US, New Jersey—Geographic Birth Index, 1901–1929 [M3PG-YQT]
There are clear instructions and examples for name entry when parents' initials are provided instead of the child's given name (the surname field is used for the father's, mother's, and child's surname). The instructions don't say what to do for surnames when the child's given name is provided.
The examples don't cover it either - the example with the child's given name doesn't show entry fields for the father's and mother's surnames.
This batch has entry fields for all 3 surnames, but the document lists only one surname.
I lean towards leaving the surname fields blank for the father and mother, if the child's given name appears, but can take instruction.
Thank you.
Best Answer
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You are correct. The surname fields for the parents surnames should be blank.
The examples never show the blank fields, only the ones that should be indexed. They did show all the fields before web-indexing and it really made it easier for indexer to KNOW they wouldn't be indexing the field.
The field help for the parents surnames says:
If the parents' initials are recorded rather than the child's given name, the first initial is indexed as the father's given name, the second initial is indexed as the mother's given name, and the "Surname" column is indexed for the surnames of the child, the father, and the mother.
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Answers
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Thank you, Melissa.
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What would the birthday be for the following name (Block)? No number recorded so I feel that it would be left blank and not assuming that it would be the same as the previous birthday.
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This seems to be a separate question. I don't know that it will get attended to as a follow-on comment. However, the pattern I've observed is an implied ditto for each row until the next date appears. There are no duplicate dates and they are in sequential order. Not shown in this screen capture, but there was at least one gap where there were no births on a date. I hope that helps.
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@TrowbridgeJohnEdward1 on this New Jersey project the birthdate for surnames Barnes and Block are both May 2 1918. The Project Instructions almost always give comparable examples of how to index each entry and it is always best to give the Batch Code [M3PG-YQT] for the batch you are indexing or reviewing
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Thank you for answering the question regarding the birthdate, Maryellen. I was going to do so. I think they should have shown this in one of the examples for the benefit of any of the newer indexers, but they didn't and I've already encountered many indexers who just left it blank.
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Thanks slotbuddy -- makes for lots more work in reviewing. Have a happy 4th!
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@slotbuddy I would also leave them blank until finally, after indexing about 150, I realized that it was just missing ditto marks and that the dates were all in order. I then started reviewing and actually did find one record that had ditto marks! I am guessing that the typists of these records found it too time consuming to create individual ditto marks for each entry. I also found one record so far that lists the year as just the last numeral in the date such as a 5 for 1905 and 4 for 1904. Learning as I go!
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