Another addiction?

I think I have an addictive personality; I can eat the same thing day after day and never tire of it (providing it is chocolate), I can do jigsaw puzzles for weeks on end before I get fed up and I have now discovered a new addiction - Family Search Indexing.

 

Let me tell you as much as I know about it.  This is a programme of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the idea is to copy all the records they have and put them on line for anyone who wants to research their ancestry.  Bearing in mind that the church has one of the biggest genealogical libraries in the world, I suppose you can say this is a mammoth undertaking. Apparently this all started way back in 1978 (when computers looked rather different from today) and people were called especially to transpose the written records (that had already been filmed).  I can vaguely remember trying it somewhere in the nineties but I couldn't get the hang of it and it seemed to take forever, and that is where I had left it  - until now.

 

Several months ago we (as congregations of the said church) were encouraged to start doing the indexing as a service. I could remember the time I tried it and I was assured that things had changed and it is now much easier so I thought I would give it another go.  It is something that I can do in the comfort of my own home and as and when I have time.  My first attempt was a somewhat dismal failure. The software wouldn't load properly and although I did manage to input some names, they were then stuck as it didn't want to submit them to the server.  I like to think that I have patience, but this sorely tried mine and everything (including the computer) was in imminent danger of being thrown out the window in exasperation. So I gave up.  For about a month.  And then I tried again.  For reasons known only to someone else, this time when I tried, not only did the software load correctly, but it stayed put which was a big plus. And I managed to get batches that I had done sent off.  Since then I have not looked back and I am spending so much time indexing that my flat is in danger of dust invasion (as I have never been one for housework) and it does resemble something akin to a bomb site.  I need to heed my own advice and do some serious time management and make some rules.....  However, I have indexed over six thousand names since I started the first week of August, so I am inordinately proud of myself (which I really shouldn't be as it is not being very humble).

 

At the moment I am doing two different sets of records (yes I didn't know I could multi task either), one is First world War data and the other is Kent Electoral Registers.  The latter is interesting as I recognise surnames of friends and colleagues and wonder if they are distantly related and the former is sad yet very satisfying to do.  All of it allows me to do service when I would otherwise not have the means to do anything else.  And it makes me happy and a little bit competitive with myself as I try and outdo my previous "best".

 

So, am I addicted or is this just a phase?  I would like to think that it is a bit of both and  if I can help someone with their genealogy then that is a great blessing to both of us.  Long may it continue is all I can say.