Indexing volunteers at FamilySearch have begun adding the 1930 U.S. Census index to their free online collection.
The 1930 Census is the most used of all U.S. censuses. Adding it as their eighth census, volunteers will convert it to their online searchable index. Other searchable data fields will be included, making this census different from the previously published U.S. censuses from 1850 to 1880 and from 1900 to 1920.
In addition to the data already found in Ancestry.com's current 1930 U.S. census index, FamilySearch volunteers will also index: line number, family number, gender, race, marital status, father and mother's place of birth, and year of immigration.
Previously, FamilySearch created indexes using a "double key" entry to arbitrate discrepancies — meaning two different volunteers were indexing the same historic document. Two separate indexes were created that would be compared, and any discrepancies would be arbitrated. The two indexes would then be merged into a single, highly accurate, searchable index that would be published online.
For some of the U.S Census indexing projects (including the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses), FamilySearch has used Ancestry.com's index and had volunteers create a separate one. After comparing and arbitrating discrepancies, an enhanced index was published online for free.
The result will be a much more comprehensible and enhanced free index for searching online.