How to Report a Problem with the Online Records at the Belgian Archives Site

Well, it is not as complicated as I had first thought it would be.
If you are an English speaker, you might be discouraged a little when you find the "English" page in Dutch but you will be glad to know the Reporting part is actually in English
So what do you do first?
At the top of the page on the right again, you will see
"Een vraag of een probleem melden"
This window will pop up

Fill out the form and choose "Other problems or questions"

Note that they require that you indicate the
- city - municipality or parish
- type of record
- year
I find that copying and pasting the link is always the easiest but here you need to make sure you note the page number that is giving you trouble "Image x of z" - at the bottom of the screen. It appears in different ink color, right in the middle

Type in the code and click Send  and they will notify you about what they will do to fix the problem.
Remember, it's a lot easier to report a problem then to wait for someone else to find the problem.
Best wishes!
http://thebelgianresearchers.blogspot.com/

How to Report a Problem with the Online Records on FamilySearch

Earlier this month while on FamilySearch.org, checking the Tables for Aywaille, Liege, Belgium, I came across a misplaced register: Tables of Barchon, Liege, Belgium

It's not the first time I have reported an error and realize some people might be intimidated by the idea of reporting one, especially if they don't speak English.

At the top of the page on the right you will see "Get Help"

You have your choice of
- Calling, which is sometimes easier but not always.  You have to be grateful for these volunteers but they are often in over their heads with Belgian records.
- Chatting - I haven't tried this
- Sending a message - the simplest way I find to gather your thoughts completely and explain the problem completely.
- Finding Help locally will be of no use for this purpose

You will also not the "Self-Help" options on the left.
Not helpful for this purpose either but good to know it's there if you run into a problem.

So let's click on "send a message"


You will need to fill out the form with your contact information.

You will also need to select a category for your message. In this case, you will want to click on "Records"

Remember to give your message a title.  In this case I chose "Misplaced register"
Be aware that they will want to reproduce your problem so you will need to copy the page link

 and Paste it in the "Details" portion of the form along with a short explanation of the problem.

then click "Send"
They will answer you and give you a case number.
Hopefully it's an easy fix and you will find the problem resolved.
Sometimes it takes longer.
I received an email concerning another case where they said the pages were missing from a register..
Nothing to do when that's the case.
Although sometimes, it's an oversight on the part of the person either doing the microfilming or doing the digitizing.
If you feel this is the case, insist...
A blurry page report might encourage to revisit the originals and make a duplicate copy.

The Belgian Archives site is a little more complicated for the English speaker but if you find a problem, it is always best to report it...  The next article will show you how.

http://thebelgianresearchers.blogspot.com/