OCR madness .....

[emanday]

Oh well that explains everything

byztvicjes
Pymgchowze

Oh! Pinkshoes - stoppit I laughed so much I'm in serious danger of shorting out my keyboard with the tears of laughter dripping on it!

[emanday]

Note also that they did not say that the team of humans were the only means of transcription. It seems a carefully worded note intentionally left ambiguous. Or maybe this is just the cynical linguist talking

Regards,
Sarah

Alternatively, it WOULD require a team of humans to load the documents into the scanner and to tell the OCR to read them - so maybe a true, if edited, statement?

[pinkshoes]

I think we're all being really mean - after all, we all make the odd typo now and again.

bstwshs
pnkshs

[emanday]

I think we're all being really mean - after all, we all make the odd typo now and again.

bstwshs
pnkshs

stoppit

[Russell]

Hi pnkshs

We're not being mean.
Yes we make an occasional typo but many of us know this and correct them before they go into print. Even without a checking procedure I usually pick up and deal with most of my typos.

This is plain "unscanned by human eye" stuff and you don't need to be a Scot to pick out the gross errors.
Surely its better to rather than
I just hope someone on their staff takes a sneaky look on here and has the decency to

Russell

[emanday]

Hi pnkshs

We're not being mean.
Yes we make an occasional typo but many of us know this and correct them before they go into print. Even without a checking procedure I usually pick up and deal with most of my typos.

This is plain "unscanned by human eye" stuff and you don't need to be a Scot to pick out the gross errors.
Surely its better to rather than
I just hope someone on their staff takes a sneaky look on here and has the decency to

Russell

If their answer to John is anything to go by, they don't have the capacity to

[pinkshoes]

Aw Naw Russell - you surely didn't think I was serious - I can hardly get my cuppa drunk for the space my tongue is occupying in my cheek. Mary's better used to me, I think

best wishes
Pinkshoes
(nae slovak this time)

PS I wonder what the reaction would be if we took them up on the last sentence of the reply ...

[grannysrock]

Here is an explanation of how they achieve 99 Percent Accuracy !
http://www.ancestrydps.com/services.htm

Well my tuppenceworth (slight overvaluation) is that whatever method of initial data capture they are using, quality control doen't seem to be fully applied to place of birth or occupation .
It would be relatively easy to autosuggest (to the transcriber or controller), a county,parish of birth based on a list of parishes in existence. (Ok sometimes our ancestors gave something that wasn't a parish - fine - but in the overwhelming majority of cases it is a parish ) Surely some automation would surely have sped up the data entry process (if it really was done by hand).
Why are there people born in Leamahagow for example? Even Google knows what that should be. Why are some of my Pringle ancestors shown as having been born in Greenland, Berwickshire. Has that been through US quality control .....if so that implies the latter know "Scottish Football Association" about what the UK census records are expected to contain or that they don't check all elements.

I'm not even sure about the names. When 2 members of the same household with the same surname have a different spelling - to me that implies that the initial data capture was either NOT by hand - or - there has been no understanding of the census document and Q C. Any half decent transcription tool or spreadsheet gives the possibility to continue using the previous surname without keying it in again.

Whatever the native language or alphabet of the "team of humans" (lovely turn of phrase don't you think ?) , they have - what no recognition technology has yet as far I am aware - "an eye for things". So, I find it hard to believe our cousins in Bangladesh or anywhere else are responsible for all these unusul transcrptions.

if anyone thinks I am havng a go at Ancestry, that is SO not my intention. I have actually become a bit of a fan. Our beloved SP do not offer searching by place of birth or first name only or occupation or address etc etc. Ancestry's index is a welcome new tool (for me anyway). I just think it would be helpful to know if different standards are applied to different censuses, to different elements wiithin those censuses. It may well be that the name index has been Q.C's but the rest hasn't ???

.. And I am hugely interested in the development of Recognition Software . I look forward to the day when some nutty professor ( or genealogist !) works out exactly how we read and therefore someone can program a computer to do it like we do. Only then can computers do it better(faster) than us and all those faded secretary hand documents that you never quite finish transcribing will be ........TRANSCRIBED .

If any of the "Human" transcribers in Bangladesh, China or anywhere else ever read this - I would like to say thankyou for what you have done for those of us researching our ancestors. I hope you were well paid, had decent working conditions and that you succeed in all your ambitions. And if you are researching your family tree , why not make a post here and tell us all about it ...

Now I think I'll crawl back into my shell.

Sally

PS David HERE are my ancestors , sorry I mean answers:

Robt H Hall in St Ninians is a Proppirval Phrendogist :
A Professional DogMinder

Henry L Lewis in Edinburgh St Andrew is a Lectrirer On Phrenotoye
A Lecturer on MindGames

Robert Burn in Stirling is Retired Phr Royalhary

Retired Phew..err of the Royal Hairy Regiment.

Hugh Connel in Galston is a Sovaneno Phranaker
was a Sevenended Threadmaker

Joanna W Lennox in HAmilton is (of The Faculty Of Phrjeicitian Boycon)
of The Faculty of Phra the Phoenician's Boyzone

John Lindsay in Montrose is a Coal Fitter A Tichmeal Phrose Applud
Person And Employ Loal Gar Scholar

he's a Coal Fitter, Titchmarsh Rose Apple, Parson and Employs Local Gas Scholars ( it was common to hold down many jobs in small communities )


Elisabeth Padge in Abbotshall is a Hawker Of Phread & Needles
she's too easy but it was cute.


John Kerr in Annan is a Farmer Of 150 Acceres Feplaying Phree 3 Labourers :

a farmer of 150 (Hamilton) Accies Replaying 3 Labours Lost.


Archibald Millar in Leith South is a simple Phryhman
Pharoman ! I cheated and discovered that Archie was in fact almost 3000 years old and he was the illegitimate son of Tutenkhamun, reputed mother somebody Hislop ...

I'm not expecting to win.

Sally

Jings Crivens and Help ma Boab, a whole year has passed since I started this post...

[emanday]

Aw Naw Russell - you surely didn't think I was serious - I can hardly get my cuppa drunk for the space my tongue is occupying in my cheek. Mary's better used to me, I think

best wishes
Pinkshoes
(nae slovak this time)

PS I wonder what the reaction would be if we took them up on the last sentence of the reply ...

...and why would you want to get your cuppa drunk? Isn't tea good enough for it? (Sorry, but my pink is just a bit over tickled tonight and I want NO unseemly responses to THAT)

PPS I think the response we would get would be a distinct lack of responses, don't you? Added as an afterthought: Make that a distinct lack of SENSIBLE responses

[Russell]

Hi Pinkshoes

No! I didn't think you meant it but the theme was getting so outrageous I thought it should come down to earth a bit. I can usually tell when your tongue is in your cheek. It takes away your dimple

I could hardly drink my whisky toddy for spluttering over the keyboard.
This has been the funniest thread in a long time but what must the casual 'guest' think. "Who are these nutcases?"
I'm just glad I never subscribed to such a money grabbing site. Their motto must be" forget accuracy and grab the quids"

Russell