FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L Archives

Archiver > FREEBMD-DISCUSS > 2002-07 > 1027436738


From: Dave Mayall <>
Subject: Re: Additional Data
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:12:18 +0100 (BST)
References: <000101c23257$909f55a0$a1831cd9@oemcomputer>
In-Reply-To: <000101c23257$909f55a0$a1831cd9@oemcomputer>


Quoting "J.E. & G.E. Frencer" <>:

> Hello to you all,
> May I, as a fairly new transcriber, throw in my thoughts here.
> I have always been very interested in the wider concept of FreeBMD, and
> I
> believe that the original vision, i.e. to reproduce the GRO indexes
> (indices?), warts and all, and as correctly as is humanly possible,
> should
> still be the aim of the FreeBMD project. On the Website I have looked
> back
> at some of the early days when the first 100,000 records were brought
> on-line, it must have seemed such a daunting task, and yet through thick
> and
> thin, two steps forward and one back, we are on the brink of (by my
> calculations) 36 million unique records by the end of the latest update.
> If
> we stray from that vision, with undoubtedly the best of intentions,
> the
> project will become diluted, and the transcribers may find their
> resolve
> wavering. FreeBMD is an achievable goal, within our sights, and putting
> any
> additional information into the database (however accurate the
> information
> may be) should perhaps be the next goal, but in my humble opinion should
> not
> be included at this stage.

That is pretty much the position we are in, with a few minor variations!

1) We do not have any fundemental objection to adding extra data or expanding
the scope, merely a proviso that such things should not in any way detract from
making progress on the primary task

2) We live in changing times. Things such as the civil registration white paper
will radically change the field in which we are working, and will require us to adapt
if we are to remain relevant. If the ONS makes available the GRO certificates free
of charge, we will look to put them on-line, for the simple reason that if we don't
we would be a white elephant.

I believe that there are some areas in which we can make progress to enhance what
FreeBMD offers without impacting on the primary task.Where we can do this, we should
grasp opportunities

--
Dave Mayall

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