It looks like the FHL decided to go south.

They have added:

Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia - Atti di Morte, 1809-1936
(Italy Napoli Castellammare Deaths 1809-1936)

Believe it or not, they also are still working on trento baptisms. I started indexing a year ago last august, and they had those then. They added a part two to them (whatever that means).

Anyway, I hope they continue to add things from southern Italy (no matter how long it takes to do them).

Oh..and one more thing.

Remember, I mentioned that when I joined ancestry's indexing, they began to "grade" your work? Well, last week, the FHL went on a point system.

For each name you index (or arbitrate), you get a point. Some more difficult projects give you more points per name (up to 10).

They claimed they are doing this, because other people own the rights to certain documents (I am guessing places like ancestry, or something). When you look up your person, for genealogy, the actual copy may be on that particular site...so the FHL links you there.

Apparently, these documents wont be viewable to the general public (online). You would have to go to the FHL to view them, from their computer. If you index for them, your points enable you to view documents of this type. They have yet to determine or inform us, of exactly how many points one needs.

When you index for ancestry, their indexing program works the same way. Any project that was being worked on, while you index for them, is available to be viewed by you, even if you dont have a paid ancestry acct.

You have to keep your numbers up there, also. (It has nothing to do with your "grade", but the amount you index for them 3 month period, I think. The amount is nothing that is so difficult to get and keep, if you work for them on a steady basis.

And like I said..the FHL hasnt even mentioned yet, what their amount will be.

I just thought I would let everyone know, that there is hope for southern Italian records yet.

According to Wikipedia Castellammare di Stabia is the birthplace of Gabriele Capone

He had a very infamous son... Should we do a "Gente Challenge" and see who can find a record of him first?

A challenge, huh? I'm in! You set the rules...

If in fact Gabriele Capone was from Castellammare di Stabia, his birth records or marriage record should be somewhere, in the so far not indexed, set of documents currently found on the FHL site. Varying info about Gabriele Capone can be found online... but it seems that the date of his birth varies depending on what source you look at

Make the challenge real simple, the first person who posts a fhl document about Gab. Capone on this thread wins!! Maybe you can put "best gente member of the month" under their tagline

what do you think?

They are only working on deaths. They didnt put out any births or marriages yet.

I can only compare how this will move along, with what ancestry did.

Their first italian record, was (I believe) deaths also. Those records were removed and begun again, twice...due to their own program errors. Shortly after (a few months) the deaths remained in their program(without having to be removed for bugs), they added marriages for the same town. I dont believe they ever added births. Instead, they added a new town, deaths..and then marriages.

None of these are complete, yet. I think they should be real close to completing the first set of death records. I cant say how long it takes for them to actually get online, because they then have to work on them, themselves (doing who knows what). However, I get the feeling that they add them to their site (for use by people) as they are finished. I dont think they wait for the entire batch to be finished.

Now..thats how ancestry operates.

I am not quite sure that the FHL works in the same way. First, unless all they had for trento, were those baptisms, they never put any other type record out there for trento..other than their baptisms part 2. There is still some part one, showing up there also, to be indexed.

The FHL has a pilot site for their lookups. Plus, on one of their indexing pages, it tells us what has already been put into the search. It seems to me, that its taking them forever to put things out there. I am there over a year..and only now do I see some of the things I worked on a year ago..showing up. They "could" also be adding things bit by bit, and inform us only when the entire collection is there..I dont know. And, they dont hand out the info, the way ancestry does. They have no forum..so that one could ask questions or compare what they might have gotten thru emails with them. I see this as a good thing (believe it or not). Too many individuals on the ancestry forum..do nothing but tick people off. They seem to be very bossy, trying to tell everyone what they should be doing..according to what they see as being right or wrong. Many of these do gooders are the arbitrators. While it is true that they could be very helpful because they see the mistakes (without anyones name on them), some of them are just down right nasty. I know that I got fed up with them..and its part of the reason why I only worked for them for a few months. I would have been better off never viewing that forum..but, they have it shoved right in your face when you go on their site..and initially, you think you might find some tips or answers to questions there. You do..but they arent always right..and they arent always presented to you in a friendly way. I think that forum does ancestry more harm than good..so the FHL is doing the wise thing in keeping their people away from each other.

Anyway..I didnt mean to go into all of that. What I wanted to say is, unless that town was informed of his death..you wont be finding any other record from the FHL, any time soon.

So sorry for your experiences Eleven.....

Now for the good stuff. In searching through the Castellammare di Stabia birth/death and marriage records, as I indicated in an earlier post that I found where my family went from Roccapiemonte. The information has not been put into the regular FHL search but you can go to the collections and search there. I learned after some time that not only were the indexes there but if you go farther down in the listings you also find copies of the documents. Some years in the collection are missing but I am sure they are working on it. From what I understand, some of the books were not indexed so I am sure that will be difficult.

I really appreciate all that the FHL has done. They have been a tremendous help to me in tracing my family through their microfilms and now with the online indexing of areas of interest to me.

lilbees

Pretty soon we will all be snowed in (oh no!)..so if anyone has some time on their hands, you might want to look into indexing for the FHL.

They have updated their software, making it easier to use. They provide a lot of help, both in the program with their "field help" (which tells you exactly what info they want entered in a particular typing area) and other online, detailed help. They also personally answer any email, pretty quickly.

Nobody bothers you. It doesnt matter if you do something correctly or incorrectly, they appreciate you trying. They dont score you on your accuracy, the way ancestry does, this new point system just enables you to use certain new info being put into their searches. Most of what they have to index is very easy. Right by the project it will tell you if its easy or difficult. They are still working on 1920 censuses, which we are all familiar with. This would be a good starting point for new people, because they already know the document.

Here is the link to their site. There is a little "test drive" on it. I didnt look at it, but I believe it shows you what is involved with indexing.

www.familysearchindexi...nuhome.jsf

You can do one document a day or one a year. I havent done anything with them since before the summer. I just recently went back. (I had a little burnout, I guess, having done more than a million names, in less than a year).

We all use their services..it would be nice to pay back a little to them (at least, thats my thinking).

Ya know, its funny. I began with them, a year ago last august. Then, I learned that if you did it for ancestry, they asked the people which records they would like to see. I thought this would be a good chance to ask for some southern records...so, I joined up with them. I could only put up with them for 2-3 months. And nobody ever asked what we would like to see.

When I thought the FHL was done with the trento baptisms, because they disappeared at the end of last winter, I emailed and mentioned to them that I would love to see some southern italian records out there. Of course, I got a generic answer, something like, they werent sure what would be coming in the future. Imagine my surprise, when I looked the other day and saw those southern records. Now, I dont think for a second, that my email mattered. But, its funny how things work out. I expected ancestry to "go south" first..but, all they did was put out more northern towns...and who puts out what many of us need? The FHL.

OOPS..I clicked on the link and it said that this was an unconfirmed site. Anyone else getting that message?

I got that also the first time I went there. They just updated everything last week, so that certificate thing seems to show up...and your computer asks you if you want to leave. You can accept it and go there. There is nothing wrong...they must have made some error there, when updating it..and nobody has complained about it to them. Its safe.

Ok..thanks. Just checking!