FamilySearch Indexing:Temple and Family History Consultants

This article provides information for temple and family history consultants as it relates to the FamilySearch indexing program.

FamilySearch indexing helps provide searchable records and hints that make it easy to find ancestors and add them to the Family Tree. Temple and family history consultants with an indexing assignment have a responsibility to help lead indexing efforts in a stake or ward.
 * Indexing Home Page

Consultant Online Community
To connect with other temple and family history consultants and discuss indexing topics, join the Yammer FamilySearch Groups by requesting an invitation here. Once in the Yammer Community, join the "T&FH Consultant-Indexing Collaboration" community.

Training & Administration

 * Consultant Training on LDS.org
 * Consultant Helps on FamilySearch.org
 * Web Indexing Reports - on this page, scroll down then click your stake or ward name in the Groups section.
 * Desktop Indexing Reports - contact FamilySearch support for access to the reporting tool as a new consultant.

Tools

 * Old English Paleography - Handwriting Helps
 * United States Handwriting - Handwriting Helps

History
The calling of a stake or ward temple and family history consultant with an indexing assignment (originally called stake extraction director, and then stake indexing director) was originally implemented to facilitate the Universal Data Extraction (UDE) program. The UDE program was started to extract information from historical records. Its purpose was to create a digital database for use in family history research. Church members were called to use computers to enter vital records from original documents, microfilm and paper copies of microfilm. With the advent of the FamilySearch indexing program, volunteers worked on computers to transcribe information from digital images of microfilm. The Universal Data Extraction program was eventually phased out for the general public and replaced by the indexing program.