more. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx >