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.FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
(Illinois)
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{ FEB 9 1942 j
V J
LlER A^
PROFESSIONAL & SERVICE DIVISION
RESEARCH & RECORDS SECTION
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE
- INDEXING OF SPECIAL ORDINANCES
The instructions for the Indexing of Special Ordinances,
herein contained, should be carefully studied by each worker.
They have been prepared with the objective of giving the
worker a good basic knowledge of the fundamentals necessary
to do an efficient job of Indexing Special Ordinances. The
efficient worker will carefully digest these instructions, but
will bear in mind, however, that he will be required to exer¬
cise a great deal of personal judgment, and hard and fast rou¬
tine should not be allowed to nullify the fundamental principle
of providing a satisfactory indexing system for the Co-Sponsor.
June 24, 1940
VARIOUS STEPS IN INDEXING SPECIAL ORDINANCES
1. Locating Special Ordinances.
2. Numbering Ordinances.
3. Separating Special and General Ordinances
4. Listing Location of Special and General Ordinances separately
on Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and Special
Ordinances.
5. Verification of Completed Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating
General and Special Ordinances.
6. Transcription of Original Records.
7. Filing of Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and Special
Ordinances, for future use.
8. Verification of Transcription and Preparation of Rough Draft.
9- Editing of Rough Draft and Preparation of Final Draft.
10. Typing of Cards.
11. Verification of Transcription to Cards.
12. Assembling and filing completed cards.
13. Summarization of work.
14. Miscellaneous.
VARIOUS STEPS IN LOCATING
AND
INDEXING SPECIAL ORDINANCES
1. Locating Special Ordinances
Special Ordinances are to be found in the Ordinance Record Book, if one
is maintained by the municipality, in the Record of Proceedings of the
City Council or in loose form in the files of the City Clerk. "Where
Ordinances are included in the Record of Proceedings, care should be
taken not to include Resolutions, Petitions and other types of Proceed¬
ings with Special Ordinances.
2. Numbering Ordinances
All Ordinances passed by the municipality are to be numbered, and this
number used at all times to identify the particular ordinance. If, in
preparation of Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and Special
Ordinances, as outlined in Step No. 4» it is noted that there is a gap
in the numbering of Ordinances, the City Clerk and Attorney should be
informed of this omission and an effort made to locate the missing or¬
dinance.
Where the Ordinances are not numbered, it will be necessary to obtain
permission from the City Clerk and City Council to number all ordinances.
When this permission has been granted all of the Ordinances are numbered
consecutively according to the date of passage, and this number used on
all work.
3• Separating Special and General Ordinances
In order that the worker can separate General and Special Ordinances,
it is necessary that he is thoroughly familiar with the two types.
A. A General Ordinance deals with rules of conduct prescribed for
and affecting the residents of the municipality at large and is
of a permanent nature. Examples of General Ordinances are those
controlling traffic, establishing rules of conduct for the
citizens, merchants and factories in the municipality,, prescrib¬
ing for the salaries and duties of the Officials and departments
in the City Government and controlling the activity and construction
of Public Utilities on City Streets and Alleys.
B. A Special Ordinance deals with such rules of conduct which affect
only a number of the residents of the municipality and is of a
temporary nature. Special Ordinances provide for Paving of Streets
and Sidewalks, Franchises to Public Utilities, Sale or Purchase of
City Property, Annexation or Disconnection of Subdivisions, etc.
In cases of doubt, as to whether an Ordinance is a General or Spe¬
cial Ordinance the Attorney representing the municipality should
be consulted.
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One person should read all Ordinances and distinguish between General
and Special Ordinances by the use of appropriate markings. A General
Ordinance should be marked "G" and a Special Ordinance marked "S" .
4. Listing Location of General Ordinances and Special Ordinances Separately
on Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and Special Ordinances.
Under Column (l) of Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and Spe¬
cial Ordinances, hereto attached, and marked Exhibit "F", enter the
number of the general ordinance located.
Under Column (2) enter the date of the passage of the general ordinance.
Under Column (3) enter the number of the book wherein the general
ordinance is found. If the general ordinance is found in loose form,
make the entry "loose" in this column.
Under Column (4) enter the number of the page or pages of the book in
which the general ordinance appears.
Under Columns (5) to (8) inclusive, for "Record of Special Ordinances,"
entries analogous to those made under Columns (l) to (4), inclusive,
should be made.
Great care must be taken to make sure that all Ordinances which have
been located, have been listed on Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating
General and Special Ordinances. Use as many of said forms as are
necessary for this purpose, seeing to it, however, that each form is
numbered, and all forms, when completed, are fastened together. Entries
may be typewritten or printed in long-hand with an indelible pencil.
All entries are to be chronologically listed.
5• Verification of Completed Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General
and Special Ordinances.
After all Ordinances have been listed on the Work Sheet for Locating
General and Special Ordinances, entries should be checked with the
Ordinance Record, to make certain that all entries shown are correct
and that no Ordinance has been omitted.
6. Transcription of Original Records.
The first step involved in indexing Special Ordinances, is to analyze,
condense and transcribe the various items in the records, onto paper,
Form 10-5, Index for Special Ordinances. See Exhibit "G" hereto at¬
tached.
Each item must be considered on its own merits, and to insure the
correct analysis of such items, it is important that the transcriber
read through each one with great care, giving particular attention to
its constituent elements.
As the transcriber cannot attempt to index any item until he thoroughly
understands what is to be indexed, he may find it necessary to read an
item through two or more times before its true significance becomes
apparent.
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After the transcriber is confident he is correctly interpreting the
item, he shall make his entries on Form 10-5, Index for Special Ordi
nances, (Exhibit "G").
Entries to be made on said Form, (Exhibit "G"):-
a. Subject.
The subject is that to which the item refers or
actually concerns.
b. Type of Special Ordinance.
The type of Special Ordinance is indicated generally
by the title or the subject matter and must be one
of those shown on Exhibit "I", Page number 12.
c. Ordinance Date.
Ordinance Date refers to the date the Special Ordi¬
nance was passed.
d. Ordinance Number.
Ordinance Number refers to the number of the Special
Ordinance.
e. Book Number.
Book Number refers to the number of the book in which
the Special Ordinance or item appears.
f. Page Number.
Page Number refers to the page in the book in which the
item appears.
g. Scope Note.
Any pertinent information, not found in the title, but
necessary to complete the Indexing information, is placed
in this space. If the title gives complete information,
then it is not necessary to insert anything in this space.
h. Title of Ordinance.
It is necessary to insert in this space the complete title
of the Special Ordinance. The title will vary in length, in
some cases filling two or more cards. However, in most
cases the title of Special Ordinances will comprise only the
first paragraph of the Ordinance. The worker should watch
the title closely to be sure the full title is transcribed.
i. Whenever it is necessary to fill out two or more index cards
on the same subject, the numbers of such index cards should
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be typed in the upper right-hand corners thereof, as, for
example, "Card 1 of 3»" "Card 2 of 3»" etc.
7. Filing of Form 10-1, Work Sheet for Locating General and^Sltlftlftl
Ordinances, for future use.
After all of the entries shown on Forms 10-1, Work SheatK Locating
General and Special Ordinances, under the column "Record Cf fecial
Ordinances" have been referred to, in the indexing of &fsedial Ordi¬
nances, on Form 10-5, Index for Special Ordinances (Exhibit *G"), and
these forms checked to make certain that no Ordinances hai/e been
omitted, the Forms 10-1 are filed in some convenient plade for future
reference.
8. Verification of Transcription and Preparation of Rough Draft.
After the items have been transcribed onto paper, (see Exhibit "G")
they must be checked with the original records to verify the tran¬
scriptions. The check preferably should be made by someone other
than original transcriber -
The worker performing this phase of the work, should, in addition to
checking the accuracy of the transcription, give particular attention
to the interpretation thereof. This completed form is then considered
a rough draft.
9 - Editing of Rough Draft and Preparation of Final Draft.
In this phase of the work, the rough draft is carefully edited with
particular attention being given to grammatical construction and proper
interpretation of the item. The item is also given its proper classi¬
fication number, which is determined by the title or subject matter in
accordance with the classifications shown on Page 12. The classifica¬
tion number is placed in the upper left hand corner of the card. (See
Form 10-5, Index for Special Ordinances, Exhibit "G" hereto attached.)
Upon completion of this phase of the work the rough draft is considered
a final draft, complete in every detail with the exception of being
typed on cards and properly filed. (See Exhibit "G" hereto attached.)
10. Typing of Cards.
The final draft is then transcribed to a Card (See Exhibit "H") by the
typist including all information exactly as on the final draft, and
submitted to Research Checkers for comparison with original transcrip¬
tion on paper, (Exhibit "G").
11. Verification of Transcription to Cards.
Completed Cards are then carefully rechecked with the final draft to
insure accuracy of transcription.
12. Assembling and Filing Completed Cards.
The completed cards are then assembled according to their correct
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classification numbers and. grouped alphabetically, according to
subject matter, under their respective classifications.
13• Summarization of Work.
The completed file will then be an accurate Index of the various
Special Ordinances and ready for presentation to the Co-Sponsor for
future public use.
14* Miscellaneous.
Each phase of the indexing procedure should, upon completion, be
presented to the Unit Foreman for approval.
Each phase of the project must be conducted with an intelligent re¬
gard for its relation to the project as a whole, with the primary
objective of rendering the utmost possible service to the Co-Sponsor-
Efficient indexing makes immediately accessible all material that is
indexed. To make "Finding" sure and easy, all items must be correctly
analyzed and properly classified.
Checking contents of each form and comparing transcribed forms with
the originals is an activity designed to insure accuracy. It must be
constantly borne in mind that the usefulness of the index will depend
entirely on the correct analysis and proper classification of the
various items.
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FORM IO-l
EXHI3IT "F"
WORK SHEET FOR LOCATING GENERAL AND SPECIAL ORDINANCES
Record of General Ordinances Record of Special Ordinances
ill {£} (3) (4) 15) (&) (7) (8)
Ordinance
No.
Ordinance
Date
Book
No.
Page
Ordinance
No.
Ordinance
Date
Book
No.
Page
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FORM IO-5
EXHIBIT "G*
INDEX FOR SPECIAL ORDINANCES
SAMPLE FORM TO BE USED
Sample Data Collection Form For
Indexing of Special Ordinances.
City of
, Illinois
(Classification
Number)
INDEX FOR
RECORDING SPECIAL ORDINANCES
SUBJECT
Type of
Ordinance
Ordinance
Book
Page
Ordinance
Date
Number
No.
No.
Scope Note
Title of Special
Ordinance
Data Collection Forms are prepared on paper,
5x8 inches in size.
Index cards contain the same information as
Data Collection Forms, hut they are prepared
on cardboard.
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FORM IO-5
EXHIBIT "H"
INDEX FOR SPECIAL ORDINANCES
SAMPLE OF COMPLETED CARD
5
City of
, Illinois
(Classification
Number) INDEX FOR RECORDING SPECIAL
ORDINANCES
SUBJECT
Automobile
Gasoline Company
Type of
Ordinance
Ordinance
Date
Ordinance
Number
Book
No.
Page
No.
Scope Note
Contracts
2/6/22
1293
4
255
Right to con¬
struct Filling
Station, Lots
5-6, Christy
Place
Title of Special Ordinance
An Ordinance granting authority to the Automobile Gasoline Company, a
corporation organized and doing business under the laws of the State of
Illinois, to erect, maintain and operate a gasoline filling station.
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EXHIBIT "Ih
LIST OF TYPES OF SPECIAL ORDINANCES
Type No.
1. Acquisition of Property
2. Appropriations
3« Bonds
4. Bridges
5. Contracts
6. Disposition of Property
7. Easements (Sewers)
8. Easements (Streets)
9- Franchises
10. Hospitals
11. Local Improvements (Alleys)
12. Local Improvements (Sewers)
13. Local Improvements (Sidewalks)
14. Local Improvements (Streets)
15 • Opening Streets
16. Plats
l?. Tax Levies
18. Vacating Alleys
19. Vacating Sidewalks
20. Vacating Streets
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