Talk:FamilySearch Indexing: US-Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, Project Updates

Insufficient instructions on "Marriage County" field

As I arbitrate this project I notice that almost everyone is typing the name of the county given at the top right of the index card. This is the county that the record was filed under, not always the same county where the marriage took place. Only experienced genealogists and indexers will pick up on this. Please add a field help and project update. As an arbitrator, when both indexers mark the county with the top right field I understand it is not correct. It is also not my duty as an arbitrator to fix an error that both indexers made so many faulty records are being submitted.

I agree that the instructions for the Marriage County field need clarification. However, the reason most everyone is indexing the name of the county given at the top right of the card is because that is where the field help example shows that the information is drawn from:

https://indexing.familysearch.org/projtab/viewProject.jsf?url=USColoradoStatewidMarriageIndex19001939/examples/Example61.html

Therefore, most everyone is following project instructions as currently written.

The conflict and ensuing confusion seems to be coming from the written field help instructions where it tells us to type the county that was recorded as the place of marriage, because there is also a line on the card that is labeled Place of Marriage. However, according to the field help for the Marriage City field, that line is where the information is drawn from for the Marriage City field. And again, there is an example:

https://indexing.familysearch.org/projtab/viewProject.jsf?url=USColoradoStatewidMarriageIndex19001939/examples/Example60.html

So if we are following current instructions using the sample images we will index the Marriage County field using the information from the upper right side of the card where it says "County", and we will index the Marriage City field using the information in the center of the card from the line that says "Place of Marriage".

11/24/12---New PDF in project updates on how to index county when two counties have been recorded on the card:

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/images/d/d8/Two_Colorado_Counties.pdf