Welcome to UK Indexer

The first task you are asked to complete is both an assessment and a chance for you to develop the skills required to be a successful indexer.

On completion of the test you will be assessed electronically for accuracy. If your score is below a predefined threshold then you will need to read the help pages again before retaking the test (NB the tools are unavailable until it is noted that the help pages have been read).

If your score is of an acceptable standard then Congratulations. You may proceed to contribute to the UK Indexer project ensuring future generations will have an accurate transcription of historical data.

Detailed below is a description of the assessment tool (known as the review tool). Other help and advice is available from the various help and FAQ pages and also from other users and from the UK Indexing team in the forum.

How to use the Review Tool

After you have successfully logged in, click on the ‘Review Tool ‘ button on the home page and your screen should look something like this:

Figure 1: The review tool (top) and census image (bottom).

Next step:

In the Review tool window you can see 9 lines from the database. Your task is to compare the highlighted line on the review tool to the same entry on the census image and check that they both say the same thing.

If you find something wrong:

1. Correct it;
   
2. Tick the required check box(es) if you are changing a family surname;
3. Click Update;

In the example shown in Figure 1 you can see ‘CRIMM’ is not correct. The census image shows two dots above the writing indicating that the letter ‘i‘ occurs twice in the name.

The dictionary name tool (located on the navigational links of the main UK Indexer page) can be used to list possible alternative names from a given input. Advice on using the dictionary tool as well as some general advice on deciphering handwriting is available in the help files.

If you find missing or additional record(s), report this using the link at the top right of the Review Tool window.

Figure 2: Report missing images.

When you have completed the checks on this page, go to the next page using the arrow buttons.

Figure 3: Moving on to the next page.

(You have 10 pages in your folder and currently you are on page 1).

When you reach 10 out of 10, click Next and upload your pages.

Well done! Your piece is completed — thank you!

Note: various check box options such as update family names are shown but need not be used. These are legacy items that are not required for test purposes. The review tool used to be the main indexing tool but has now been superseded by the page tool (to which you will be introduced shortly).