The Daily Record Index Project - January 2011 Update

I thought it might be of interest if I posted an update to our Indexing of the Daily Record, as mentioned before.

The project is currently being worked on by myself and John Houston - I am working through the editions for 1915 and John is working on 1917. John had initially started from August 1914, but technical difficulties with the microfilm for the latter months of 1914 meant we had to put those months on hold for the time being. We are both putting off working on 1916 - we reckon that's going to be the hardest year to index due to the number of entries around July/August time...

So far we have indexed nine months of the First World War - there are many months still to go, but we're getting there! Already so far those nine months have yielded over 4,500 entries. This is an impressive figure, and when you consider that we haven't covered such periods as the Battles of Loos and the Somme (where the number of entries are expected to increase in number) there will clearly be a large number of entries when the project is completed.

I have been asked what exactly what information we're indexing - we take a note of the Name, Rank and Unit of the individual. If the date of his death is mentioned, we include that also. We note the date of the newspaper, and which page the entry appears on, and whether there is a photograph or not. Finally, we include any minor details such as if the man was killed/wounded/missing, or if they were awarded a decoration.

The entries we index are mostly short paragraphs giving information provided by families. We don't include either the official casualty lists or awards from the London Gazette - these are available elsewhere and there is no further information to be found in the newspaper.

The information can be found in various sections - usually there is a page containing several entries provided by families, but the sports section will also contain some entries as a local football player may enlist or be reported killed or wounded. There is also curiously a company selling a medicine which uses photographs of serving servicemen to advertise their product - since the advert has a photo and mentions the name and unit of the man, we include them!

Timescale? We haven't set one, and we don't plan to. We'll finish when we finish. Obviously, the more people working on the project would mean it was available sooner. Hint hint...

The intention at the moment is to complete the index up to and including November 1918, but we will check the next few months to see if the entries continue. If they do, we may continue until we decide to stop.

Going back to that hint from before, we are always looking for volunteers. It's not exactly exciting work, but it can be interesting, and you do get a sense of achievement when you complete a section. If you'd like to get involved, please do get in touch with us.

2010 Review of the Year

As we approach the end of 2010, we decided to look back on some of the projects the Research Group has worked on, and to look forward to what 2011 may bring.

Our primary project, the Scottish War Memorials Project has continued to add new memorials and additional information throughout the year. As time goes by, the number of “new” memorials to be added has diminished, but there is always information to be added, and new memorials do continue to be found. The number of civic memorials added to the project is something we can feel justifiably proud of, and our focus in the future will be to add memorials from other sources such as churches, places of work and school/colleges.

Memorials continue to make news headlines, and a recent story in the Courier newspaper was cause for cautious celebration, as the memorial to the men of Mains, located in Caird Park in Dundee will hopefully undergo restoration and relocation in 2011. The members of the Research Group can feel some small amount of pride in this, as it was our initial discovery of the condition of the memorial, and our highlighting it to both the media and local interested parties were the opening stages of what has proven to be a long and complicated process. Hopefully the end of the tunnel is in sight for this much neglected memorial.

Our War Graves Project also continued this year, with new grave photographs added on a regular basis. I will admit that I personally have let my involvement in this project slip as I have worked on other things, but 201 will see me attempting to take a more active interest in this project.

Several members of the Research Group spent a lot of time and effort this year working with the University of Edinburgh on a website concentrating on the efforts of people from Edinburgh and the Lothians during the First World War. The Edinburgh’s War website went live in October this year and has been a great success. 2011 should see more work on the website – watch this space!

Looking at our own projects, the Roll of Honour for the city of Glasgow has lain dormant for a little while, but only last week we were able to launch the first batch of surnames from the transcription. 2011 will see us continue to work on this, with a hopefully second batch being released in the spring.

Another new project, the indexing of the Daily Record for the Great War, has been progressing well. I have been working on the issues from 1915 and John Houston has been indexing those from 1917. Between the two of us we now have almost 12 months of indexing completed, and next year will see that work continue. To see a glimpse of how the complete index will look, we recently showcased the index for January 1915. We're always looking for people to assist with the indexing - if you think you can help, please get in touch!

This year also saw this blog making more of an impact – when I started it in late 2008 I saw it as a method of getting news, research items of interest, and articles “out there” where they might be of interest. I’d like to think that now we’ve finally got the correct balance of news items and our own articles –long may this continue into next year and beyond. We’re also hoping that next year will see more “guest authors” writing for the blog – got something to say? Let us know and we’ll post it here!

The final new development was the launch of our Facebook page – I’ve been using Facebook for a while now, and it seemed a sensible move to create a page for the SMRG – early days yet, but fingers crossed it can grow into a useful hub for information.

So…that was 2010. I’ve made mention of a few things in store for next year, but who knows what’s round the corner? I hope you’ll stay with us to see what crops up!

The SMRG Advent Calendar - Day 3

Today's a special day for the Advent Calendar, as we present a little something of interest to researchers.

I've posted before about the indexing of the Daily Record. What I haven't done is let anyone see the work so far.

Well, as a special early Christmas present, I present the first sneak peek at the work so far.

What you have here is the Index for January 1915. Only a little file, but hopefully enough to whet your appetite. Enjoy!

Daily Record Indexing Project, 1914-1918

For several weeks now I have devoted my Tuesday evenings to the selfless task of indexing the Daily Record from the years of the First World War from the microfilm copies at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

I have recently been joined in this task by John Houston and he’s a much appreciated addition to the team as the names needing to be indexed in each paper is getting steadily longer the further I get into the editions from 1915.

My aim is to produce a database similar to the one currently being created by the staff of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow for the Glasgow Evening Times and I hope that when it is finished the Daily Record Index is online and as freely available as the Evening Times Index which can be viewed here.

Newspapers can be an invaluable source of information, particularly in terms of First World War casualties, where the information in the paper will often flesh out a bare-bones “Killed in Action” entry in an official record.

I am currently plodding through 1915 and John has started on the 1917 papers. This is a mammoth task and both of us would appreciate any help we can get with the work. You don’t need to be based in Glasgow – the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh also contains microfilm of the Daily Record, so any East-coasters can get involved too!

Please contact me via scottishwarmemorials@hotmail.co.uk if you are able to help.

We'll also keep you updated on our progress via this blog.