Allen, When I first started transcribing I got stuck on this one, having later found the error of my ways, I corrected these errors. TKB 6(u) can be read: If the alternative name is the surname, check, if you can, to see if it also appears in the index, i.e. is there an entry for CHAPMAN. If so, just transcribe the first name, that is BONUS... and add a line after: #COMMENT Surname has alternative name CHAPMAN. So, if I find - -, John, Bonus or Chapman, Marylebone,1a,521 (a made up expansion of the example) I look for - -, John, Chapman, Marylebone,1a,521 and if I find it I just add a two-line entry: - -, John, Bonus, Marylebone,1a,521 #COMMENT Surname has alternative name CHAPMAN If it is not the surname or you cannot determine if there is an entry for CHAPMAN, transcribe both names using 2 lines (repeating all the other information such as forename, district, etc.) and add a comment after the first line specifying how the original entry reads. For example BONUS alias CHAPMAN,John,Marylebone,1a,521 should be transcribed as BONUS,John,Marylebone,1a,521 #COMMENT(2) entry reads BONUS alias CHAPMAN for surname CHAPMAN,John,Marylebone,1a,521 It then goes on to say: So, in general, the comment should read: #COMMENT(2) entry reads <alternative> for <field> where <alternative> is the alternative from the record and <field> is the field in the record, either surname, given name, mother's name, spouse name, district, volume or page number. Note that there is no space between "#COMMENT" and the "(2)". If there are more than two names, enter one record for each and put in one comment covering all the names, e.g. #COMMENT(3) after the first of three entries. I had difficulties: the first part was about "X or Y", the middle part was about "X alias Y" and the final part was about <alternative>. Only the first and the last section appeared to be about alternative/<alternative>, the middle part seemed to be about ALIAS, so I ignored it. Since I was only working with "X or Y" I typed (using these examples) BONUS,John,Marylebone,1a,521 #COMMENT Surname has alternative name CHAPMAN CHAPMAN,John,Marylebone,1a,521 But, I got a choice of three names right, since that was clear, e.g. BONUS,John,Marylebone,1a,521 #COMMENT(3) entry reads BONUS or CHAPMAN or DOW for surname CHAPMAN,John,Marylebone,1a,521 DOW,John,Marylebone,1a,521 My proposal would be to make a change in the final wording: So, in general, the comment should read: #COMMENT(N) entry reads <alternative> for <field> where <alternative> is entry in the field that has N alternatives (where N is 2, 3, etc), denoted by OR, ALIAS or &, and <field> is the field in the record, either surname, given name, mother's name, spouse name, district, volume or page number which has an alternative entry. Note that there is no space between "#COMMENT" and the "(N)". Regards, Philip _____ From: freebmd-admins-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:freebmd-admins-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of freebmd-admins-request@rootsweb.com Sent: 05 April 2012 15:15 To: freebmd-admins@rootsweb.com Subject: FREEBMD-ADMINS Digest, Vol 7, Issue 44