Is there such a thing as "over indexing?"
Sometimes when I am indexing a certain batch, there will be times where I can't tell if a certain name is a place of business, referring to something else or is someone's actual name. I tend to index these supposed names, however, it is hard to tell sometimes whether it is someone's actual name or not. I do tend to use google as an aid in finding out for example, if a name of a place of business is someone's last name and should be indexed. I know this is kind of vague, but I really just want to know what to do if this happens. Should I index a word or name if I believe it to be someone's name or should I skip it if I am not sure?
*I do see this a lot in "US-CITY AND BUSINESS DIRECTORY" batches, but also in other projects as well.
Thanks for anyone who can shed some light on this. I feel we all run into this and want a few opinions on this. I do read the project instructions for each batch, but don't always feel it addresses this.
Best Answers
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Rather than omitting someone's name, I'd rather err on the side of indexing something that seems like a personal name - even if a researcher later believes it is not.
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You may want to consider the following from the project instructions: What to remember about this project:
- The completed index and links to digital images will be freely accessible online to the general public when the collection is published.
- The researcher will find the person by the name and withdraw their own conclusion.
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