HBCU Newspaper History Project Indexing Instructions

Winter 2012

Purpose
The purpose of this presentation is to provide you with details and examples of how to index your HBCU newspaper of choice.

Our Appreciation
The Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society thanks you for your participation in this important project. The work that you do will be of great value for other researchers.
As you index the newspapers, you will type what you see. Please follow all directions and do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

Download the Template

To make it easier for you, we provide a blank Excel and Open Office spreadsheet template on the project website http://www.aahgsnashville.org/hbcuproject for you to download and use as you work.
The template file includes the example from this presentation as a guide. You can delete it prior to submitting your work.

As you use the spreadsheet, save time by using the copy/fill functions to quickly fill-in columns that will be the same for all records (e.g. the name of the school).
As a general note if there is information you do not know, leave the field blank.

FILLING IN THE INDEXING TEMPLATE: PART I

The first set of fields describe the school and the issue in which the article appears.

Our Example Newspaper

We will use an issue of the student newspaper from Bennett College as our indexing example.

By the time we go through all the fields, you will hopefully have a much clearer understanding of how to index.

Interpreting these Instructions

In this presentation, all text explaining what to do will be presented within a light red box

Text that you would enter into the spreadsheet will be presented within a light yellow box

Like this

Like this

Field #1: School

The paper comes from Bennett College. The masthead states Bennett College for Women but in this case, we will use Bennett College.
Enter: Bennett College

Field #2: Newspaper

The name of the newspaper is at the top, in the masthead. Enter: Bennett Banner

Field #3: Editor

Sometimes, the paper editor appears on an internal page. Here, it appears not on page 1, but on page 2.

Enter name as Last name first, then a comma, then First name.

Addie Pickett is the Editor. Enter: Pickett, Addie

Field #4: Advisor

Sometimes, the paper would have a faculty advisor. Not all the time though. If so, their name would likely appear with the staff. Enter name as Last name first, then a comma, then First name. In this case, there is not an Advisor In this case, you do not enter anything; leave this field blank.

Field #5: Date

This field captures the date the paper was published.
Please use the format of YYYY-MM-DD. If the date is missing information, enter zeroes for that part of the date. Enter: 1934-05-00

Field #6: Volume Number

The volume can usually be found in the masthead.
If the volume is presented in Roman numerals enter the numeric form. Enter: 4

Field #7: Issue/Number

The issue can usually be found in the masthead.
Some papers will call it Issue, some will call it Number.

Enter: 4

Field #8: Number of Pages

How many pages total are in this newspaper issue?

This particular issue is 4 pages.

Enter: 4

FILLING IN THE INDEXING TEMPLATE: PART II

The second set of fields describe the article and the information within it.

Article: Anniversary of Religious Organizations

The example used for the rest of these instructions will be the article on right side of the page.

Field #9: Page Number

What page does the article appear on?
This particular article is on page 1.

Enter: 1

Field #10: Headline

The Headline is the title of the article.
Notice that this is written in all capital letters, but as you enter the headline, please use regular capitalization. If an article does not have a title, you can enter Untitled or you can create your own short, descriptive title. If you create your own descriptive title, enter it in brackets e.g. [Kappa Alpha Psi Week 2.0] Enter: Anniversary of Religious Organizations

Field #11: Byline

The Byline refers to the person who wrote the article.
In earlier newspapers, bylines were often not included. If there is no author, then leave the field blank. If more than one author is listed, enter them all (Last Name, First Name) and separate each author with a / symbol.

In this case, you would leave the Byline field blank.

Field #12: Lead

The Lead is the first paragraph of the article.

Enter: The final vesper service of this school year was held in Carrie Barge Chapel, Sunday, May 20, marking the beginning of the Commencement activities. The address was delivered by Reverend Robert B. McRae, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Hamlet, North Carolina. His address was based upon the subject - from the 25th chapter of Acts, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" - "The Getter and the Giver."

Field #13: Item Type

This field is used to describe the article. Sometimes, this is a subjective decision.
Choose from: Article Short article (no author) Advertisement House Advertisement (refers to a paper
referencing itself)

Correction Opinion (like an editorial, personal column,

letter to the editor)

Enter: Short article (no author)

Field #14: About Whom

This field is used to describe the primary subject of the article. Please choose one. Choose from: Students
Faculty Staff Coaches Alumni Organizations Other

Enter: Organizations

Field #15: Category

This field is used to describe general category the article falls into. You can choose between 1-3 terms as appropriate. The subject list is available online at http://www.aahgsnashville.org/hbcuproject /indexing-category-list/

Enter: Organizations, Religion

Field #15: Light

The mood and/or spirit in which the subjects of the article are shown. This too can be a subjective decision. Please choose one. Choose from: Beneficial Questionable/Negative Neutral

Enter: Neutral

Field #16: Photo

Does the article include a photo, chart, or other graphical element? Choose from Yes/No.

Enter: No

Field #17: Full-Text Link

Some of the newspapers included in this project are available online. Please put the URL to the paper. This paper is available online as part of the collection at DigitalNC.org. If you end up with a paper from this online collection, we will provide directions on how to locate the correct URL to use.

Enter: http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ newspapers/id/26345

Field #18: Keywords

Keywords will be the primary way site visitors will be able to search these articles. Please enter all proper nouns. Refer to the instructions at http://www.aahgsnashville.org/hbcuproject/ record-fields-instructions/ for more details.

Enter: Carrie Barge Chapel / McRae, Robert B. (Reverend) / Methodist Episcopal Church / Young Womans Christian Association / Auxillary of the Womans Home Missionary Society / Gamble, Maidie Ruth / Pickett, Addie / Phelps, Dorothy / Carrigan, Nettie / Colburne, Grace

Field #18: Places

Capturing any places mentioned in the article will aid in geographic searching. Please enter any cities explicitly mentioned in the article. After the city, enter the states two-letter abbreviation. Separate cities with the forward slash / symbol.

Enter: Hamlet, NC

Submitting Your Work

After you have completed your spreadsheet, please attach it to an email and send to: hbcuindexing@aahgsnashville.org

Questions
The indexing template available for download from the project website has this example record filled in to help guide you.
And, remember please do not hesitate to ask questions if you have any during the indexing process! hbcuindexing@aahgsnashville.org