Something exciting is on the horizon. One day soon the one billionth genealogy record will be transcribed and arbitrated on FamilySearch.org. That is billion, with a B, free records available to researchers. Billion, with a B, records transcribed by volunteers. Not bad for a project that started in 2006.
All of this information - census records, indexes for birth, marriage, and death records and more, records transcribed from around the world - has come through the work of volunteers. Every time I use these free records, I am grateful to the unseen persons who are helping me in my research through their volunteer efforts. It is also why I've been a volunteer transcriber over the past four years. It is a small way to give back for the help I've received through the years.
If you want to join this volunteer initiative, visit FamilySearch to learn how to be part of this program. You can work at your own pace, having about a week to transcribe the records you download. You choose how many records as well as the type of records you want to work on at a time, plus you can work either online or offline. As a part-time RVer, I can even transcribe in the woods by downloading ahead of time, then uploading when I find Wi-Fi along the road.
It was great to be part of FamilySearch.org's 1940 US Census transcription project a year ago. It will be a cause to celebrate as we reach that 1,000,000,000 mark and start heading toward the next milestone. Come be part of this project. You might transcribe the one billionth record
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