Basic Typing Instructions - Page 5

PROOFREADING - AND SPACING YOUR LIST

When you are finished, it is helpful to print a copy. this will help when proofreading. Check your list word by word. Don't do it when you're tired. Start from the bottom and go up, and vice versa. Go through it a couple of times, SLOWLY, and then see if you can get someone else to check for errors. Sometimes it's a good idea to leave it for a day. When you go back to it, you'll be amazed at the number of errors you'll see that you didn't see before.

Now that your list is done and you don't have to worry about deciphering those names, it is time to space out the list so that it lines up in columns. This can be easily done by making sure you are using a font that uses the same amount of space for each letter. There are several but if you do this in notepad you won't have to worry. Remember, these columns are NOT under any column headings. To begin spacing it out, go to the longest total name (that includes the number if there is one and the complete name of the passenger. You can do this easily by scrolling down your list, watching the names go by. Find the longest complete name, there should already be one space after it and then most likely that person's age is typed. Line up all the ages above and below that person's age. Not all age columns are the same. Some list ages in years and months, some list the ages of children in months, but line the numbers up so they make a neat column. You will now have a neat row of passenger names and a neat row of ages.

Next, find the longest age which is written in the age column you have just lined up. It may be a simple number like 48 and all the ages may be listed in whole numbers, or it could be something like 8 months, or 8 mos. All you have to do is fine the longest age. There should already be one space after it and then that person's sex will be typed. It will either be Male, Female, male, female, M, F, m or f. Occasionally the word infant has been typed in by you as it was recorded that way, or the word child may have been used. Find the longest word you have typed in the sex column, most likely it will be Female or Infant. Using that as your guide, line up all the other type written words in that column. When creating your columns, it is easier to keep all the first letters of that column lined up on the left. So, while Male is shorter than Female, the M and the F line up under each other.

Now that your names, ages and sexes are lined up, you once again find the longest word in the column, like I said, it might be Female and one space should already be between the word and the occupation. Then continue to line up all the occupations so they make neat columns. There will be more spaces between the word Male and his occupation than there will be between the word Female and her occupation. If the females on your list do not have any occupations listed, which is often the case, you are stuck with figuring out how many spaces to leave. Go to a Male, space three times and type the occupation and from there line up all the other occupations in a neat column. I know by now you are asking yourself why you didn't do all this spacing while you were typing your list. If you have a list that has more than 25 passengers, it is not likely you would be real successful. This is a mindless job, tedious and boring, and while typing your list you need to concentrate on deciphering, with that out of the way...you can space without worrying about a lot of other things. Also please remember when I say space...I am talking about using the space bar NOT the tab key.

Continue spacing your list by finding the longest occupation, some of the longer ones are housekeeper, photographer, coppersmith, confectionist and the longest I have seen was Railroad Engineer. Leave one space after the longest occupation and set the next column, usually it is the country to which they severally belong. Line up all the countries in this column. Again, find the longest country in that column, Switzerland may be one such longer country or it may well be United States of America as often citizens of the United States are on the same ship with immigrants. Leave one space following the longest country in that column once it is neatly lined up, and set the next column, usually the country in which they intend to become inhabitants. You continue on in the same manner, always using the longest word in the column you have just completed lining up as your guide to line up the next column...keep working until the entire list is spaced out.

If you have a list with 14 or 15 columns in it, or even as many as 33 columns, you will not be able to space it out like this. In that case, see either the Presidente Wilson or the Vaderland which is on the website in Volume 3 and use that as a guide...this type of paragraph formatting must be used with ships arriving in the 1900's.