Peter wrote > As I see it there are two solutions to this ongoing issue. > The first, and best in my opinion, is to have the main BMD server system > translate all variations of district names into a standard form (or > forms, depending on the year being dealt with). As people collect their picklists when they download WinBMD (or MacBMD or SpeedBMD) and may then work at different times on different years I don't think this is realistic. > The second is to provide transcribers with picklists that are specific > to the material they are working on, or to give them instructions on how > to do it themselves (messy). I think most co-ordinators give guidance to transcribers on this very point, as I do. Each transcriber builds up his/her picklist of the abbreviations and changed spellings that happen to be in use that year as they come across them, by following TWYS. I also create a more detailed page-range than that generated in http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/district-page-reverse-map-index.html , using the district names in use in that quarter, as soon as we have enough transcriptions done to give a good coverage. (thanks to Bob Phillips for the idea, and to Jennifer Romero for writing 'MergeAll'). This has the double purpose of a reference point in questions of dodgy page numbers and a reference point for district names. Everyone working on that quarter gets it once it has been built. One of the disadvantages of the version on the web site is that it has district names like South Stoneham and Hartley Wintney that you don't actually see that often in real scans in that form. While typing this I have just had the idea of tagging the district names in my page-range that are not the same as the default picklist, and extracting them to issue as a list for all new transcribers. For those dealing with 1900s printed lists, you may find this collection of common district versions which may not match the default picklist useful. It may not be complete, and may not match all 1900s quarters. Jeff St. Geo. H. Sq. 1a St. Giles 1b London C. 1c Bethnal G. 1c St. Geo. East 1c Mile End 1c St. Olave 1d Richmond, S. 2a W. Ashford 2a E. Ashford 2a Romney M. 2a E. Grinstead 2b E. Preston 2b I. Wight 2b N. Forest 2b S. Stoneham 2c Hartley W. 2c Whitchurch, H. 2c B. Stortford 3a H. Hempstead 3a Newport P. 3a Chipping N. 3a Wellingbro' 3b Peterbro' 3b St. Ives 3b St. Neots 3b Leighton B. 3b N. Witchford 3b Whittlesey 3b Wisbech 3b W. Ham 4a Saffron W. 4a Bury St. E. 4a Stow, S. 4a St. Faiths 4b Freebridge L. 4b King's L. 4b Marlbro' 5a Bradford on A. 5a Westbury, W. 5a St. Thomas 5b Newton A. 5b E. Stonehouse 5b S. Molton 5b St. Germans 5c St. Columb 5c St. Austell 5c Wellington, Som. 5c Shepton M. 5c Chipping S. 6a Westbury S. 6a Stow on W. 6a Cleobury M. 6a Whitchurch, S. 6a Wellington, Sh. 6a Newport, Sh. 6a Newcastle L. 6b Stoke T. 6b Burton 6b W. Bromwich 6b Upton 6c King's N. 6c Stratford 6d Mt. Harbro' 7a Mt. Bosworth 7a Ashby Z. 7a Loughbro' 7a Barrow S. 7a Melton M. 7a Bourn 7a Glanford B. 7a Gainsbro' 7a Chapel le F. 7b W. Derby 8b Barton I. 8c Ashton 8d Ulverston 8e Barrow F. 8e Sedburgh 9a Pateley B 9a Gt. Ouseburn 9a Knaresbro' 9a N. Bierley 9b Ecclesall B. 9c Scarbro' 9d Guisbro' 9d Middlesbro' 9d Richmond, Y. 9d Chester le S. 10a S. Shields 10a Newcastle T. 10b E. Ward 10b W. Ward 10b Bedwellty 11a Newport, M. 11a Merthyr T. 11a Newcastle E. 11b St. Asaph 11b --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.699 / Virus Database: 456 - Release Date: 04/06/2004