Unsung Heroes

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

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FAMILY HISTORY TIDBITS
By Wally Gray

Unsung Heroes: The Family Record Extraction Workers

Unsung heroes? Working on the best-kept secret in the Church? Who are they? These are the men and women who spend time, usually at their home computers, recording family history information from digitized documents. They are the extraction directors and workers. [Updating in 2008, we now have familysearch indexers.] See http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/index.jsp.

What documents? These could be census records, church registers, or vital records. The records are in English, Spanish, or other languages. The registers and other documents list births, intended marriages (bans), marriages, or deaths—valuable information!

For what purposes? The extracted names and vital statistics are made available to all in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) where world-wide family researchers can find them and where LDS members can determine whether temple work has been done. Some of the names are sent by Church headquarters to the various temples to supplement the names that members provide for ordinance work. Some names also go on compact discs such as the Ellis Island project and other vital records CDs.

The IGI is kept updated and is available online at www.familysearch.org. Go to Search, then International Genealogical Index for access.

How are records extracted? Most extractors work from CDs which contain scanned images of original records. Workers usually extract 500 to 1,000 names for each assignment given them by their directors. They place their work on floppy discs which are turned into the ward extraction directors, then to the stake director who audits the information and transmits it to Church headquarters by e-mail.

About half of the names on the IGI are from extracted records. The rest are from members who have submitted their family names, and the temple work has been completed. Because all temple ordinances are entered into the IGI in a timely manner, members can consult the index to avoid duplication of temple ordinances.

How extensive? In 2002 nearly 28 million extracted records were submitted to Church headquarters by stakes and volunteer groups participating in extraction. This number of records totaled about 80 million names. The volume has grown each year.

Who are doing the extractions? They are the unsung heroes. Generally they are members of the Church, most holding other positions in their Church units. One of them is the [past] editor of this newsletter, Ella Mae Judd, who has worked on counties in New York, Pennsylvania and Canada.

The Church Handbook of Instructions (page 267) points out that family record extraction provides opportunities for service. Members who are less active, homebound, or elderly can do the work in their homes. Youth can also help redeem the dead by extracting names. Non-members may also participate in this project.

When you search for an extracted name on the IGI you can often determine the film number the extraction came from and can usually rent the specified film at your local Family History Center to see the original document.

Our hats are off to these unsung heroes who provide so much help in redeeming the dead!