SURNAME LIST - REVISED 07/12/2004

When all is done, you need to do the Surname List.

Volumes 1 through 5 will continue to use the old surname format. That format was as follows:

Surnames only, capitalized and alphabetized. If a surname is used for more than one passenger, it only needs to be listed once in the surname list. Don't forget to include alternative surnames that you've listed in your transcriber's notes. Additionally, the captain's surname will be included and the title CAPTAIN will be added after the surname. Examples:

ADLE
BROWN
CARTER
KENNEDY, CAPTAIN
KOVERMAN
O'DAY

Beginning with Volume 6 a new surname list making policy has been established.

We will start making surname lists using the full names of the passengers and their passenger numbers. We discussed this several months ago on the List but decided to wait until a new Volume opened up to put the new policy into effect.

The format for the new surname lists will be as follows:

LAST NAME, TITLE FIRST NAME MIDDLE NAME OR INITIAL, PASSENGER NUMBER

There is NO comma between the first and middle names. Some special characters can now be used. These include commas, periods, apostrophes, hyphens and the carat ^ symbol. Please DO NOT use any umlauts on the list. There is another character which can't be used in conjunction with a letter, the ~ symbol. Umlauts and the ~ symbol won't translate in the surname program and the passenger's name drops off the list of names to uploaded. If I haven't mentioned a specific special character, please don't include it. Here are some examples of the new format:

KOVERMAN, MARK, CAPTAIN
KOVERMAN-O'DAY, PAUL, 5
O'DAY, MR, 8
O'DAY, MRS P, 7
O'DAY, MRS. PAUL, 6
O'DAY, PAMELA A, 1
O'DAY, PAT^K L., 2
SISTER MARY, 3
ST. PIERRE, JOHN H, 4

If a passenger's title is included on the manifest, it should be included on the surname list. It can be helpful in determining marital status and to help a researcher determine whether the passenger is male or female.

If the captain of the ship is listed with the title of Master, please change it to read CAPTAIN. Additionally, if there is NO captain listed please include a line at the top of your list that reads *no captain listed.

Please include on the surname list any alternative names mentioned in your transcriber notes. When working with ship manifests that are created in paragraph form, please include any names of friends/relatives mentioned in those paragraphs. Their passenger number would be the same as the passenger they refer to.

You can prepare your surname list using any method that works best for you, however please ensure that the list you submit to me is in a text format reflecting the proper format to include spacing. The biggest problem I see seems to be incorrect spacing (too many spaces between the elements). You can submit your list as a text file attachment or included in the body of an email (the preferred method). Lists must be alphabetized and capitalized. A program called NoteTab Light can accomplish these last 2 tasks quickly and with no effort. It can also eliminate extra spaces between elements.

If anyone needs help in this task, let me know and I'll be happy to lend a hand. REMEMBER, the new format only applies to ships which will be appearing in Volume 6 and into the future, not for any ships which go into the older volumes.

Pam O'Day
ISTG Surname Coordinator
pkoverman@aol.com

A Note From the Captain on Surname Lists

Good Evening Crew,

It's time to say a few words about the surname lists.  They are required for 
each passenger list you transcribe.  Our surname lists provide researchers 
with a very unique method of searching and they are important.


Most other websites with genealogical data offer the viewer a search box in 
which one is to type the name they are hoping to find.  If the researcher is 
fortunate enough to type it into the search box exactly as it was on the 
document or exactly the way it was transcribed, he/she lucks out and gets a hit.  

We offer a search box on the ISTG site as well.  I get a weekly report 
informing me of how frequently the search box was used and what the top searches 
were.  Frankly, the box doesn't get used much and I can easily understand why.

We all know that names were often written by the scribe as he heard them or 
as they sounded to him.  We've looked at enough of these lists in ten years to 
know that the researcher may know exactly the name he is looking for and we 
may, and probably do, have a variation of it.  On other sites, those variations 
would never be visible.  An alphabetical file of all the names is rarely, if 
ever, offered on other sites.  

While we started our surname lists long before we had a search engine, they 
have proved to be one of the most valuable tools we offer.  So, technology 
being as grand as it is, our seemingly antiquated surname lists provide every 
researcher with something he will not find anywhere else; and if it is found a 
nice price will be attached to its use.

The surname list should be created at the same time as the passenger list is 
transcribed.  If you keep a second notepad file open, you can easily copy and 
paste the names and passenger numbers as you type them into the passenger 
list.  Then you might have to reverse the order if the passenger lists a given 
name first, and change to upper case lettering, then putting it in alpha order, 
but that is all part of the task.  It should be submitted at the same time the 
passenger list is submitted.

Pam and Nancy work very hard in keeping the surname lists up to date and it's 
not a one time deal either.  Anytime a correction is made or correspondence 
is added, that generates more work for them too.  Neither of them have time to 
create a surname list from a passenger list which is already transcribed and 
on the site.

For those transcribers who delete passenger lists and surname lists as soon 
as Libby posts that the ship has been uploaded, I'd like to suggest that both 
the passenger list and the surname list be kept for a couple of months in a 
special folder where you can find it again if needed.

Creating a surname list is not what I would call fun work, but each time you 
add a name, know that you are providing someone with a better opportunity to 
find an ancestor.  

If you have any questions about surname lists, how to create them, how to 
submit them, please post them to this board.

I hope I've explained how important these lists are and eliminated what seems 
to be some resistance to doing them at all.  If not, we will change the 
procedure and passenger lists that are not accompanied by surname lists will not be 
uploaded until I can find a volunteer to create the surname list.

Thank you all for all your hard work.  So many have found their ancestors and 
been able to add a branch to their family tree because all of you are so very 
dedicated.
Your work is appreciated as is your commitment to the Guild.

Peace to you and those you love,
Patty

Now you need to name your ship and you need to save the file you have been working in as that name. The SS Etruria, Liverpool to New York, 17 December 1888 will be named etruria18881217pl or etruria18881217_01pl if it is a passenger list and etruria18881217sn or etruria18881217_01sn if it is a surname list. We don't want the SS included, no caps, no spaces. This will allow all ships to be filed in alphabetical order when they are received on our end.

If you are working on a split list, or ship with many passengers, each section of that list will become its own webpage. Therefore, a surname list will be required for each section. One page of your transcription should not be larger than about 40k, you should start new pages at approximately every 300 passengers. Never split a family between two pages.

When BOTH lists are finished, e-mail the passenger list to Mary Beth Arthur (mbainsagle@verizon.net) and the surname list to Pam O'Day (pkoverman@aol.com), the Surname Coordinator. Please paste the surname list into an e-mail and do not send it as an attachment. Also please do not create the surname lists in an html format...just simply type them in CAPS, alphabetize them and don't forget to add the captain's name followed by a comma and the word Captain. The SS Etruria was about 15 pages and "copy & paste" worked fine. If you're not familiar with this, ask the list for instructions. (You can click here to read Patty's Copy and Paste 101 instructions.)

When sending the list by e-mail, in the subject line of the e-mail message write:

shipname-year-month-day in the format shipyyyymmdd or shipyyyymmdd_section number (if the list is split) so that SS Etruria, Liverpool to NY, 17 Dec1888 would be etruria18881217pl or etruria18881217_01pl if it is the passenger list and etruria18881217sn or etruria18881217_01sn if it is the surname list.

Do NOT change this subject line or the ship will be filed out of order in the desktop folder and when there are as many as 200 ships in that folder it is important that they remain in order.

DO NOT put anything other than the list in the message area. No notes to Mary Beth, No "Hi here is my ship and I am ready for a new list," no NOTHING.

If you are writing to ask a question about the SS Etruria then in the subject line type:

Question etruria18881217 or etruria18881217_01 and once the question is answered do not continue to write using the same subject line. Change the subject line to fit the e-mail you are sending.

Send to - mbainsagle@verizon.net

Now you can pat yourself on the back - A JOB WELL DONE :)