Indexing US City Directories
The last names on left side of the second page are unreadable. When the pages were scanned the book was not pressed down and a thick black line covers the last names. How do I index these individuals? Is the last name left blank?
Answers
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Honestly? Return it and someone else might be able to index it.
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That is the most reasonable answer for 99% of us when running into that particular situation. Is there a procedure for when a batch is returned multiple times because of an issue such as this?
I refrain from making any harsh judgments on the original photographer of the files, as I'm picturing someone in a dusty, dark room, desperately attempting to move 130 year old pages into position without having them fall apart, doing this many hours a day for weeks or months on end.
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It's probably because these directories are 90+ years ago and paper that old tends to fade. I have a little bank-type book from 1919 and while still legible, moving the pages takes a bit of an effort since the binding likes to crack. My grandmother's adoption papers are from 1924, on onion paper and are very well-worn (from the years of being tri-folded) in spots.
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I just finished indexing an almost unreadable batch by inverting the image to black with white letters then adjusting the brightness and contrast - worked out just fine — please I hope a reviewer doesn't inadvertently undo all my work 😎
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