Finding an Indexing Project

FamilySearch Indexing probably will not help you with your personal family history research, but it can help strangers with their own research in at least two different ways. 
Firstly, it works by making records searchable by computer. 
Secondly, the FamilySearch Family Tree automatically attempts to connect these records to people who are in the Family Tree by offering Record Hints, the blue icons we see.

My biggest problem with Indexing tends to be finding a project that I understand, that has legible records. A week ago my South African death records project was completed. This project was ideal for me since Afrikaans is similar to German, with which I am somewhat familiar. So whether a record was written in English or Afrikaans, I felt comfortable indexing it. And Google Translate was available in a pinch.  

Looking for a replacement project, I tried a Kiribati project that was supposed to be in English, but was not, and I couldn't understand it, so I sent it back un-indexed. Then I tried South African Dutch Reformed Church records, but I could not determine what the event was. (Birth? Christening? Death?) So I phoned FamilySearch Support at 1-866-406-1930. The Support worker could not find the answer for me either, since it was a newly-available project. But she promised to find out and send me an email, which she did. 

Instead, I found that I preferred the KwaZulu Natal birth records. For the past week I have been happily indexing them. I find it interesting that the people all have East Indian names; I had not realized that there were so many of them in South Africa. I feel especially good about indexing records for this group of people, who probably do not have many genealogical records. But any indexing can be of help to others.

My message is that if you try Indexing and run into a roadblock, don't give up easily. There are solutions. Sometimes finding a suitable project may require exploring a few different projects. 

If you have a little extra time, Indexing can be a satisfying a way to give back to the genealogy community. https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/ 

Bill