Another howler from Ancestry

[LouiseA]

I was looking at my Dodge relatives on Ancestry last night and found that one of them was apparently born in "Not Captized, London".

When I looked at the actual census form, she was born in the City of London and in the "deaf, blind" column at the end had been written "not baptized".

I seriously wonder about the Ancestry transcribers sometimes! 

[angelfish58]

I seriously wonder about the Ancestry transcribers sometimes! 

Apparently the censuses were transcribed in China which, if true, explains a lot.

[stonechat]

It is strange that sometimes you find such mistakes and e.g. on the W Yorkshire records that some baps are down as burials and the surnames are also missing

On the other hand some of the record where the original image is badly degraded they have done a fantastic job - I have enhance the image in photoshop elements and they have done a really good job

[LouiseA]

I agree that, on the whole, they've done a great job and I am grateful to everyone who's put the work in, but I get so frustrated sometimes that I'm paying a monthly subscription but often can't find the people I'm looking for because of a glaring transcription error (Caroline Dodge transcribed as Cawline Dodge being another I found last night).

If it's true that the records were transcribed in China then that DOES explain a lot. Names that would be familiar to someone whose first language is English are probably guessed at by someone for whom it's not. It's a shame, but something I'll have to live with I suppose! 

[Nick29]

I think you'll find that the China myth started as a joke by a forum poster.  Ancestry have used American geological societies in the past for their census transcriptions, and these days they also use volunteers who work for the World Archive Project. 

Anyone (whether an Ancestry member or not) can volunteer for the WAP.  And if you think transcribing is easy, then feel free to volunteer !   Remember that transcribers can only transcribe what they see, and do not have the help of context or hindsight

http://community.ancestry.co.uk/wap/dashboard.aspx

[cati]

I think you'll find that the China myth started as a joke by a forum poster.  Ancestry have used American geological societies in the past for their census transcriptions, and these days they also use volunteers who work for the World Archive Project. 

You do amaze me, Nick, after some of the transcription errors I've found!

My personal favourite - and this was from perfectly clear, copperplate handwriting - was 'Percival Terry', who I eventually found transcribed as 'Peruval Lacey'.

Cati

[Rishile]

Anyone (whether an Ancestry member or not) can volunteer for the WAP.  And if you think transcribing is easy, then feel free to volunteer !   Remember that transcribers can only transcribe what they see, and do not have the help of context or hindsight

http://community.ancestry.co.uk/wap/dashboard.aspx

I did some transcribing for Familysearch a couple of years ago.  It is very rewarding but very difficult too.  It would be useful if you could transcribe areas that you know but most of mine was US census with all the Italian mafia involvements (or so it seemed).  I suppose it depends what is priority at any given time.  Anyone can sign up for it and just download a programme onto your own PC. 

Unfortunately the family history bug got me and the rest, as they say, is history.

Rishile

[angelfish58]

I think you'll find that the China myth started as a joke by a forum poster. 

Fair enough. 

[Nick29]

Cati, I'm just amazed that people believe that the Chinese could do it at all ?   Another theory which is often quoted on genealogy forums is that some censuses were transcribed by computer, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), despite the fact that OCR stuggles even with typewritten text, let alone handwriting  

I see 'howlers' on a very regular basis, but unfortunately about 50% of these were created by the enumerators themselves, which transcription can do nothing about