The New England Historic Genealogical Society continues to release new publications under their laminate guide series The Portable Genealogist. Leland recently returned from the SCGS Jamboree with several of these guides. He already posted a review on The Portable Genealogist – Using DNA in Genealogy. There are several more guides we will review on this site, including the subject of this blog: The Portable Genealogist: Indexing.
All “Portable” guides are two-color, four-page, three-hole-punched laminated guide, folded to 8.5″ x 11″. This guide covers four topic areas:
- Indexing names and places
- Creating an index
- Formatting your index
- Using Word for indexing
The last page in this guide provides a “sample index with formatting suggestions;” plus, a short list of additional resources.
Indexing name and places covers items that include, surnames, dealing with ambiguity, indexing married women (multiple surnames), alternate spellings, etc.
The using Word section covers tagging names in the text and building an index. The sample page offers clear suggestions for form and layout, something most just assume will be easy, but trust me when I say it can be most difficult to get right and make legible; especially, for complex indexes. There are also four “NEHGS Tips” in this guide.
Order The Portable Genealogist: Indexing and many other popular laminated guides from Family Roots Publishing; Price: $6.81