Another FamilySearch Lab

By now, I’m sure you have tried the newly released Experimental Search on the FamilySearch Labs site. If so, did you check out some of the other labs? I recently read the Introducing FamilySearch Profile Quality Score blog post by James Tanner.

After reading the blog post, I had to check it out for myself. And I’m impressed! Basically, this ‘experiment’ applies a label to a profile indicating the ‘quality’ of the profile. Unfortunately, this label is not universally available across the FamilySearch tree. However, several generations of my fan chart are eligible to be labeled. To have a label, the following must be true:

• User language set to English
• Ancestor must be born between 1800 and 1920
• Ancestor must be born in Canada, the United Kingdom, or the United States.
• Experiment enabled

To enable the experiment, go to FamilySearch.org/labs, look for the Profile Quality Score graphic and click on the Try It Button.

The FAQ for the Profile Quality Score experiment will open. Scroll down and locate the ‘How can I try out the prototype?’ section. In that section is a long blue button to Enable Experiment.

Once enabled, then the ‘Profile Quality Score’ will appear below a person’s name and dates if the profile is eligible.

When one clicks on the graphic, a panel opens on the right providing more information about the score. Even though Judson Foster Crawford was given a ‘High’ Profile Quality Score, his profile did not get 4 stars in every category.

Below the stars is a section titled, ‘Actions to Improve the Quality Score’

While the heading ‘Has Tagged Sources’ sounds like a positive comment, it is actually negative. This profile has 7 events that do not have an associated source.

The data is also evaluated for consistency and for conflicts.

Even though a score of HIGH was given to the profile of Judson Foster Crawford, there are issues with his profile that can be fixed.

• 1935 residence location is shown as ‘Same House’. This is exactly what the 1940 census record is saying. Since it is not an appropriate entry for a location, it can easily be corrected.
• Sources can be tagged for his marriage and the various events on his profile

The analysis of the profile found other ‘potential errors’.

• Birthplace missing a city
• Birthdate is different than implied birthdate from census record
• Judson was 43 when youngest child was born

While these ‘potential errors’ are something that an analysis of the profile would uncover, they are not errors. By identifying them as ‘potential errors’ it did cause me to recheck sources.

At this time, I haven’t found a way to display the ‘profile quality score’ for everyone in a tree. Hopefully, that is a feature that will be added as this tool is developed.

As a work around, the number of sources attached to a person will provide clues to what the profile quality score will be. Thus, the ‘SOURCES’ view of the fan chart could be used to help find profiles needing work.

I like this tool! It will not only help me identify problems with ancestral profiles but will also help me as I research descendants of my ancestors. It should also help others realize the value of the FamilySearch tree.