Family Bible Preservation Project
Frequently Asked Questions

Back to the Project Summary Page

Question:  Can you give a general summary of  the project?
Answer: 

Over time our organization, "The Family Bible Preservation Project",  has collected and uploaded thousands of family bible records to FamilySearch's Memories Albums.   FamilySearch is one of the most popular FREE genealogical websites in the world. The Memories feature of FamilySearch is a way that photos, documents and other items of a genealogical nature can be uploaded, preserved and made available to those doing family history and genealogical research. 

Some of these uploads to Familysearch by our team are transcripts of the family bible records  and others are actual images of the family record in the bible.  Family bible records often include birth, death and marriage information for the family who was the original owner of the bible.

These family bible records are not limited to any specific family surname or location but could be any family in any worldwide location though most are American Bibles  in the time period between 1800 and 1900.   The information in a bible record is often "one of a kind" - and thus the high value of the genealogical information that needs to be preserved in such records to aid those doing family research.

We are in the process of indexing/linking/tagging these bible records, which have been uploaded to FamilySearch,  attaching them to the corresponding  persons/families in FamilySearch genealogical FamilyTree.    BUT because we have thousands of records we are looking for help in this project.   There really is no requirement to be able to help - but a FamilySearch account (free)   is obviously needed  if you dont already have one.  (click here to create a free account)
People who already have experience using FamilySearch Memories have a great advantage, but anyone willing to help is welcome.

Question:  What is the general goal of the project?
Answer:  To create Tags (Links) between a Bible Record In FamilySearch Memories  and the FamilySearch FamilyTree profile record for the people mentioned in the bible record - and doing this (with the help of many other people) for thousands of bible records that have already been uploaded to FamilySearch Memories Albums.  Working with a group of people the work can be reduced to a much smaller effort between many people - each individual person doing a much smaller set of records.


Question:  How many bibles have you processed so far?
Answer: Between Bible records, Samplers, Fraktur and other similar documents we have processed over 50,000 items - 42,000 of that being bible related items. (November 2023)  

Question:  Who can I contact if I have any questions or comments about this service project?
Answer:   Feel free to contact us at  family.bible.chaser@gmail.com
OR you can sign the guestbook  - click here.
*If you wish to refer to a specific memory item in your email - it is VERY helpful - if you include the URL Link to the item. This way all I have to do is click the link and I go directly to the item in question.
This is done by using the Share/Copy options that shows on the page of the item.  Warning: this is one of the few ways to get the actual hyperlink to the item - copying the URL that shows in the address field of your browser - will NOT take a person to the actual item as you would think (but rather to the album).

Question:  Is anyone making money off of all the work we are all doing?
Answer:   Please feel very confident  the Family Bible Preservation Project has no financial motive whatsoever.  The purpose of the project is to make these records freely and easily accessible in FamilySearch Memories. These records are NOT "being sold" to any third party. 


Question:  How do I determine which Family Bibles in the "current batch" have already been processed
and which ones haven't?
Answer:  The easiest thing is to focus on those that have the "Add Tag" icon.
Also any that have already been processed should have a blue person tag indicating a link to a FamilySearch Family Tree Record.
Also you might have better luck starting at the bottom or the middle of the batch than at the top.
 
Question: What is the link to the batch that is ready for processing?
Answer:  link:   https://www.familysearch.org/photos/gallery/album/661389

Question: Are there any training videos?
Answer:  Yes - a couple:
https://youtu.be/S3JZ7-HUgsU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIF9hdTaV38

Question: If a  Family Bible has many names do I need to tag all of them?
Answer:  No, you do not need to person tag every single entry in a bible. Try to at least person-tag at least 4-6 or so names per bible and then move on to the next bible - thus attempting to maximize the number of bibles that are tagged to at least 1 entry.  Usually the father and mother in the family should be among the 4-6 names. If there are multiple families represented in the record - try to link the item to the father and mother of each family.

Question: How much time should it take to process one bible?
Answer:  Everyone will have  a bit of a learning curve at the beginning.  But once you get into the rhythm of things - it really should not take more than 5-10 minutes per bible. If you are spending more time than that - once you have good experience in the project - than you are probably spending too much time on one Family Bible - though in some cases people feel inspired to "go down a rabbit hole" and spend more time working on a given family.  Just do what you feel inspired to do.

Question:  What if a Family Bible record for whatever reason is not legible, is blurry, or is has not been rotated to the correct upright position,  or for whatever reason cant be processed or can't be linked to a person in FamilySearch Family Tree.
Answer: Simply leave a comment at the bottom of the page - explaining the scenario and feel free to MOVE ON to the next one.  If you cant find a corresponding person record to link the Family Bible to, add a comment at the bottom explaining the scenario.  

Question:  Why are some "person tags" gray and others blue.  
Answer:  When a Family Bible person tag process is complete - and has a link to a specific person in FamilySearch Family Tree - the link will be colored blue.
Sometimes you will start the process - but then not actually be able to find the person  in FamilySearch Family Tree - and the person tags stays in gray - because there is no true link to a person record.  Although there is nothing really wrong with it - we actually prefer that you NOT create the tag - if you can't find the person in the system to link the bible to.  Rather it would be better - just to not start the tag at all  - because then it looks like it has been tagged - but actually hasnt been.  You may try finding the people in the FamilyTree - as a "first pass", and record their ID numbers like on a log - BEFORE you then follow up with actually creating the person tags.

Question:  What do I do if I cant find the corresponding person record in FS Family Tree?  
Answer:  Part of  that question has already been answered in the previous item.  BUT if you are a very experienced FamilySearch user - we dont have any problem with you actually CREATING the person/family record in FamilySearch if it doest yet exist.  Then once created, by yourself, you can make the link to the Family Bible. Please note that the process by which a NEW person is added to FamilyTree may not be obvious or intuitive  (especially if you dont have an existing person record to link them to).  Adding a new record for a person being newly entered into Family Tree can be done by using the "Add Unconnected Person" option. However it should be noted that finding this option will not be obvious.  See this link in relation to how to add an unonnected person.  We prefer that you not begin the process of adding a tag - until you know that the person exists in FamilySearch (or you have added them) and thus you know the ID to be linked.  Otherwise you can end up with a partially created tag - that ends up as color gray instead of a completed tag in blue) and the item in genral looks like it has tagged when others view the batch - when in actuality it has not been.

Question:  How many more family bibles are there that have yet to be person tagged.
Answer: Of course the number is a finite number . . . but we should be able to keep people busy person tagging bible records for a very long time - as if it was almost an limitless number. . . 
Quite easily at hand - I have records of over 50,000 bible records that can be processed - and once processed I believe I could easily find many more.

Question:  Is it better to take a batch of bibles and get all the ID's for each corresponding persons, for all of the bibles,  before I start actually creating the person tags?
Answer:  We prefer that you go one bible at a time - and go through the entire process before choosing another bible.   This is especially true when you realize others may be working on the batch at the same time you are.

Question:  What should I do if I see that another copy of the same exact item has already been  linked to the corresponding person in FamilyTree?
Answer:  Simply add a comment at the bottom of the duplicate item  and just add the word "duplicate" to the comment along with the PID (ID Number) of the person in FamilyTree.

*Question: What to do if no location is recorded with a genealogical event (birth, death etc.).
Answer:  Even if a specific recorded genealogical event does not record the exact location where it took place - you can still enter just the country name if it is evident ( "United States" etc.).  If you find a family in FamilySearch Family Tree - where many or all of the family members dont have a place field populated - consider adding the country name (if known) in such cases to all of the family members.

*Question:  How should I handle items that have more than one Family Bible record included in them?
Answer:  Be sure and process each and every family bible in any record linking 4-6 persons for each bible.  Dont mark the particular item as processed - until ALL the family bibles in that single item have been processed.

*Question:  What do I do if I see the source item has more children etc. than is in the family record in FamilySearch Family Tree?
Answer:  A Good habit in processing an item where you do find that the family is already in FamilyTree is to count the number of children recorded in the source item - and ensure that the family entry in Family Tree has the same number of children.  Please also review family names that may not have event dates and places in FamilyTree - but such dates are included in the source document - they can be added to Family Tree.

*Question: The item doesn't have enough information to clearly identify the family or genealogical events.
Answer:  We prefer you don't spend too much time trying to fugure out any one item - BUT you should consider the option of using sites like GOOGLE, ANCESTRY, or FINDAGRAVE to find additional information on the person/family that may be just what you need to add/update the person in Family Tree.
Also - If you see an item that, as one example, is nothing more than an image of the front cover of a family bible - simply consider skipping this entry all together.  HOWEVER - some times it will be obvious that such an image belongs to a string of images - many of which have been identified. Consider linking the initial image with the same people the other items are linked to.

*Question:  What should I do to indicate that I am finished with a particular Family Bible.
Answer:  At the bottom of each Family Bible page - is an area where you can leave a comment.  Adding a comment ends up generating an email to me and lets me know of your progress.   You can add a short comment - simply with the date that you completed the record - but you may consider documenting what you did as well as how you might be related to the family.
Note as an example this team member and what they write about their work on the item:  https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/151700060?cid=mem_copy
(see the comment at the bottom of the screen when you scroll down)

*Question:  I am processing an item that really is only focused on one particular person.  Do I really need to link it to 4-6 people?
Answer:  Some items really only need to be linked to 1 person (such as an obituary, biography etc.)  Just use common sense as to what makes sense in each case.  You dont need to link 4-6 people to the item if it really focuses just on one person.

*Question: I wonder if I am related to the person I am processing - how do I confirm that?
Answer: Assuming that your family ancestry is well connected under the FamilySearch account you are using - you should be able to confirm or deny a relationship -  by clickin on the "view relatonship" link on the person you linked the item - or anyone else for that matter.  Some people find that 50-80% of the people they process are "distant cousins" of theirs - Please consider what other family history work can be done because of this noted connection.

*Question:   Can I create an alternate FamilySearch account for the sole purpose of processing items in the Family Bible project?
Answer:  Actually you can - and a few people have - with a display name such as "Family Bible Project User" - or whatever you choose.  Some people, however,  may find that toggling between two accounts is annoying and problematic for them.


*Question:  How can I best keep a list of all the family bibles that I have processed over an extended period of time.
Answer:  There are various ways that one could do this - including some sort of log you keep in a text editor or word processor.  However another nice option that you may consider is creating a FamilySearch ALBUM - specifically for this purpose and every time you complete an item - adding it to such an album.

*Question: I have also uploaded numerous items of my own to FamilySearch Memories.  I would like to know tips and tricks in being able to maintain and organize a large number of memories.
Answer:  Feel free to contact us at family.bible.chaser@gmail.com and we will try to provide any help we can.
Also these links provides a lot of good information:  
https://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/albums.htm
https://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/fsmemories.htm
https://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/HowToCreateAlbum.pdf