Evidence and interpretation
How to read the Shamokin directories
The directories document who and what their publishers listed in particular editions. They are valuable historical evidence, but they are not complete censuses and they do not answer every question about a person, address, or organization.
What a listing means
A public result means that a typed entry passed the project’s publication checks and appeared in one of the six supplied directories. A first appearance is not an opening, birth, arrival, or founding date. A last appearance is not a closing, death, or departure date.
Printed and normalized wording
The project keeps printed wording separate from normalized forms used for discovery. Common street directions and types may be expanded for matching, while the public result retains the reviewed form tied to that directory edition. Historical occupation terms are described as directory wording, not silently modernized.
Identity and grouping
Shared names, surnames, occupations, or addresses do not by themselves prove identity or family relationship. Entries remain separate unless a reviewed canonical identifier supports grouping. Uncertain matches stay private for editorial review.
Source and privacy boundary
Public results use simple edition notes such as “From the 1895–97 Directory of Shamokin.” Source PDFs, raw OCR, scan-page references, confidence scores, crop coordinates, parser diagnostics, and private editorial notes are not published. Only tightly bounded, rights-documented artwork crops may appear publicly.
Corrections and memories
A correction or community memory is reviewed as a new assertion. It never overwrites source-derived wording automatically. The museum distinguishes directory evidence, later verified interpretation, personal recollection, and unresolved suggestion.