Punctuation for Initials

emileejanemcclellan1

When you have initials like T J and the purple question mark says to include all punctuation, do you only include all punctuation showing on the form, or do you include the periods even if the original form does not have them.

Melissa S Himes

This is a really good question! We have been taught if something isn't on the form, you can't index it. I would say you only index the punctuation that is on the form. If this is the Virginia Marriage project, the examples only index the punctuation seen on the form. For instance, C L. Simmons, is indexed as C L. The same applies for Wm - there is no period after the abbreviation.