Indexing City and Business Directories

LauraJerrell1

When indexing a company name that is mdeade up of 2 surnames (i.e. Proctor and Gamble) do you enter it as 2 names or ignore as being just a company name?

Susan Ann Mullen

It is always best to give us a Shared batch code so we can see what you are seeing. In this project you would index Proctor as one entry and Gamble as one entry. They would be indexed in the surname field. In the Project Instructions, What to Remember about this project about 4 paragraphs down it tells us how to index people's names that are part of business name.

We could get that for you if we had a Shared batch code!

Steps

1. Just above the toolbar, click Help.
2. On the drop-down menu, click Share Batch.
3. The Share Batch window opens, giving you two options:
   • Copy the batch link, and paste it in an email to the helper or post it on the Share Batch, Etc. page on Facebook. The helper can click the link and go directly to the batch.
   • Share the batch code so the helper can enter it in the web indexing tool and open the batch.

• A second way to find the batch code is by clicking Batch, then About Batch. The Batch ID is the same as the code.

John Empoliti

Hi Laura

See below for the pertinent citation from the What to Remember About This Project section of the Project Instructions from the US—City and Business Directories, 1749–1990 [Part C]. So Procter & Gamble, for example, would get 2 entries, one for Proctor (surname only) and one for Gamble (surname only). The GN Field would be Ctrl+B (<Blank>) in both cases.

Index names of employers and employees. When indexing business names, index the names of individuals only. For example, "The Ad Book" would not be indexed, but "Barner Kehlenbeck Wines and Liquors" should be indexed. In this case, you would create 2 entries: one for Barner (surname) and another for Kehlenbeck (surname). 

Dave Morris6

I hope people who are indexing City and Business Directories read this. I have reviewed many C. & B. directories. On average on a 200+/- directory I have had to add 15-20 additional names because they don't index the business names. This is not a one time thing, it is over and over again.

Jesse Smith

https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/comment/370560#Comment_370560

The indexers are doing it right. You are doing it wrong. From the project instructions...

>When indexing business names, index the names of individuals only. For example, "The Ad Book" would not be indexed

https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/78868/us-cities-and-business-directories-do-you-index-businesses-or-just-individual-names

John Empoliti

@Jesse Smith . Laura and Dave are correct. The instruction I cited in my original comment, which is the same one that Melissa cited in her answer, has two parts. There is the part you mentioned and the second part, which implies that you do extract individuals' names from Business/Company names and index them. Here is the second part of the instruction, which you didn't mention.

"... but "Barner Kehlenbeck Wines and Liquors" should be indexed. In this case, you would create 2 entries: one for Barner (surname) and another for Kehlenbeck (surname)." 

This situation is just like the one mentioned by Laura:

Proctor and Gamble. You would index Proctor as Given Names= <Blank>, Surname = Proctor, and Gamble as Given Names = <Blank>, Surname = Gamble

What you do not index are company or business names that lack the names of individuals.