How is a symbol treated when it is part of a name for indexing purposes?

When a symbol is part of a name for indexing purposes, it is indexed as if it were spelled out. This means that the symbol's presence affects how the name is processed and categorized in an indexing system. For example, if a name includes an ampersand (&), that symbol is treated as if it were the word "and." This approach ensures that searches for names containing symbols yield relevant results, maintaining consistency in how indexing systems recognize and retrieve information.

The other choices do not accurately reflect how indexing systems handle symbols in names. Ignoring the symbol would lead to a loss of important information in the name. Encoding might apply to different contexts, such as computer processing, but it is not the standard practice for name indexing. Noting the symbol but not indexing it would create potential gaps in retrieval capabilities, which indexing aims to avoid by providing thorough and consistent indexing practices.