--- title: Creating an index description: I am in the last phases of preparing eight new Early New England Families Study Project sketches for publication on americanancestors.org in the next... image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Creating an index [August 10, 2016](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/08/creating-index) [Critical Analysis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis), [Genealogical Writing](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/genealogical-writing), [Technology](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/technology), [Spotlight](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/spotlight), [Indexing](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/indexing) [Alicia Crane Williams](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/acwilliams) [![Alicia Crane Williams](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg?width=200&height=260&name=Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg)I am in the last phases of preparing eight new [Early New England Families Study Project](http://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/ongoing-study-projects/Early-New-England-Families,-1641--1700/) sketches for publication on americanancestors.org in the next week or so. I will give full details about each in an upcoming post. First, I have to create the indexes. Indexing a database for the NEHGS website involves a lot more than a simple name or place index. Using an Excel spreadsheet, there are nineteen fields of information to be entered for each record. Most are self-explanatory, but I have added a few notes for those that may not be: **LastName**: **AlternateNames**: Other spellings of the last name used in the sketch (Browne, Smyth, etc.). **FirstName**: Including middle and maiden names as applicable. **Principal**: If the record is for the principal person of the sketch or his/her spouse, the numeral “1” is entered, which tells the program to generate a “Featured Name Only” entry that can be used in the search engine. **RecordType**: Birth, marriage, and death, and “record” for anything that does not fall into the first three categories. **Year**: **RecordCity**: **RecordCounty**: **RecordState**: **RecordCountry**: **SpouseLastName**: If female, her maiden surname, or the surname of her most recent spouse. **SpouseFirstName**: If female and previously married, this includes her maiden surname. **FatherLastName**: **FatherFirstName**: **MotherLastName**: Her married surname. **MotherFirstName**: Her first and maiden names. **Page**: Birth entries are usually straight-forward, but there are a few tricks with marriages and deaths [the following examples are compressed for purposes of illustration]: SMITH, John, Marriage, 1678, DOE, Jane DOE, Jane, Marriage, 1678, SMITH, John SMITH, John, Death, 1700, DOE, Jane SMITH, Jane [Doe], Death, 1734, SMITH, John However, if Jane remarried after John’s death, another set of records is needed: SMITH, Jane [Doe], Marriage, 1710, BROWN, Robert BROWN, Robert, Marriage, 1710, SMITH, Jane [Doe] And, of course, Jane’s death entry would change to: BROWN, Jane [Doe] [Smith], Death, 1734, BROWN, Robert In a regular name index, if the name John Smith appears on a page, regardless of whether the name applies to more than one individual, “John Smith” is indexed only once per page.  In the database, however, each separate person is indexed, resulting in entries such as [again, condensed for illustration]: SMITH, John, 1, Birth, 1650, {father} SMITH, John, {mother} SMITH, Ann [Black] SMITH, John, Birth, 1679, {father} SMITH, John, {mother} SMITH, Jane [Doe] SMITH, John, Record, {spouse} BLACK, Ann These three entries would represent John Smith, who is the Featured Name of the sketch, his son John Smith, and his father John Smith. The result is the enhanced information you receive when you search the AmericanAncestors.org databases; see, for instance, this search for [Peter Hobart](http://www.americanancestors.org/search/database-search?firstname=Peter&lastname=Hobart&category=Genealogies%2C%20Biographies%2C%20Heraldry%2C%20and%20Local%20Histories&database=Early%20New%20England%20Families%2C%201641%20-%201700&). ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/08/creating-index](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/08/creating-index) - - - More - - ![Alicia Crane Williams](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Williams_Alicia.jpg) ## About Alicia Crane Williams Alicia Crane Williams, FASG, Lead Genealogist of Early Families of New England Study Project, has compiled and edited numerous important genealogical publications including The Mayflower Descendant and the Alden Family “Silver Book” Five Generations project of the Mayflower Society. Most recently, she is the author of the 2017 edition of The Babson Genealogy, 1606-2017, Descendants of Thomas and Isabel Babson who first arrived in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1637. Alicia has served as Historian of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, Assistant Historian General at the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and as Genealogist of the Alden Kindred of America. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in History from Northeastern University.[View all posts by Alicia Crane Williams →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/acwilliams) [← A good index guides the reader](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/08/good-index-guides-reader) [Real photos →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/08/real-photos) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? 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