{"id":655,"date":"2010-11-16T20:26:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T02:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/familysearch-another-experiment\/"},"modified":"2013-07-07T15:35:01","modified_gmt":"2013-07-07T20:35:01","slug":"familysearch-another-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/familysearch-another-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"FamilySearch \u2013 Another Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Although I have been extremely busy the last several months, I have managed to squeeze in some research time.\u00a0 And over the last few weeks, I noticed the <a href=\"http:\/\/pilot.familysearch.org\/recordsearch\/start.html#\">FamilySearch Record Pilot Search<\/a> didn\u2019t have any red stars indicating new\/updated collections.\u00a0 The first week I thought it was me, or that they simply hadn\u2019t made any updates that week.\u00a0 Even though they are constantly updating, I thought, hey everyone needs a day off.\u00a0 But the following week, again, no stars.\u00a0 What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In a post I wrote back in September, <a title=\"FamilySearch \u2013 Out With the Old and In With the New\u2026Please, I Hope Not!\" href=\"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/familysearch-out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-newplease-i-hope-not\/\">FamilySearch \u2013 Out With the Old and In With the New\u2026Please, I Hope Not!<\/a>, I expressed my frustration with <a href=\"http:\/\/beta.familysearch.org\/\">FamilySearch Beta<\/a>, and have continued to use Records Pilot Search.\u00a0 But seeing the lack of stars got me wondering if they were perhaps no longer updating the Pilot.\u00a0\u00a0 So another experiment was underway.<\/p>\n<p>I headed over to Beta and noticed plenty of stars indicating new\/updated collections.\u00a0 Comparing the list in Beta to the list in Pilot, it was clear to me that Pilot is NOT being updated.\u00a0 For example, take a look at the collections listed for Illinois (see below).\u00a0 The first list is Pilot, the second is Beta, both as of 6 pm today.\u00a0 Notice there is a new collection as of November 13th (highlighted).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FSCollectionList-Pilot\" alt=\"FSCollectionList-Pilot\" src=\"http:\/\/lh4.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvO0rJnuI\/AAAAAAAAFrs\/sp2G82kdZX4\/FSCollectionList-Pilot%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"376\" height=\"153\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FSCollectionList-Beta\" alt=\"FSCollectionList-Beta\" src=\"http:\/\/lh5.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvPND1lLI\/AAAAAAAAFrw\/2cuOQuCrUJU\/FSCollectionList-Beta%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"492\" height=\"201\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So with this being the case, I guess I better get used to Beta, even though I will be kicking and screaming along the way.\u00a0 Although I had a bit of a hissy fit in my last post on this subject (the one mentioned earlier), I thought I\u2019d go ahead and expand on that, sharing some of the improvements that I\u2019ve noticed, as well as some positive observations, and of course other areas for improvement.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Historical Records<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll start by reviewing the items I wrote about in the earlier post.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Filtering Options<\/strong> \u2013 While this is still not available, I have heard that this will be added in the future (hopefully the NEAR future!).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Search Screen<\/strong> \u2013 No improvement there and I don\u2019t anticipate any changes, so I guess I\u2019ll have to get used to it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Beyond that, I noticed that the collection list shows the number of records and the date the collection was updated (see below).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"CollectionList\" alt=\"CollectionList\" src=\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvPkBEvLI\/AAAAAAAAFr0\/XztfmKsXztc\/CollectionList%5B8%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"492\" height=\"324\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While I like seeing the updated date, I\u2019d much rather see the percent complete, as opposed to the number of records.\u00a0 In fact, I noticed quite some time ago that the percent complete was missing from Pilot, and that was driving me nuts.\u00a0 The percent complete is helpful, because most times, when they add a collection, it\u2019s only part of the collection, with planned updates to complete the collection in the future.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to know if a collection is complete or only partially complete.\u00a0 For example, when they added the Cook County (Illinois) Birth records, neither of the two databases were complete.\u00a0 So I did my searches, and for those I did not find, I added a To Do item so that they next time either database was updated, I could research those particular people again.\u00a0 However, now that the collections do not contain the percent complete, I have no idea if I should keep a lookout for these collections to be updated or if the collection is complete and there is simply no record for the person\/people I am looking for.<\/p>\n<p>One thing I like about the Beta collection list is the little camera icon to the left of the item.\u00a0 This icon indicates whether this is a collection of images (in most cases actual records) or simply an index.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>FHL Catalog<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Drastic changes abound.\u00a0 First, they appeared to have fixed the issue I mentioned with regard to searching by place names.\u00a0 Back in September, when I searched for \u201cOakland\u201d (no quotes), as I would have in the \u201cold\u201d catalog, I did not find the county of Oakland in Michigan.\u00a0 It was only when I added \u201ccounty\u201d (no quotes) to the search that I got what I wanted.\u00a0 Now, when you start typing in a place name, it will start to list places that match the criteria; the more characters you enter, the more narrow it gets (see below).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FHLCatalog-Search1\" alt=\"FHLCatalog-Search1\" src=\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvQP1XByI\/AAAAAAAAFr4\/NtJrL0qJ8nI\/FHLCatalog-Search1%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"352\" height=\"292\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FHLCatalog-Search2\" alt=\"FHLCatalog-Search2\" src=\"http:\/\/lh4.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvQSBXJcI\/AAAAAAAAFr8\/LrSP5LypxgU\/FHLCatalog-Search2%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"352\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure how I feel about this.\u00a0 They\u2019re not listed in alphabetical order like in the \u201cold\u201d catalog (see below).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FHLCatalog-Search-Results\" alt=\"FHLCatalog-Search-Results\" src=\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvQ044Y5I\/AAAAAAAAFsA\/7AbGfVfzW70\/FHLCatalog-Search-Results%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"288\" height=\"535\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Instead, it appears that they are listed by type:\u00a0 first counties (e.g., Michigan, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Oakland<\/span>), then towns (e.g., California, Alameda, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Oakland<\/span>), then towns within the county (e.g., Michigan, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Oakland<\/span>, Addison Township).\u00a0 Of course, though, it does not show a complete listing (e.g., there are several additional towns in Oakland County, Michigan, than what appears).\u00a0 As you can see by comparing the results from the \u201cold\u201d catalog (which had more not captured in the screenshot) and Beta, Beta is lacking in matches.\u00a0 Regardless, it\u2019s certainly better than it was.<\/p>\n<p>And by far the biggest improvement is the search results.\u00a0 Instead of a mangled list of random catalog entries, the results list is nearly identical to the \u201cold\u201d catalog (see below).\u00a0 The exception being the order of some results, such as \u201cGenealogy\u201d now listed after \u201cGenealogy \u2013 Periodicals.\u201d\u00a0 The nice thing about Beta is that it lists the number of sources available in each category.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"CatResults-Old\" alt=\"CatResults-Old\" src=\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvRBz3bgI\/AAAAAAAAFsE\/YKL5ymNRgMw\/CatResults-Old%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"492\" height=\"313\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"CatResults-Beta\" alt=\"CatResults-Beta\" src=\"http:\/\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_udfzp1vLXt0\/TOMvRn7JocI\/AAAAAAAAFsI\/4q4phFbBJ-s\/CatResults-Beta%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800\" width=\"492\" height=\"266\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The downfall in Beta comes when you view the results of a category; they are not in alphabetical order as they are in the \u201cold\u201d catalog.\u00a0 But the nice thing about the individual catalog entry is that you have the film information on the same screen, whereas in the \u201cold\u201d catalog, you had to click the \u201cView Film Notes\u201d button.\u00a0 Furthermore, all films are on one screen, as opposed to 100 at a time.\u00a0 While this makes for excessive scrolling, I gotta say, it\u2019s better than having to load four pages to get to the portion of films you need (e.g., a set of 500+ films that contain probate records for a county covering the period of 1840 to 1924, and you want 1915\u2026that\u2019s on the fourth page of film results; or the same set of films that has various types, such as estates, letters of administration, and guardianship, which may be missed if you don\u2019t go through all the pages of the film listing).<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Overall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am glad to see that they are making improvements to Beta.\u00a0 It\u2019s slowly getting better, but I wish they were still dually updating Pilot as that search interface is much easier to navigate.\u00a0 I think once Beta offers the search filtering options for Historical Records, I\u2019ll be much more comfortable using Beta, but until then, I guess I just have to muddle through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although I have been extremely busy the last several months, I have managed to squeeze in some research time.\u00a0 And over the last few weeks, I noticed the FamilySearch Record Pilot Search didn\u2019t have any red stars indicating new\/updated collections.\u00a0 The first week I thought [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,300],"tags":[381],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genblog","category-resources-genblog","tag-tools-tech-familysearch","cat-25-id","cat-300-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3HcLI-az","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3502,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/3502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}