GRONI records to On-line November 2013

[tillypeg]

sorry hadn't finished!

/ where you can search district and quarter with just a first name

[scotmum]

Apparently if using GRONI online:

You have registered to use our Online Search facility, that is not an application for a search.     Should you require further assistance if your search is unfruitful you can apply for a search by telephone ...  or by downloading an application form from our website (something I have yet to find - anyone found it and have a link?) and applying by post. 

so, if a record you believe should be there (perhaps because you already have a Volume and Page number or other proof), does not turn up on the online search, and according to GRONI, when asked, has not been mis-transcribed, they will, it would seem, not assist further by checking for it manually in the appropriate Volume and Page (if you have this information) of the appropriate original register, which they hold. However, if you apply for a search by telephone or by post, and pay separately for same, they seem to imply they would perhaps check manually (albeit it is not clear if that is indeed what they are saying).

Unrelated to the foregoing - Useful Tip

Came across this on one of the many 'info' pages on the nidirect 'parent site':


http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ytc/

Illegible names

There are several reasons why names may not have been recorded for example if the name is illegible and has been impossible to capture for the index. In these cases ‘not captured’ has been inserted to enable searching.

For example, if you are searching for a George McDonald that you know was born in 1868 but cannot find the record, it may be worth replacing the forename with ‘not captured’. It is also common in the case of older records that a birth was registered before the forename of the child was agreed. In these cases ‘not captured’, combined with the surname, may help you find the record.

It might help someone, hence why I thought I would post the details. That said, I have already come across entries that have actually said 'Illegible' in the surname space on the 'enhanced results'.


 

[twitter]

Are the "previous searches" not up and running yet?  I thought and I may be remembering incorrectly, but when your logged in you got "searches" under the Features heading. So it appears today that unless I pay another credit, which I don't want to spend, I can't get to "previous searches" which may be in the next screen. If this is the case, it needs to be changed especially when you only have a 72 hour window.
Twitter 

[scotmum]

They seem to have fixed the issue on Friday afternoon, but it also seems you need to reach agreement with them individually as to how you are 'compensated' for the 'Error Page' searches that you could not view again and have now disappeared (having passed the 72hrs) - for example, re-instatement of credits to enable those records to be searched and viewed again.

[twitter]

It appears then you can't get to Previous Searches unless you pay another credit to get to that screen. If that is correct another email to GRONI is about to happen. The other thing I cant seem to find is an account of how many credits are still available to use in your account. All these features should have been field tested prior to launch.
Twitter

[scotmum]

When logged on, you should see, at top left hand side of page, 'my credit balance' then beside it an oval shape with a figure that shows same, eg 15. You can also check what time/date and for what purpose you have used your credits by clicking on the arrow beside your name at top of screen, and then viewing 'credit history', albeit that is a bit of a pain as it also records all the '0' credit basic searches too.

[scotmum]

Found yet another mis-transcription.

Attempted to report it using their 'Report Amendment' form, but getting following server error message:

corporate.nics.gov.uk/nigov-error

Have sent email to notify them instead and advise they have a server error problem.

Have also said it would be easier to find the mis-transcripts if we could have 'wildcard' search options on surnames, such as * or %, especially for ones we know exact date of event.

[tillypeg]

Well done Scotmum - I'm not holding my breath though! 

Just tried a search for one of mine - death of Phyllis.  I tried Phylis and Variants and it didn't come up but Phyllis did!  You would have thought Phylis would be a variant of Phyllis....

[Elwyn Soutter]

I have written to GRONI too suggesting that they need to start responding publicly with more information than is currently available, and perhaps explain some of the mysterious limitations. If you can search for 160 years at a time on Scotlandspeople, why is it only 5 on GRONI? They need to look at the wildcard options and explain them better. And so on. If people feed back their individual frustrations (and compliments where appropriate) in sufficient numbers perhaps they may respond, and take some action.