Indexes
Page Content
Indexes
provide
abstracted information and instructions to find
individuals, subjects
and places within a record or across many records. Many bound volumes have attached indexes, for example, probate journals and marriage records. Other records, such as death certificates, can be accessed by means of direct alphabetical indexes on microfilm.
Some indexes, such as many
federal censuses, use the Soundex alphanumeric coding. The reference room library has many indexes compiled by volunteers
and donated by organizations. Some indexes are available in the
Online Resources section.
There are two sets of index cards in the west alcove of the reference room.
First Set of Index Cards
The first set includes thousands of cards that index and abstract the following:
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Oregon provisional and territorial government records, 1837-1859. The largest group of records indexed. In this example, the "Doc. no." (document number) refers to a number stamped on each document during the cataloging process. The documents are accessible on numerically arranged microfilm.
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Oregon Supreme Court case files, 1855-1904
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Oregon Defense Council personal military service records, 1917-1918
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Oregon soldiers home patient histories, 1894-1933
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Oregon State Treasurer quarterly reports of estates, 1903-1913 (probate)
Second Set of Index Cards
These cards index
information from the Oregon Military Department and its predecessor, the Oregon Militia. Service records of thousands of individuals from a 100 year period are abstracted.
The
example below is an entry related to an Oregonian who served in World War I. The cards document actions related to military service from the 1850s Indian Wars through the 1950s Korean War. Many
cards refer to muster rolls or enlistment and service records. The Oregon State Archives has a large group of records from the Oregon Military Department and
related records from the Veterans' Affairs Department and
counties.
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