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Family and Local History
Indexing Group

Selected articles from the Newsletter

This article first appeared in SIGGNL 18  pages 9 to 17 (June 1998)

Indexing of Periodicals - Kinds of Entry
by Tony Rydings

Whether we are considering books or periodicals on family history, there are usually three kinds of entry with which the indexer will be concerned. In this issue of SIGGnl we shall be looking at the choice of entries of each kind in a general way, leaving much of the details for later discussion.

The three kinds of entry in family history which we shall consider are: persons, places, and subjects. Each of these have their special peculiarities and problems, and it will only be possible to indicate some of them, and to suggest how best they may be tackled. Since we are concerned with families, our principal category of index entry is the individual members of those families, and many existing indexes are limited to these, omitting either places or subjects. Many others are compiled in separate sequences for each of the three kinds, which avoids the problems of arrangement of those indexes combining all kinds of entry in one sequence, and which we shall consider in a later article. There are arguments for and against the practice of single or separate indexes, but my personal preference in indexing periodicals is for a single index containing all kinds of entry, which means that the reader does not have to decide in which sequence to look for a particular entry. In adopting this practice, it is necessary to distinguish the three kinds of entry to avoid confusion. This can be done by typographical means, such as using upper case for personal names, and bold type for places, but also the content of the entry may often indicate its kind, as in the following examples:

Personal Names

Let us begin with the problems which can arise with index entries for persons. In the articles in journals of family history societies, a large proportion deals with a particular family, or with several members of a family. The question here is whether to index each person separately, or whether to make an entry for the family, e.g.

If the article covers more than four or five individuals, this shorter form is acceptable so as to save space in the index, and to allow room for fuller details as above. The recently adopted index in each issue of the Manchester Genealogist gives just surname, forename and page number, and I suspect is enthusiastically scanned by most users: if they want more details, it is only a few pages away, in the main text. But if the index has a cumulation of several issues or even a few volumes, it would be more useful to add personal details - dates, place or occupation - when the article mentions several persons of the same surname, to save having to search for the individual wanted.

Compound surnames

Another frequent problem is that of compound surnames; that is surnames consisting of two or more words, possibly joined by a hyphen. Hopefully the name will be given in the article in the form which is commonly used by the person concerned, and which may then be accepted as the form under which it is indexed. If there is any doubt, for a hyphenated name enter under the first word; if unhyphenated, generally index under the last word unless you have good reason to use another part. Most important, however, is the need for a reference of the form

More difficult are those surnames which include a prefix, such as "D'Alton" or "De Winton". In the languages from which these names are derived there are rules depending upon the grammar of the prefix, and whether this includes a preposition or not. The English rule, disregarding the grammatical composition of the prefix, is to enter under the prefix, though again if the person or family concerned is known to prefer a different form, that should be used. The following examples, in addition to the two at the beginning of this paragraph, follow the usual practice:

As in the previous paragraph, it is important that references should be provided from all alternative forms of a surname to that which has been chosen. From the above, for example, there should be references from "La Torre" and "Torre" to "De La Torre", and for "Estrange" to "L'Estrange". If it happens that there are numerous entries starting with similar prefixes, it would be helpful to make a general cross reference in the introduction to the index, about which we shall give more details in a later article. This will save having to make a succession of similar references.

Titles of honour

Another complication will arise if the index includes names of persons who have titles of honour or other additions by which they may be known. First a choice must be made between the surname or the title, and again the usage of the person or family, which may be found in the article, is the principal guide. Thus, enter "Disraeli" under that name rather than "Beaconsfield", but enter "Beaverbrook" under that title, rather than his family name of "Aitken".

In either case it is advisable to include in the entry the rest of the name, so that a reference from the alternative will be understood, as follows:

There are of course other problems with personal names, and we have referred only incidentally to those in foreign languages. Married women may also be entered under either their maiden or married names, depending upon the form under which they are better known, and we have made no mention of aliases or nicknames, but it is time to look now at names of places, which are slightly less complicated. Here also we shall limit our consideration to the British Isles, and we shall find sufficient complexities with Irish, Scottish and Welsh names.

Place names

Before considering the actual names, there are related questions of the additions which define either the political or ecclesiastical division within which a place falls, or the physical or other description by which they may be distinguished. Again these may be understood best by looking at a few examples:

Where the topographical description is normally used as part of the place name it will be used as the entry word.

Sorting place name entries

When Chapman county codes or abbreviations indicating local government as in some of the above examples are added to place names, the entries should be arranged alphabetically according to those additions, and not by any sort of classification. A particular building or a part of an area, such as London: Hyde Park would be treated as a sub-heading under the main place name, though it would be better to make a main entry under Hyde Park, London with a reference under London. The recommended sequence of entries of different kinds under a place name is as follows:

The explanatory words or phrases in parenthesis come first; second are the sub-headings for localities, buildings, etc., separated from the main heading by a colon; and lastly the multi-word names with no internal punctuation.

Multi word place names

Problems arise over place names which may be commonly spelt as one or more than one word. Those with more than one word may or may not be hyphenated, which also affects computer sorting. My preference is to omit the hyphens, and generally to spell multi-worded names with the words separately, e.g.

Here there must be a reference from "Twycross" to "Norton juxta Twycross". Some lists of names reverse those which start with the following: East, West, North, South, Great, Little, High, Higher, Low, Lower, Long, Upper: presumably on the grounds that the other part of the name is the more important. As most people tend to look up the name in its usual order, e.g. "Great Missenden", my preference is to enter places in that way. Beware, however, of the occasional name where the order is reversed, such as "Lydbury North" (SAL), which must obviously be kept in that order.

Irish place names

Coming to those parts of the British Isles where English is not the main or only language, I must limit my remarks to suggesting the sources of place names which I have found helpful in my work on dedications, as I have no expertise in this subject. I cannot therefore claim that my selection is the best, and would appreciate any alternative recommendations from our readers. For Ireland (all parts of the island) I suggest the following:

This is in two hefty volumes, and will not be easy to find, but there is probably no other work with such extensive or detailed coverage.

Scottish place names

For Scotland a fairly recent publication comes from an official source:

My experience with dedications suggests that many of the older Scottish parishes no longer exist, or have become de-populated, as places mentioned in a 1872 book on dedications are not included in the recent index.

Welsh place names

Welsh names have long fascinated me, but I am no more knowledgeable of them than of Irish or Scottish names. My two sources, recommended by the National Library of Wales, are:

Dual language place names

Another point, rather more important in Wales than in Scotland (I cannot speak of the Irish situation), is the need to provide references between languages, thus:

The preference for English or Welsh names varies with the actual place, and it is advisable to select either the two titles recommended above, or the Ordnance Survey's own gazetteer (which do not always agree) and to stick to whichever is chosen.

Subjects

Persons and places are of course also subjects, but in the present section I will deal mainly with other kinds of entry. I have already expressed a preference for a single index, combining all sorts of entry, and have suggested that surnames may be distinguished by use of upper case, and of place names by bold or underlining. Titles of books are usually shown as those listed above, by italics, while titles of articles from periodicals are enclosed by quotes, e.g.

Many indexes to periodicals consist only of the names of contributors and the titles of their contributions. These are extracted from the contents lists of each issue, and usually entered only under the first word of the title, so that each article receives one entry, and that not necessarily the most important. Editors of journals of family history societies are often so pleased to receive any contributions that they gladly insert indexes of this kind, but I wonder whether they serve a useful purpose.

Choice of words

How then should an amateur indexer set about the choice of words to make entries in the index to a family history journal? For a start, any article which deals with a particular person or family should have an entry under the surname: whether more information should be included in those entries depends on the space available. If the article deals with the person or family in relation to a particular place or places, entries under place names should be added. Families connected with particular trades or occupations may usefully have extra entries under those trades, etc., on which more later. If the article gives details of a person s connection with a particular event, this may merit an index entry. From this it is evident that the indexer must read every article carefully, to determine which items are worth indexing.

Consistent subject headings

Having decided on a list of items to be indexed, the next question is the actual words to be used for each entry. The objective here is the same as for persons or places, namely to standardize the entry, so that users of the index do not have to hunt in different parts of the alphabet for related materials. Even if references are provided, it is irritating, for example, sometimes to have to look under "Schoolmasters" and sometimes under "Teachers". If the material to be indexed consists of, say, just a hundred A5 pages, it should not be difficult to remember the entry terms; but for larger indexes it will be helpful for the indexer to compile for his own use a list of the terms used, together with the references between them. This is the object of the list of subject headings currently being compiled by SIGG. It is hardly possible that our list will provide for every entry needed, but we hope that it will give guidance for the greater part of the output of family history societies. The kinds of entry in the list include trades, professions and occupations; legal terms and activities; ecclesiastical terms and activities; select agricultural and industrial terms; and various types of records relating to such activities. This enumeration is not exhaustive, and is continuously being extended, but we hope to produce a provisional list within a year or so.

In a further article I intend to look into closer detail of the format and content of different kinds of entries. Meanwhile, if any of our readers have questions to raise about the points which I have already covered, please send them either to the Editor or myself. I do not profess to know all the answers, and I know that some of my suggestions may not be accepted by all indexers, but I hope that we shall have some grounds for discussion resulting from this series.

Article continues in SIGGNL 19 p.11

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