October 1, 1999



October 1, 1999

Step-by-Step Guide for the Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator

"How records get from the LDS (Mormon) Microfilms into the JRI-Poland Database "

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INTRODUCTION

To many genealogists, the ability to search for family records among the Jewish vital records of Poland from the comfort of their home computer is nothing short of a miracle. The Jewish Records Indexing - Poland project (JRI-Poland) will benefit tens of thousands of genealogists around the world, and the eventual quality of the database is directly tied to the volunteer's understanding of how to transfer the data from the LDS microfilms into the JRI-Poland database.

Each city or town in Poland represented in the database will have an official "Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator". This person has volunteered to coordinate the effort to enter all the Jewish records for the city or town which are held in the LDS microfilm collection. In addition to the shtetl CO-OP leader, there may be a corp of volunteers offering to key in the actual data.

This document is designed to provide a description of the entire process involved in getting the records into the JRI-Poland database and tries to anticipate most of the questions a Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator will have during the project. It also addresses how to coordinate and instruct volunteers who are working under the guidance of a shtetl CO-OP leader. However, it must be noted that the vital records of Poland were not kept in a consistent manner either over time or from one town to another. Therefore, JRI-Poland invites all Shtetl CO-OP leaders and their volunteers to seek answers to their questions that are not answered here and to offer suggestions for improving this guide.

A WORD ABOUT FUNDING

JRI-Poland is an all-volunteer organization which is unable to fund the out-of-pocket expenses related to the Shtetl CO-OP projects. Costs associated with individual Shtetl CO-OPs are usually shared by its members. Shtetl CO-OP leaders are urged to work out an equitable cost-sharing arrangement with their team prior to starting the work on a particular town.

Out-of-pocket costs typically include:

1. Rental of LDS microfilms (if not locally available and must be ordered from Salt Lake City)

2. Photocopying of Index Pages

3. Postage to send pages between leader(s) and/or members of the Shtetl CO-OP

4. Software for data entry (usually WORD or EXCEL or a comparable product)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

A Word About Funding 1

I. Where You Can Find Records Locally 3

II. Determine What Records are Available for Your Town/Shtetl 5

III. Prepare Your Project "Tool Kit" 6

IV. Become Familiar with Your Town/Shtetl's Vital Records 7

V. Create a Complete Inventory for Your Town/Shtetl 9

VI. Photocopy the Index Pages to be Keyed 10

VII. Build a Volunteer Pool 11

VIII. Assign Tasks to Volunteers 12

IX. Develop Important Quality Controls 14

X. Maintain Momentum and Enthusiasm 16

XI. Proofread Results 17

XII. Submit Results to JRI-Poland Database 18

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Sample Instructions to Your Volunteers 19

Appendix 2: General Data Entry Standards & Guidelines 21

Appendix 3: Tips/Hints for Reading Polish 23

Appendix 4: Tips/Hints for Entering Special Polish Characters 25

Appendix 5: Instructions for Creating a “Unique Surnames List” 26

Appendix 6: Instructions for an Automated Proofreading Procedure 27

Appendix 7: Glossary 28

I. Where You Can Find Vital Records Locally

If vital records have survived for your Polish town/shtetl, they will probably be found in the microfilm collection of the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, typically referred to as "the Mormons" and which we abbreviate as "LDS" in this document.

The LDS microfilms that contain Jewish records are usually divided into three catagories:

A. Jewish Records (1826-1867) in the Polish Language

B. Jewish Records (after 1867) in the Russian Language

C. Civil Registers - Catholics and non-Catholics (1808-1825)

Outside of Israel, your access to the LDS microfilm collection will be at a Family History Center (FHC) associated with a Mormon temple near you. In Israel, you can view much of this same collection at the Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center at Beth Hatefutsoth in Tel Aviv. More detail on each of these places can be found below.

Family History Centers (FHC)

The main Mormon library, called the “Family History Library" (or "FHL"), is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it preserves and holds the entire collection of LDS microfilms. However, there are LDS Family History Centers (FHC) around the world which borrow the microfilm from Salt Lake City through their own Inter-Library Loan system.

The Salt Lake City FHL and all FHCs are private libraries which are open to the public. A list of FHCs in the United States and Canada is available at: or check the white pages of your phone book under “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” The listing can usually be found under the sub-heading “genealogical library” or Family History Center.

The microfilms may only be viewed at the library, and they cannot be removed for any reason. There is a nominal charge for ordering film from Salt Lake City, and the fees and loan periods vary from location to location. Call your local FHC or Mormon Temple for hours and directions.

Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center at Beth Hatefutsoth, Tel Aviv

There are no FHCs in Israel. However, the Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center (formerly known as "DOROT") at Beth Hatefutsoth, Tel Aviv, has approximately half of the LDS microfilm collection. While the Goldman Center collection is not complete, it does contain most of the available films covering years between 1826 and 1865. The Goldman Center can be found at: and a list of the microfilms located there can be found at: .

The Goldman Center has volunteers who are reviewing each and every record and extracting additional types of data which are not usually found in the indexes (like occupations for example). So, if you are a coordinator who is receiving extracts from the Goldman Center, you may have to edit the data you receive slightly differently than the directions in this guide. You will have to determine whether to include the additional data and modify the file format of your spreadsheets, or cut some of the data which may be unnecessary for the JRI-Poland database.

While it may seem that including more data would always be a good idea, there is a limit to the length each record in the JRI-Poland database can be. The decision of what to include is left to the discretion of the Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator, with the understanding that the programmer may inform you that some of the data must be cut to fit into the databases' record length.

II. Determine What Records are Available for Your Town/Shtetl

Here are the basic steps for determining what records are available for your town/shtetl once you reach the Family History Center or Goldman Center:

1. Obtain a list of the microfilms for your town/shtetl that you can take home.

Whether using your local FHC or the Goldman Center, check the catalog (on microfiche or computer) to determine which LDS microfilms are available for your town/shtetl. Make a hardcopy (paper copy) of the microfiche/computer index for your town to refer to as your project progresses.

1. Request the microfilms for the town/shtetl at the library.

If you're working at an FHC, you will probably need to order your town's films from Salt Lake City. You can ask an FHC librarian for instructions for ordering the films.

If there are more than five films for your town in the LDS collection, consider beginning with one film from around 1826, a second from around 1867, and a third from the Russian Language years (after 1867). This varied selection will provide a broad overview of the three types of records (births, marriages, deaths) for your town.

HINT:( Order a minimum of three films... three will not be overwhelming, but will provide a good preview of what your shtetl's records will be like to work with. Ordering three or four films at a time will give you sufficient material to keep your Shtetl CO-OP project moving at a good pace without making it difficult to finish the work on the films before the "loan" period expires and the films are sent back to Salt Lake City.

1. Compare the Catalog list (you retrieved in Step 1 above) to the list of "LDS Polish-Jewish Microfilms" on the JRI-Poland website and note any differences.

Over 2000 films are listed, and errors are certainly possible in any list that large. The list of LDS Microfilms can be found at:

1. Send a copy of any additions and corrections to the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius at : kesher@

III. Prepare Your Project "Tool Kit"

There are certain tools you will want to bring with you to the FHC or Goldman Center. They include the print-out (or a photocopy) of the list of LDS Microfilms for your town which you made in Step 1, a supply of paper, sharp pencils (with good erasers), a magnifying glass, and your reading glasses. If you have no previous experience working with the LDS microfilms, take along a friend. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one.

HINT:( Some researchers have found that placing a yellow- or manila-colored sheet of paper on the viewing screen of the microfilm reader will help in reading faded or light pages. Be sure to ask at your library for colored paper if you find a page that is difficult to read and have no colored paper with you. Simply place it on the white projection screen surface of the microfilm reader and see the difference.

IV. Become Familiar with Your Town/Shtetl's Vital Records

1. Roll through a microfilm, becoming familiar with the register types and format.

The LDS Microfilms are photographs of books (registers), so you will probably see a book cover with the name of the town and other information related to its contents hand-written by the registrar. Microfilms for smaller towns will typically contain more than one book/register on a single roll.

Beginning in 1826, birth, marriage, and death records were generally recorded in Polish at the local synagogues. Jewish vital records before that period were recorded at the local Catholic church, and Jews are often listed without surnames but with a patronymic that identifies their father. Vital records made after 1867 are usually written in Russian rather than in Polish. Depending on the geographic borders of the time, the language used in the records may be Polish, Russian, German, or Hebrew.

The vital registers are organised in one of two ways:

A. Metrical Registers (yearly or annual registers) contain all births, marriages and deaths for a specific year. This is the most common practice used in the Polish towns. The records in these registers are generally organised in a standard way (though there are exceptions). Birth records usually appear first and are followed by marriage records and then, finally, by the death records. The indexes were usually created at the end of the year, and they can sometimes be found after the death records, at the end of the book. However, the registrars often immediately followed the birth records with the birth index, and the marriage records with the marriage index and so on. So, you must search the entire register before concluding that a specific year was NOT indexed.

B. Separate Birth, Death and Marriage Registers may span a number of years. All births or deaths or marriages for several years appear in the order recorded. (The registrar started a new book when the old one was filled).

NOTE:( In some towns and/or for some years, BOTH types of registers survived and both were filmed by the Mormons. The Metrical Records in these cases are typically marked “Duplikats” and are often in a different handwriting. In some cases, the Duplikats pick up mistakes made in the original Metrical Register; however, the Duplikats are also known to have introduced errors. It is useful to check both!

2. Become Familiar with the Layout of the Index Pages

A. The year being recorded typically appears at the top of the first page of each index, but not always! And, sometimes there are multi-year indexes, where births recorded over several years are indexed together, so be aware of the details!

B. The type of record (birth, marriage or death) will usually be noted at the top of the first index page. Look for the following words which often identify the type of record:

Urodzinia = Births

Malzenstwa or Zaslubien = Marriages

Zejscie, Zmarl, or Zmarly = Deaths

C. The index entries may be completely alphabetised, but are usually listed sequentially under the first letter of the surname. Chronological index entries are not unusual.

D. You may find two or three columns of numbers on an index page. Using the Record Number is the most reliable way to find a record in the register. The Polish term for the record number is "AKT number". Sometimes there is also a sequential "tally" of the number of entries in the index included as the first column on the left and the AKT numbers appear in the far right column of the index entry. Don't be fooled! Also, ignore any page numbers you find. There are often several page numbering systems used in the same book and it's unreliable. Only use the AKTs.

HINT:( If you're still not sure what type of records you are looking at, use the following pointers and look at the actual records themselves (rather than the indexes). Marriage records are generally ONE to a page, while births and deaths are listed two or three records to a page. Birth records use a form of the word "imie" or "imiona" in the middle of the paragraph before disclosing the baby's first name. In a death record the name of the person who died (the "decedent") is usually in the middle of the death record, just following the word "umarl".

3. Compare what you see on the film with the detailed description in the LDS or Goldman Center Catalog. Carefully note any discrepancies and report back differences to the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius, at: kesher@

IV. Create a Complete Inventory for Your Town/Shtetl

1. Make an inventory list for each microfilm.

This should be done prior to photocopying any pages. The recommended format can be found on the JRI-Poland website at: . If you prefer, Hadassah Lipsius can send you the current suggested format. Your microfilm inventory should include:

A. Years covered on the film and which record types are indexed (Birth, Marriage, Death).

B. The number of records (AKTs) - of each type in each year and whether any AKTs are missing from the index. (See Hints 1 and 2 below)

C. The readability and condition of the index - Please check to see whether all parts of each page are clearly legible.

D. Whether the marriage index includes brides or is only a list of grooms.

HINT 1: ( Sometimes the first column of an index page is the record number (AKT number) and is hidden by the crease of the book. On occasion, the AKTs are not included in the index. In either case, the actual records must then be read entry by entry to create a new index with AKT numbers. Be sure a volunteer is assigned this task if you do not wish to do it yourself.

2. Determine if the index is complete, intact or damaged, and whether each column of information in the index seems accurate.

Sometimes the registrars make large errors like forgetting to include a column of AKTs in the index. Before someone spends valuable time keying, it is helpful to assess the reliability of the index. You may wish to test the index by looking up a couple of entries and seeing if they tie back to the correct record.

HINT 2:( You can quickly determine if every record for a given year has been included in the index by noting the number assigned to the last AKT (register entry number) and comparing it to the number of entries in the index. A volunteer should be assigned the task of completing an incomplete index.

VI. Photocopy the Index Pages to be Keyed

1. Photocopy the Indexes for each film using the JRI-Poland photocopying standards.

2. JRI-Poland guidelines stipulate that all data entry should be done from a "first generation" copy… meaning a copy made directly from the microfilm and not from another photocopy.

3. Keep a photocopy of the original index pages you send to volunteers. You will need a copy for proof-reading later and for helping a volunteer decipher difficult to read entries.

4. Be sure all parts of the index page are readable. Sometimes only parts of the page are legible on one photocopy. It may take more than one copy to get all parts of the page to be readable. This will often depend on the type of microfilm printer available at the library.

5. Make an enlarged copy of the pages when possible. Larger pages will usually be easier for a volunteer to read.

6. Label the top right corner of both the front and the back of the first page with the microfilm number with a description of the year and record type. (E.g. LDS #808,976/1836/Deaths)

7. Number the backs of all pages for later reference. Pages have a way of getting mixed up!

HINT: ( When labelling index pages, use the format, "Page 1 of __". Thus for a 12 page set, the pages would be labelled consecutively, "1 of 12", and then "2 of 12", and so on. An alternative would be to use a slash "/" so the first of eight pages would be labelled "1/8", etc…

VII. Build a Volunteer Pool

Once you have begun to take inventory and made photocopies of index pages, you should have an idea of the number of volunteers needed and the types of skills (and skill levels) required for the task of keying an index for all the vital records for your town/shtetl.

1. Find volunteers to key the indexes:

A. Send Email and/or postal mail to all researchers listed in the JewishGen Family Finder for your town.

B. Contact other researchers, friends and relatives interested in this town/shtetl or the volunteer work you are doing.

C. Post messages on JewishGen and on the JRI-Poland LISTSERV looking for volunteers. They are there… they just have to be asked! (Often several times!)

HINT:( If you can add some humour or an interesting point to your postings, you may get a better response. One coordinator used the subject line, "Lublin - Help us without leaving the comfort of your living room" and found it particularly effective.

2. Get to know each volunteer:

A. What type of software does the volunteer have or is most comfortable with... a spreadsheet, word processor or database application? What version/release of the software do they have?

B. Is their favorite software compatible with something YOU have?

C. Does the volunteer have a personal research interest in your town/shtetl?

D. What is their connection and what, if any, surnames are they researching in the town?

E. Has the volunteer ever visited a Family History Center or the Goldman Genealogy Center in Tel Aviv, and have they ever viewed the microfilms for the town/shtetl?

F. Does the volunteer prefer to work on a project AT HOME or are they willing to accept an assignment that must be done AT the FHC or the Goldman Center?

G. Does the volunteer have special training such like the ability to read Cyrillic (Russian)? Do they have experience working with the Polish language records?

H. Confirm their mailing address and their agreement to volunteering for a set amount of hours with a target deadline as a first project.

VIII. Assign Tasks to Volunteers

1. Assign each volunteer to one piece of the project based on your assessment of their interest level and capabilities.

To build experience and confidence, we suggest novice volunteers be assigned a task that can be completed within 3 to 4 hours. A new volunteer can key about 50 entries in an hour, while an experienced volunteer can key about 200 entries in an hour.

We recommend assigning between six and ten pages or about 150 entries to a volunteer as a first project. This should take between three and four hours to key and another hour or two to proof-read. We also recommend that volunteers know what is expected: be flexible but set a target deadline. Two or three weeks is a recommended target; however, some volunteers will do the work the first day!

2. Don't begin more than about five volunteers at any one time.

We've learned that communicating with many people at the same time can become confusing. Start several people and begin others as the first group becomes more experienced and able to work independently.

3. If you photocopied the index pages, send each volunteer the originals of the pages to be keyed.

Always keep a copy for yourself for proof-reading or assisting volunteers later.

4. If the volunteer is to do the photocopying, notify him/her of the LDS microfilm number to be ordered.

Please ask them to carefully photocopy every index page on their film and send you a copy. This will enable you to proof-read and verify the data prior to submission to JRI-Poland. Copies of the pages should be sent to you immediately so you can help as the volunteers work on the project.

5. Point the volunteer to the "Step-By-Step Guidelines" website which will familiarise them with the process for keying indexes and with the JRI-Poland data entry standard conventions.

Remember! There are hundreds of volunteers, and to have a high-quality database, the data must be entered consistently.

6. Maintain a detailed list of your volunteers and carefully note all details of their work.

The details should include: which pages assigned, when mailed, target deadline, follow-up dates, etc... JRI-Poland has a recommended control form which you can modify for your own use. It is available from Hadassah Lipsius at kesher@. ALWAYS note the pages sent and the number of entries you expect to be keyed...

7. Let the volunteer know that they should contact you with any problems, and that you will check them periodically to see how it's going...

Thank them often for their help, and speak to them kindly, using "please" and being patient with beginners. We have all been beginners!

IX. Develop Important Quality Controls

As volunteers begin to key in data, they will make some assumptions and have some questions. Here are some guidelines for maintaining consistent quality throughout your project, and to synchronise all shtetl co-ops in the JRI-Poland database:

1. Ask the volunteers to begin by keying ten entries and sending them to you for proof-reading. This will enable you to see how the volunteer is interpreting the directions and what they find difficult about the project.

2. Data entry guidelines and instructions to volunteers can be found in the appendices of this document. Please tailor the instructions as you see fit, removing any pointers which do not apply to your particular project. Don't drown your volunteers in information that does not apply to their immediate project. Keep it simple.

3. Ask volunteers to always key data as they see it, in the same order that it appears on the page and using the same spellings. Please ask volunteers to key what the registrar did, UNLESS it can be confirmed that the registrar made an error when he copied the entry data to the index.

4. Provide the volunteer with the total number of entries you expect them to do and check the number they send against the index total. It is important to verify that the index included ALL the records for the period it was to cover.

5. Provide the volunteer with the actual number of records registered during the year. Knowing this number can help to decipher an AKT number, since the volunteer will know the largest possible number that an AKT can be. Please note that, due to human error, records may share the same AKT numbers and sometimes a record was not assigned a number and appears in the index as the last number used.

6. Give your volunteers a description of the file naming convention that you want them to use. For example, a spreadsheet for Lublin births from 1867 entered by Robinn Magid could be named: LU_b67RM, where the first two digits are the town name, followed by a separator, then the type of records (b = births, m = marriages, d = deaths, a = all) two digits represent the starting year, and the final two digits are the volunteers' initials.

7. When assigning work to a volunteer, provide a spreadsheet template. While each index will have its own format, and formats may vary, you may notice a basic pattern in your town and can make a template to match that will work for each of your volunteers.

8. It is preferable to combine birth, marriage, and death records for one town on one spreadsheet, and we so recommend that you use the following basic format. Include as many years as possible in the one spreadsheet. Leave out columns that are unneeded, but keep the data you are keying in this basic order.

AKT

Surname

First Name(s)

Father's First Name

Father's Patronymic

Father's Surname (Maiden Name)

Mother's First Name

Mother's Patronymic (Her father's first name)

Husband's first name (In a death record)

Age at Death (Obviously only used in a death record)

Town event was recorded in (Shtetl CO-OP Name)

Type of Record (B=Birth, M=Marriage, D=Death, V=Divorce)

Year Recorded

LDS Microfilm #

9. Instruct the volunteers to consult you if they find other columns in the index they think should be added. There may be other columns required such as "Year event occurred" which frequently differ from the year the event was recorded. This is particularly true of birth registrations.

10. Instruct the volunteers to always enter marriage records on two lines - one for the Bride and a separate line for the Groom.

X. Maintain Momentum and Enthusiasm

1. Stay in touch with all volunteers. Let them know that you are there to hold their hands and provide a second opinion for difficult words.

2. Remind them of the target deadline, but be flexible if a volunteer says they cannot finish their contribution by the deadline. Work together to set a new deadline or let them off the hook entirely if need be.

3. Periodically update your project status spreadsheet and send it to the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius at: kesher@. You will see the progress you and your team are making and give the JRI-Poland team the opportunity to share your excitement and congratulate you!

XI. Proofread Results

When you receive the individual results keyed in by each volunteer, proof-read them against your copy of the index pages. It is often easiest to work with another person. The best procedure is for one person to read the newly typed entry aloud while the second one checks the original document.

1. Verify that EVERY entry on the original index has been keyed into the new typed index by counting the number of entries in each document

2. Consider the accuracy and completeness of the original index by carefully reviewing your paper copy. If an index is incomplete or contains major errors (such as no AKTs listed for the records in the index), refer back to the microfilm and extract the missing information.

3. Consider whether there is data missing from individual records or from all indexed records that is worth extracting from the microfilm by hand. If a page of the index is damaged, the data which is obliterated may be retrieved by looking at the actual register entries in the LDS microfilm. Also, there may be cases where you decide it's valuable to your fellow researchers to extract more information from the records than was included in the index. For example, in many towns the marriage indexes only list the GROOMs, and developing a BRIDEs list would be very helpful and appreciated.

4. Do a spot check of the surnames with which you seem unfamiliar or which appear strange. Search for other occurrences of these surnames in the JRI-POLANDdatabase. Look for similar names in the JewishGen Family Finder or in Alexander Beider's book, "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland." If you do not have the book, make a list of the names and ask someone else to help or do a search of the Consolidated Surname Index on JewishGen at: which includes the names from the Jewish Genealogy Family Finder and the Beider dictionary.

5. While proof-reading a volunteer's work, compile a list of tips (hints) for their future use. You may choose to incorporate these hints into a page of general directions to be sent to other volunteers in your project or the Transliteration Coordinator to use in a revised version of these instructions.

6. The indexes should be keyed with the special Polish and German characters drawn in the original registers. If your volunteer has not entered the special language characters, you must add them before sending the results to the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator. Detailed instructions for keying these characters can be found on the JewishGen Multi-Language Support webpage at:

XII. Submit Results to JRI-Poland Database

Data should only be sent to the JRI-Poland for inclusion in the database when you are comfortable that the data is as accurate and complete as it can be.

1. When proof-reading has been completed for all entries for one microfilm... the spreadsheet or database file should be sent to the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius at: kesher@. Sending ONE microfilm's results will help the coordinator understand what you face as the shtetl Co-op coordinator, and will give you some necessary feedback. It'll also be a nice morale booster to be able to submit something in relatively short order.

2. When you submit the first microfilm's results, please mail a copy of the indexes for at least one year represented on the microfilm to Hadassah Lipsius, so she can see the quality of the index that your team had to work with. This will also allow her to do some spotcheck proof-reading to try to help you.

3. Spreadsheets should be sent to JRI-Poland in an EXCEL- or LOTUS-compatible format. Word Processing documents can be converted to a spreadsheet before submittal to JRI-Poland or can be sent in an ASCII text format with commas delimited. If you are not familiar with these terms, the JRI-Poland Transliteration Coordinator will help you or put you in touch with someone who can help. As always, contact Hadassah Lipsius at: kesher@

4. After sending the first microfilm's worth of records, try to compile as much data as possible into one spreadsheet before sending to the JRI-Poland coordinator. The objective is to try to use the same template/format consistently for a whole town/shtetl, and to make the data available as one file on the JRI-Poland database.

5. Please save the index pages that your team has typed from. Ultimately, we will ask that you donate them to the Center for Jewish History in New York.

Appendix 1: Sample Instructions to Your Volunteers

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DATA ENTRY PROJECT

NAMING YOUR WORK

Please give your spreadsheet a name in the following format: XX_x99XX where the first two digits (XX) are the first two letters of the town name, then use an underscore "_" as a separator, then a lower case letter for record type (b=births, m-marriages, d=deaths, t=all types), the next two digits (99) represent the year being keyed, and the final two digits (XX) should be your initials. So, the file name for the 1867 birth records for Lublin keyed by James Bond would be, "LU_b67JB".

THE SPREADSHEET TEMPLATE (FILE LAYOUT)

There are seven basic columns which must appear in every Shtetl CO-OP spreadsheet:

AKT (record number)

SURNAME

First (Given) Name(s)

Town recorded in (the Shtetl Co-op Name usually)

Record Type (B=Birth, M=Marriage, D=Death)

Year Recorded

LDS Microfilm #

Depending on the record type (births, marriages or deaths), the town, the year, the registrar, etc., any one of a number of other pieces of information may be included on the index pages. Whatever information appears in the index should be included in the spreadsheet in separate columns. Births, marriages and deaths should be entered on the same spreadsheet.

The possibilities include (but are not limited to):

Father’s Given Name

Mother’s Given Name

Grandfather’s Given Name

Father's Patronymic Name

Mother’s Maiden Name

Deceased’s Maiden Surname

Age (found in death indexes only)

Year AKT occurred (typical of birth registration indices)

Town where AKT occurred.

GENERAL KEYING INSTRUCTIONS

The information should be keyed in the SAME ORDER that it appears on the index register. It is much easier to proof-read the results when the exact order is maintained. Do not sort the list in any other way when you are finished or it will make it hard to proof-read against the index pages.

KEYING SHORTCUT

If you are using a spreadsheet program such as EXCEL or LOTUS, you may wish to consider keying down through the columns rather than across in a line. This will allow you to turn the CAP LOCK on for surnames and to use the 10-key pad for numbers. Some volunteers have reported that it is faster to key the data column-by-column rather than row-by-row. However, proof-reading becomes even more important when data entry is done column-by-column!

Appendix 2: GENERAL DATA ENTRY STANDARDS & GUIDELINES

1) ORDER OF COLUMNS AND ENTRIES IN TABLE/SPREADSHEET

Always key information in the same order it appears on the original index page. Do NOT sort the file in way when your data entry work has been completed. It is much easier to proofread your table/spreadsheet if the entries appear in the same order in both places. (You may, of course, save a separate file with a new file name, and sort it in any way you wish for your own personal needs.)

Important Note: Use TWO (2) lines for Marriage entries: one for the groom and a separate one for the bride. Since the groom’s name always appears first in the index, always enter the groom’s information first. If the marriage index ONLY includes the grooms and you have the LDS microfilm available to you, please extract the brides' name from the records and build a complete marriage index.

2) RECORD NUMBERS

Always enter the record number ("AKT" in Polish) as the first column of the spreadsheet. Ignore any page numbers entered in the indexes.

3) SURNAMES

Surnames should be entered using all CAPS (all capital letters). Only capitalize the first letter for given names, town names, or months. All other fields should be keyed in lower case only.

4) OTHER FIELDS

Parents' names (both father and mother) should be recorded in separate fields. First and last names for parents should also be recorded in separate fields. Parents’ surnames must always be keyed in upper case (ALL CAPS).

When a name in the index appears in a patronymic or matronymic form, it should be entered exactly as it appears, but in its own column.

5) INDEX PAGES WITHOUT SURNAMES

Indices from the Mixed Religion Civil records (1808 to 1825) and in the Jewish Records (town dependent) from 1826 to1830 may contain a patronymic name which may not necessarily be the family surname. In the early years, families did not have established, permanent surnames and individuals were referred to by their father's first name (patronymic name). There are three possible paths to follow when entering this type of data…

a) Review the actual record and confirm that it is a SURNAME and not a patronymic. Then key it into the SURNAME field.

b) Review the actual record, confirm that it is not a surname but rather is a PATRONYMIC and convert the name to a first name and enter it in the FATHER'S NAME field.

c) If you cannot determine where the name is actually a surname or a patronymic name, enter the name AS IS in it's own field and label it PATRONYMIC.

1) POLISH AND GERMAN SPECIAL CHARACTERS These special characters should be keyed exactly as they appear in the index. See the directions and guidelines for Multi-Language Support available on the JRI-Poland website at:

. Please contact the Shtetl CO-OP coordinator if you have any questions regarding the use of special characters.

2) ILLEGIBLE WORDS

Unclear words should be marked -- in the appropriate field in the spreadsheet -- with a question mark like this “?” However, if you can read the first part of the name, enter it with a following “?” Remember that your Shtetl CO-OP coordinator has a copy of the pages you have; So, ask your coordinator for help as soon as you have a question. An early question may save you time and trouble later in your project.

3) EDITING PROTOCOL

Do NOT correct or change spellings even if you know they are incorrect! For the sake of consistency between the work of many volunteers, it is the policy of Jewish Records Indexing - Poland to enter data as it was written on the index page. However, if you notice an obvious deviation from a name/surname which you recognize, please use the following procedure:

1. Enter the name as written followed by a "/".

2. Then enter the suggested alternate(s). If there are two alternatives, then all three names should be separated by "/" (see step 3.)

3. Up to three names may be entered in the surname field (example: ROSSGODOL/ROSSGOLD/ROSS)

1) MISSING FIRST NAMES

If no first name appears in the birth, marriage or death registration/index page, enter the word "unnamed" in the given name field.

Appendix 3: Tips/Hints for Reading Polish

1. The volunteers must familiarise themselves with other handwriting styles. While the registers are in Polish, there is an interesting website with hints for reading Old English handwriting. It includes samples of Old-style cursive handwriting which are helpful even with Polish. It can be found at:

2. The Polish alphabet is pronounced quite differently from English and other western languages. Learning to pronounce the names, as they sounded in Polish can be very valuable in trying to read handwriting. A name just won’t sound/seem right!

3. Two books which are outstanding references for learning to read and pronounce Polish are:

- A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish Language Civil-Registration Documents, by Judith R. Frazin

- Following the Paper Trail; A Multilingual Translation Guide, by Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman

Here is one list of hints compiled by a Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator which you may find useful in learning to read Polish or for training a new volunteer:

A. The Polish alphabet does not use the letters: "Q" "V" and "X" so those letters are rarely found in the indexes. However, once in a while "x" does appear in names like "Fux" which also is spelled "Fuchs" in the Polish records.

B. Common Polish letter combinations include: cz, rz, sz

C. "J" is often used in two letter combinations as "aj" and "ej".

D. Capital "I" "S" and "J" are often difficult to distinguish in Polish handwriting. Sometimes the name "Icek" looks like "Joel" and vice versa. Enter "?" following the name to help the coordinator to check the spelling.

E. Strangely enough, the names "Moszek" and "Herszek" or "Moszko" and "Herszko" are often indistinguishable due to Polish handwriting quirks.

F. Sometimes a lower case "a" looks suspiciously like a two letter combination, either "ex" or "ix" but it is just the registrar's handwriting style. If you think you see an "x", be skeptical. The best example we found was "Beniamin" which looked like "Beniexmin" - and of course, that doesn't make sense!

1. Suggest to your volunteers that if they have trouble reading the index handwriting, they should try using a magnifying glass. They should also compare the entry to other names on the same page. This is especially useful with the first names. Assure them that as they progress, the names will become very familiar and easier to read. It takes a little time to get used to the registrar's writing style.

2. You may have spreadsheets or lists of surnames from your town retrieved from business directories, Yiskor Books, and other sources. Lists from nearby shtetls often contain very similar names. Send these sorts of lists to your volunteers to help them become familiar with the common family names in that town. The names should be transliterated from Yiddish or Hebrew into the typical Polish spelling for the names.

3. Registrars typically indexed entries by the first letter of the surname only. So, beyond the first surname letter, the entries usually appear in AKT (record number) order. Suggest that your volunteers recognise this sequence: it can be particularly helpful when it is hard to read an AKT number... Since the records were keyed in chronological sequence, an AKT number is usually larger than the entry above it… and smaller than the one following it in the index...

Appendix 4: Tips/Hints for Entering Special Polish Characters

FONTS

The JRI-Poland database is actually being maintained with POLISH spellings, and NOT translated into English. Therefore it is important that you use a foreign-language font when typing this material. The most reliable font seems to be the Eastern European Font available from the JRI-Poland coordinator, Hadassah Lipsius.

Most foreign-language fonts have the special accented characters in the extended ASCII region (ASCII codes over 128). To key these special characters you will normally need to key the ASCII codes rather than typing individual keys. To key these codes you need to hold down the ALT key while typing the ASCII code ON THE NUMERIC KEYPAD. Typing the ordinary number keys at the top of your keyboard will not work - you MUST use the numeric keypad. When entering the ASCII codes you must enter a 4-digit code, which normally means you type a leading 0 before the rest of the ASCII code. For example if you have chosen a Polish font and want to key an ó you would hold down the ALT key and type 0243 on your numeric keypad.

For Polish and select German letters these are the ASCII codes we use for the various accented characters. It is important that we store the accented characters (particularly the a-ogonek and e-ogonek) since these affect the SOUND of the words and hence the matches produced by the JRI-Poland systems.

|Upper Case |ASCII |Lower Case |ASCII |

|Accented |code |Accented |Code |

|Character | |Character | |

|¥ |0165 |¹ |0185 |

|Æ |0198 |æ |0230 |

|Ê |0202 |ê |0234 |

|£ |0163 |³ |0179 |

|Ñ |0209 |ñ |0241 |

|Ó |0211 |ó |0243 |

|Œ |0140 |œ |0156 |

|? |0143 |Ÿ |0159 |

|¯ |0175 |¿ |0191 |

|Ä |0196 |ä |0228 |

|Ë |0203 |ë |0235 |

|Ü |0220 |ü |0252 |

|Ö |0214 |ö |0246 |

If you have problem entering the ASCII code then please notify Hadassah Lipsius at: kesher@.

Appendix 5: Instructions for Creating a Unique Surnames List

The following procedure was submitted to JRI-Poland by Howard Fink as a suggested way to create a list of each surname contained in a spreadsheet. The list will include an entry for each surname only once even if multiple records with a given surname appear in the vital records for that town.

A list of each surname found in the town being researched would be very useful to a researcher as they proof-read unusual names or decipher difficult handwriting. It is recommended that the shtetl CO-OP coordinator provide each volunteer with a list periodically throughout the project, as large amounts of data are added to the town’s computerised records indexes.

How to Create Unique Surnames List

These instructions will create a new, alphabetised, surname list in “column b” of an EXCEL spreadsheet:

1. Copy the data to a new Excel File or "save as" giving it a new name.

2. Delete all columns other than SURNAME from the list.

3. Select the entire SURNAME column (by clicking on the "A" heading)

4. From the "Data" menu, select "Sort" and make sure "Ascending" is selected, and "Header Row" if applicable.

5. From the "Data" menu select "Filter" extended to "Advanced Filter"

6. Check "Copy to another location" and "Unique records only" and fill in "b1" in the "Copy To" field. This will create a sorted, unique SURNAME list in Column B.

Appendix 6: Instructions for an Automated Proofreading Procedure

Once a film or series of films have been typed by volunteers and sent to the Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator, the data is ready for proof-reading by the CO-OP Coordinator.

The following procedure automates some of the more tedious sequence-checking chores. It checks for duplicate and missing AKT numbers. Thanks to Howard Fink who submitted this routine to JRI-Poland!

THIS ROUTINE WORKS ON MICROSOFT EXCEL ONLY

If your data was entered in another product, you may be able to create your own process based on this:

1. Begin with the data sorted in AKT # order.

2. Add a temporary column just after the Akt column. Do this by selecting the letter on top of the next column and use Insert...Columns)

3. Enter the following in the new cell to the right of Akt 2. Be sure not to enter it in the original AKT 1 column. Type only the BOLDED symbols below:

=IF(click on the cell containing Akt 1 +1= click on the cell containing Akt 2 ,""," ................
................

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