Indexing a "Jr"

GregSchultz31

When indexing large batches (City Directory), if (2) exact names come up but one is a Jr (Junior)

I have seen some people skip the Junior name as a duplicate,

I have seen some put Jr after the first name, or after the Last name, and some have put Jr in the Prefix box.

Which is correct?

**I have looked but have not seen instructions on this, and yet it comes up all the time.

Melissa S Himes

We do not index suffixes in this project, so Jr and Sr are ignored. They are not to be indexed in the Prefix or the Surname Fields. Thus, only one name is indexed since the other would be a duplicate.

GregSchultz31

Thank You-

Note: when I tried reading various directions I didn't see this info listed and yet it is so frequent.

ComptonWilliamRandall

I agree this is a frequent problem and needs to be addressed in the project instructions because we don't know what to do. I have been indexing both names without the jr.

erutherford

The instruction for not indexing suffixes is found in the Given Name Field Help (purple question mark).

Do not include titles, terms, prefixes, or suffixes with the name.

And note: Unless the project has a Suffix field, it is not indexed. I can only remember two projects since 2015 that had a suffix field.

Melissa S Himes

In these directory projects, you will never index a unique name more than once. The goal is to allow people to find the name on the search engine. Once there, they will see that there are Juniors and Seniors or many people with the same name. You are indexing names, not individuals.

• Index each unique name. Some names may be duplicated. When names are exact duplicates, meaning that all required fields are the same, index only the first instance of the name listed. Skip the other exact duplicates and then index the next unique name. Unique names include names with different middle initials and different name spellings or where the other required fields are different. 

John David Durham

After reviewing close to 25,000 City Directories Indexers work for the first two week of March 2024, I find a lot of indexers continue to put Jr or JR (both for Junior) as a suffix in the Given Name field or in the Prefix Field. As stated in the field help (the purple question mark) or in the project notes and as often repeated in the community help questions, this project doe not have a place for Jr in any of the fields and should be ignored (do not use). As a. reviewer, I have to delete the jr then I have to check to ensure does not create a duplicate name that needs to be deleted.

SO, if I see the Jr in either field, I do one of the following:

Surname Jones

Prefix JR

Given Name David JR

Seems simple enough -- if there is no other David Jones that has been indexed, I simply delete the typed JR letters from the entry and keep the rest.

However, if there is another David Jones that has been indexed, then I need to delete the Jr entry completely

erutherford

Jr is not a prefix, it is a suffix. Unless there is a specific field for the suffix, you do not index it. If there are two David Jones, but the second is a Jr., then you will only index the first instance. This falls under this in Project Instructions/What To Remember About This Project:

Index each unique name. Some names may be duplicated. When names are exact duplicates, meaning that all required fields are the same, index only the first instance of the name listed. Skip the other exact duplicates and then index the next unique name. Unique names include names with different middle initials and different name spellings or where the other required fields are different. 

Unfortunately, you will find indexers in every project that either do not completely read the PI or do not read them at all. You can't make anyone read the PI, but you can rectify their mistakes while reviewing.