I had a question just on indexing. What are the basics in a way?
So I have been doing indexing for awhile now. I guess I wasn't looking for the basics or how to get started, but some ideas on how people solve these sorts of problems in indexing. How to figure out what a name or word is when it is elligible or unreadable. If anyone has any other ideas or strategies for indexing let me know.
Answers
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Handwriting styles can differ over time and in different places, plus the individuals who wrote the records also had their own unique styles. You can find many resources on FamilySearch and elsewhere online to help you read handwriting. Learning to decipher the old handwriting techniques and characters of earlier times is a skill that takes time, practice, and a lot of patience.
I have attached two Knowledge Articles that will hopefully, answer some of your question (use Ctrl +click to open them), but as there are more than a hundred and forty such articles about indexing which you can freely search under the Help icon, you will need to let us know of specific problems as they occur.
Please remember that the Community is here to help, so don't be afraid to post if there is something else that you don't understand or need help with.
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Another way in which a name or word can be illegible is that it is faint or appears blurry. In those cases, adjusting the brightness and contrast can sometimes help. The little vertical toolbar has a option to do that. See the next image. Or you can even invert black and white. See the second image. Different parts of the image may require different settings to optimally clarify a particular name or word.
Adjusting BRIGHTNESS and CONTRAST
INVERT BLACK AND WHITE
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