Talk:FamilySearch Indexing: US, Texas—Deaths, 1890–1976, Project Updates

Help us improve the indexing and arbitration of this project. Click the Edit This Page button to make suggestions. Messages will be removed after careful review by support and any updates will be posted to the Project Updates page. Many commonly asked questions, such as indexing crossed out information, have already been answered in the Basic indexing instructions.

 Q: As these records are from Texas, there are many hispanic names. How should we deal with the hispanic custom of giving a child two surnames (one from the mother and one from the father)? Is the mother's maiden name included as a middle name for the child and the father's as the surname, or should both be surnames?

P.S. I have usually only seen the names written as :

FIRST//MOTHER'S MAIDEN (in middle name position)//FATHER'S SURNAME

but I have seen

FIRST//MIDDLE//MOTHER'S MAIDEN//FATHER'S SURNAME

Should these instances be keyed differently?


 * ______________________________________________________ 1/25/12 -- Could you please update the field helps for the birth year?  Currently it states: Birth Year

Type a four-digit number for the year. If no year or only a two-digit number was recorded, you may be able to determine the year from other data on the image or from the previous or next image. If you still cannot determine the full four-digit year, type what was written on the record.

If the year was not recorded or was written as a variation of the word "unknown," press Tab to mark this field as blank.

Until the field helps is corrected, it is going to continue to cause confusion for both indexers and arbitrators.

QUESTION: Some certificates are showing City, State AND Country. (These are Texas/Mexico border counties) Some are showing city and state, but the city and states are in Mexico. I have been indexing the state, only to have it changed to Mexico in arbitration. Exactly what should we index in the Birth State or Country field? Thanks.

Birth City or County Type the name of the city or town where the individual was born. If no city or town was recorded and a birth county was, index the county in this field.

When it countains both city and county - what should be typed? Both?

Record stamped "Duplicate Filed for Correction and Completion". Are these records to be indexed? I am indexing them as they are not an exact duplicate of the previous image. Arbitrator is marking me wrong when I index them. Could you please add a slide or at least a sentence or two in project updates regarding these "Duplicate Filed for Correction and Completion" images and how to handle them? '''We follow the basic indexing guidelines if we have no direction to do otherwise. Our policy at this time is not to repeat these guidelines in the project updates because they are not updates. There are links to the basic indexing guidelines in the Project Links tab. '''

QUESTION: For the marriage status, what do I record when the form says "Separated"? This is on one that has them write in the status rather than check a box. I am entering it as Married. Is that correct?

Without any additional information, your decision makes good sense. 

Field Helps and Updates say to Tab past Marital Status if none given, as in an infant. When you Tab past, M automatically comes up. You must Blank it. Update needs to be changed to Blank the Marital Status if none given.