Welcome to September, and Indexing Hints

I hope you have had a rewarding summer. I am looking forward to autumn. This is a season of harvests, but also new beginnings, as the children return to school. It is a good time to resume your ward's Temple and Family History coordinating meetings, as you plan for the new season. 

This is also the time of year when public libraries etc, tend to look for interesting programs to offer for the public. If your ward is interested in offering a family history event to your community, maybe talk to your local library to see if they would like to help.

INDEXING
A new Indexing project that is easy is "United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916–1939 [Part J]" 

Basically it asks for the Surname and Given names of the soldiers, plus the military Month, Day and Year. If two dates are given, use the earliest. In my experience, the enlistment date is usually missing so we use the date at the top of the page. The form also asks for the Birthplace and Age, which are not given on the image, and so they should be marked Blank. Sometimes the page image lacks the date and you need to flip back a page or two in the "reference images" to find it. 

In my latest indexing video I mention a very useful tip to use when there are multiple records/entries on the same image. Use Ctrl+D to ditto the contents from the previous line. Unfortunately, it sounds almost like I am saying "Ctrl+B"

Remember that Ctrl+B marks a field as Blank,
Ctrl+U marks a field as Unreadable.
Ctrl+D will Ditto contents from the previous line, which saves a lot of time and work.
(On a Mac, use Command instead of Ctrl.)

The COVID pandemic remains a problem in many areas, so access to the temple may be limited, and Family History Centers may be temporarily closed, Please check with your intended destination before traveling to either one. (To book a session at the temple, Select a temple, click Schedule Now, and follow the prompts, A light blue circle in the calendar indicated that your selected temple is open on that date, a dark blue circle indicates that sessions are available to be scheduled.) 

The work moves forward, Patrons can be helped to link to their ancestors, make reservations, and upload Memories, and do research, sourcing and indexing. And they can use the Activities page to find activities that can make family history more meaningful for their families. If they are having trouble booking a temple session you can help them. They can also phone the temple for help.

Bless you for your service to others.