Have you noticed that there are new errors in Canadian standardized places names in nFS since the last update? Most of the ones I have been able to find come from the 3 Prairie Provinces, but other parts of Canada have errors too! You will remember that an update to Standardized Place Names was one of the changes in the last update to nFS.
This problem was brought to my attention by Bill who of course sent feedback notifying nFS of the problem. The following are comments on this topic made on this blog and in a discussion group for FH Centre Directors called FHCNET. One of the comments is by Ron Tanner the project manager for nFS telling you what to do if you believe the standardized place name is incorrect.
Bill made the following comment on our blog after the release of the last update:
“There is a problem with the standardized place names, that I have reported to FamilySearch Support and FHCNET. Place names in western Canada have a non-existent “Division” number added where a county name would appear in some other localities, (like we see in the addresses of the FHCs).”
So Red Deer Alberta becomes “Red Deer, Division No. 8, Alberta, Canada”, Edmonton is “Edmonton, Division No. 11, Alberta, Canada,” and Calgary is “Calgary, Division No. 6, Alberta, Canada” . . . and so on.
Posted by: Ron Tanner
Thu Jul 1, 2010
Everyone,
There have been some issues in the past that have restricted us from taking updates of the standards catalog into nFS. The last time that a standardize place catalog was updated was several years ago. And although your feedback on standardized places have been taken and the catalog updated, you never saw the fix because of this problem.
The release that was put out in June has been updated with the latest catalog that diligent engineers have been working to improve for years. We also have changed the way that standardized places are chosen and have more strongly separated the place you enter from the standardized place.
Now you can enter a place and it will pop-up with suggestions from the database, but if there are none you believe are close enough to select so you don’t have to keep typing, then just don’t select any from the drop-down. Then the system will attempt to match what you entered and fill in the standardized version of the place. If you don’t believe the standardized place is close enough, then click on the arrow next to the standardized place and pick the closest one. By doing this we keep your original place data but also have the closest standardized place.
If entries were made by the system or others that have a poor choice for a standardized place, then just enter another opinion and correct it with the technique above and then make sure your entry is selected in the summary.
We have now corrected the issues with taking the standards catalog and expect to have more regular updates as we take your feedback and correct the errors.
Thanks,
Ron
Perhaps you would join us in sending Feedback through nFS asking them to correct our Canadian place names!
Wow this is a curious system problem. Place names are very emotion laden. Being told as a current band-aid to pick the closest standardized name to the actual place is like denying in some small way the validity of the actual event taking place.
It is hard for me to believe that if I type in Taber, Alberta, Canada and the system overrides it with Taber, Division No. 2, Alberta, Canada. That somewhere deep within the software it really knows that I want Taber, Alberta, Canada which is how I read the following quote by Ron Tanner
” Now you can enter a place and it will pop-up with suggestions from the database, but if there are none you believe are close enough to select so you don’t have to keep typing, then just don’t select any from the drop-down. Then the system will attempt to match what you entered and fill in the standardized version of the place. If you don’t believe the standardized place is close enough, then click on the arrow next to the standardized place and pick the closest one. By doing this we keep your original place data but also have the closest standardized place”
However, throughout all of this it is reassuring to know that feedback is taken seriously and the programmers on the nFS team are working hard to make this software as perfect as possibly for all of our needs. What was that saying about Patience being a Virture?
Regards,
Deanna
Using Division in place names in Alberta is not new or wrong. Having gone back and forward to Lethbridge a number of times in the last couple of weeks I have noticed on sign posts the following. M.D. Place Name. M.D. stands for Municipal Division of….When NFS engineers used this they went out of their way to find the Divisions for each of the areas of the Provinces. Do not be so hard on these guys (and let me tell you I am one of their biggest critics), Divisions etc are there and have been used, check the census records as well.
So the June change was an improvement in Canadian place names?
. . . So the engineers are teaching us something about our place names – and Calgary as a place should include a division?
I remember a similar problem, but I thought that it must correct and that the county had a division #! I wonder how this gets corrected after already adopting this standardized version?