Some welcome news from ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk)...
In February 2022, ScotlandsPeople suddenly removed the 'fuzzy search' and 'name variant' capabilities on its platform, two of several ways that could be used to manipulate search terms when a result was not popping up as expected (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/02/why-has-scotlandspeople-changed-its.html). I knew that fuzzy searching was particularly useful for records searched in historic groups such as the Scottish Jewish community, and as a consequence, I dropped a note to the then head of ScotlandsPeople, Dee Williams, to flag up that this was potentially an issue for some folk. I also contacted Michael Tobias, an absolute legend in the Jewish genealogy world, with a wealth of experience in constructing databases, who also contacted the centre to give more specific and informed feedback on issues such as fuzzy searching and phonetic searching.
After an initial response flagging up the decision to remove the tools (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/02/scotlandspeople-explains-recent-search.html), I received a further response from the centre stating that it was the intention of ScotlandsPeople, upon reflection, to reinstate the fuzzy search capability at the next major upgrade of the site (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/02/scotlandspeople-to-reinstate-fuzzy.html). More importantly, Michael was able to initiate a fruitful conversation with the centre to identify some specific issues relating to the database, with a view to implementing some potential improvements.
In October, ScotlandsPeople announced that it intended to reinstate the fuzzy searching tool by the end of 2022 (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/10/scotlandspeople-to-reinstate-fuzzy.html), although to date this has not yet happened. A huge update to the system just prior to the introduction of the 1921 census in December 2022 also caused some major issues with the platform, which the site has been steadfastly rectifying. One of the more frustrating issues has been with the use of wildcards, which used to be automatic when you applied a * to help search for various combination of missing letters (e.g. using 'Sm*th' can return searches for 'Smith' and 'Smyth'), but which now has to be enabled in a drop down menu for every single search.
Thankfully, a lot of work is currently ongoing to bring back and enhance the search tools on ScotlandsPeople, and Michael has very kindly just shared with me an update from the centre on where all of this is now at. As a result of the feedback that he and others have given, ScotlandsPeople's technical suppliers have identified various improvements to phonetics that they're now in the process of applying and testing. At this time the centre does not know when these improvements will be available on the website, as some re-indexing work has to be carried out as a result of them, but it is expected to be within the next few weeks (possibly towards the end of March), and all depending on how the reintroduction of fuzzy matching and wildcards progresses.
Prior to the updated phonetics being applied, fuzzy matching will be reintroduced, but this also requires some testing, which is currently being carried out, and which it is hoped will be made available shortly, once the automatic wildcards are brought back. The automatic function with wildcards is currently in the final stages of deployment, and if all goes well, should be available within the next couple of weeks.
Finally, the centre has confirmed that there are no plans at all to reintroduce user groups, and it encourages feedback to be sent through the ScotlandsPeople website, or in person in the search rooms, which can be noted for future developments.
A good news story from ScotlandsPeople, which will hopefully significantly improve the capabilities of Scotland's most important genealogy resource by far.
(With thanks to Michael Tobias and the ScotlandsPeople team)
Chris
Pre-order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
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