Re: South Africa, Natal—Vital Records, 1868–1976 [Part F] [M3V8-DWH]
Two questions and one suggestion: Do the Project Instructions give us (the indexer/reviewer) authority to ignore "Do not assume from the surname of others mentioned in the document" by changing what was written as given names or surnames in order to match the father's surname with the child's? Also as indexer and reviewer, I have always followed the rule, "index what you see," but in this case, are we allowed to use our own judgment? I can see why both the indexer and the reviewer can be correct.
The project instructions always offer the most perfect examples. Sometimes an additional example, an outlier, like this batch would be helpful. Also, when selecting "purple question mark," the example of the father's given name (Alek), this seems to be more fitted to the child's given name; the father's given name was evident.
I have spent a lot of time deliberating over this batch and hoping you can tell me what I am missing here.
Best Answer
-
Thank you.
0
Answers
-
First. This was posted under the wrong category for Community Help: 1950 US Census instead of Indexing. You will get more help there.
Second. "Do not assume from the surname of others mentioned in the document" is a primary rule of Indexing and even more important when dealing with foreign countries and foreign names. You have been correct in "indexing what you see." It is not our job to correct records. The records are a guide for genealogy researchers. Once published, If they find an error that it editable, they may choose to correct it.
Third. The South African records I've seen have European, Native Afrikaan (e.g. Zulu), and Asian Indian names. Europeans may have 3-4 given names ,and the child may be given it's mother's maiden name as one of those. Asian Indian naming practices can be quite complicated. Many only have a given name and the surname should never be assumed since the child often has their father's given name as a middle or surname. In Entry 1 of your batch (shown below), The Father's first name and surname are combined as the child's surname.
This form is actually one of the easiest this project has when distinguishing Surnames and GIven/FIrst names for Indian records, since they are clearly separated in separate rows (there's often just one line or box for the whole name).
Entry 1 (As entered on form) boldface is incorrect in indexed entry
Child's Surname: Cassim Abdool
First Name: Aslam
Father's FIrst Name: Cassim
Surname: Abdool
Mother's FIrst Name: Surma Bee Bee
Note: In Entry 4, where the mother's first and surname are the same. It looks incorrect, but should be left as is according to indexing guidelines.
0
