I find this subject to be most interesting. It applies directly to our 
1790/1800 Virginia Tax List Censuses website. We have indexed almost 130,000 
names so far and I will state that we have not followed the rules that 
Elizabeth Shown Mills has cited. The surnames are indexed just like they are 
written (to the best that I can decipher). But the abreviated given names 
are not. It has been a dilemma indexing the abreviated given names. I have 
always been aware of the different possibilites for each abreviation. In 
some cases the name we indexed is written in 2 columns. It is abreviated in 
one column but fully written in the other column. We always used the full 
name in our indexes. But when only an abreviated given name appears we have 
"assumed" a full name and indexed it as such.

I plan (big assumption) to finish our censuses this year. The finalized 
indexes will be done next. All existing indexes will be reviewed and 
updated. There are a lot of abreviated given names. Our indexes are linked 
directly to our images so everyone can review what we have indexed to what 
the real record has written. And since we have a search engine available for 
our indexes I have to consider all problems that our index format may cause 
to the search engine.

I used to work in an engineering environment and was responsible for 
detailed engineering procedures. This is very much like following the 
procedures that Elizabeth has cited. This works well for the seasoned, 
experienced individuals. However the more novice individuals may not 
understand the implications. Do they know to look for "Jno" when they want 
"John" or "Jonathan"? The search engine never finds a "Jno" when looking for 
"John" or "Jonathan".

I would be interested in any feedback from list members on how our indexes 
should be formatted. This final update to our indexes will be what everyone 
will be using for a long time.

Steve and Bunny

Binns Genealogy CD Series
Scanned Microfilm Images on CD
http://www.BinnsGenealogy.com/ 

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