Fred,
I think that the 'indexed' portion can only be hoped for in a Verkartung of any kind. Normally and per the various references the task goes back to the record transcription onto cards. One could expect that these cards were then sortable but isn't that another whole process?
In principle you are correct, Fred. But in the US I have rarely seen a card transcription that wasn't sorted. Sorting is the purpose after all. Normally one would sort the cards during transcription. That is, one would file Schulz under S as soon as one wrote the Schulz card. Also, many card transcriptions are sorted by having multiple transcriptions on a single card, each corresponding to an individual or family. This is a form of sorting that can't be undone and saves cards to boot. Of course, the Germans may do things differently. :-) -- =Jim Eggert EggertJ@LL.mit.edu