Following are two sample entries from the index:
| Name | Smith, George Albert | |
| Birth/Death | 26 Jun 1817 – 1 Sep 1875 | |
| Sources | p.5 Photo p.5 | |
| v.4, p.35-39 | ||
| v.7, p.75 v.14, p.196 v.22, p.791 | ||
| Name | Smith, George Albert | |
| Birth/Death | 1842 – 1860 | |
| @ p.320 | ||
Entries list the name, birth and death date information as they appear in the source being indexed. The sources are indicated by an abbreviation followed by a volume and page number indicating specific location of the biographical sketch. Abbreviation codes are listed following the preface of this index with full bibliographic information on the book the abbreviation stands for. The "@" sign indicates that only sketchy biographical information is available for the source. Photo" is listed when a photograph is available and the appropriate page number for the photograph is given.
Titles and other appellations to names (e.g., Jr., Sr., III, Judge, etc.) were removed since in the computer sort they acted as middle names and took such names out of proper alphabetical sequence. Names are sorted by birth and death date. Because different sources provide various amounts of information or conflicting dates, several entries may appear under a name. However, biographies of a single individual should still fall in the same sequence.
All sources indexed in this volume are located in the Brigham Young University. Biographies appearing in unpublished manuscripts were not indexed. The extensive manuscript collections in college and university libraries in Utah, as well as the Utah State Historical Society, the LDS Church Historical Department and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers library may also be valuable to researchers in addition to this volume.