Update on the Catholic Church web pages. -----Original Message----- From: ilstclai-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:ilstclai-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Diane Walsh Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 5:27 AM To: ilstclai@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILSTCLAI] Catholic parish registers About 6 or so weeks ago the Catholic parish registers came online in as a browse feature on FamilySearchIndexing.org Apparently they were testing the interface and have now taken it down for 'various reasons' I investigated the removal and share the end result of the conversations with FamilySearch Indexing Support staff. begin Dear FamilySearch Support lwc I appreciate the reply. So, if I interpret this correctly, 1. The Catholic parish records of the Belleville diocese in So. Illinois will eventually be part of the FamilySearch Indexing project. It is not yet ready for that stage (tutorials, data input interfaces), but when it is, people can sign up to help index. 2. That FSI did post the records in the Record Search section of the site as a browsable set, but have been removed until some future time. The entire site is in Beta testing where records appear and disappear for various technical or other reasons. 3. That this site is in Pilot stage testing. That means that this site may be unavailable at times, the image collections may be unavailable, and the image collections may appear and again be withdrawn for unspecified reasons. 4. That we just have to be patient until the diocesan registers are reposted - I'd like to be on your list of people to notifiy when it does come back on site if anyone bothers with this sort of thing. We have some very active volunteers who would help the project in whatever way you need on this end, so just ask. 5. The Catholic parish registers for So. Ill are presently not shown in FamilySearchIndexing as an upcoming project, a current project, or a finished project. I'm hoping there was enough interest shown while the records were briefly posted in Record Search - Browse that you all saw a lot of usage - enough to flag it as a project with lots of potential users/indexers, and so many that this project has been pushed to the top of the list for indexing. Until then we just have to sit tight. Its rather like getting your first taste of a favorite flavored ice cream and realizing the refrigerated truck that brought it to town had to make a schedule change, gets some parts, find some engineers, and will have to readjust a few things, particularly in light of gas prices! In any case, the fact FamilySearch Indexing successfully negotiated getting the records and came to digitize them was a block busting accomplishment - I for one am truly grateful for all the work, dedication, and expertise behind these projects. Thank you on behalf of many of us with Southern Illinois roots. Diane Walsh St. Clair County Illinois