What does the word Do refer to?

cskelton

I am indexing Virginia marriage records from 1888, in several columns, dates and locations, the word that looks like 'Do' has been used. What does this mean? Do I use the work 'Blank' for those fields. Ref: US, Virginia—Marriage Records, 1853–1935[M3WV-BK9]

Susan Ann Mullen

'Do' is short for ditto. Treat it the same as you would the word ditto.

Thanks for asking!

Melissa S Himes

More information about this can be found in the General Indexing Guidelines of the Project Instructions.

Ditto Marks

• If a record has a ditto mark or other sign of repetition, type the corresponding information from the previous record or field.
• Do not index the word "ditto" or the ditto mark itself. Other signs of repetition may include the abbreviation "Do" or a vertical or horizontal line.
• Sometimes you will have to depend on contextual information to determine whether a mark indicates repeated information from an earlier record or field, or whether it means something else, such as that no information was given for that record or field.

Don't forget to read the field helps too. They are accessed by clicking on the purple question mark when you click on a field.

For instance, on this project the field help for Race tells us only to index the race in the husband's field when there is only one column:

If only 1 color or race column or pair of columns was listed but was not clearly indicated as either the husband’s or the wife's color or race, index the color or race in the Husband's Color or Race field, not in the Wife's Color or Race field.

If the color or race was not recorded or was written as a variation of the word "unknown," press Ctrl+B to mark this field blank.

Also by clicking on the examples you learn more, like the Marriage License County can be found in the header of the document. This register uses two lines for the parents names. Very nice handwriting! Have fun with this project!