Mary, FTM (Family Tree Maker) assigns a number to each entry. I don't pay too much attention to the numbers. When printing a report or chart (descendent/ancestor/etc.) a number is assigned (by the program). #1 is the person with whom you begin. If the report is about me, I am #1. #2 is my father, #3 is my mother. My paternal grandfather is #4, paternal grandmother is #5. Maternal grandfather is #6, maternal grandmother is #7. The pattern is to double the male ancestor and double, plus 1 for the female ancestor. This happens automatically in FTM. I know that Shirley uses her numbering system in a different way. She will have to explaine how hers works. One thing I have done is to write IN ALL CAPS the people who are direct ancestors and their siblings, etc. in Regular Type. This helps me know immediately when I look in the index if someone is a direct line or not. It has saved me time when I am trying to match a name. The other thing I have done is to file my index by first name. I have found that the non-existent naming tradition for Portuguese I have researched makes it very time consuming to try to find a name in my large index. By using first names (for the most part) I have better success knowing that a "Manuel" may have different surnames (depending on what he was calling himself at the time) and looking at each Manuel is a lot easier than going from one surname to another in the index. All the Manuel's are in alpha order in one place. Hope this helps, Celeste Celeste Perry [email protected]
--- On Wed, 2/1/12, Mary Kent <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mary Kent <[email protected]> Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Numbering systems for family records To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 1:52 PM This doesn't just concern Azores research, but I'd love to hear about systems or rules people use for their family history records. Does it make sense to assign a unique number to each individual that is added or to only use numbers (e.g. ahnentafel system) when creating a report for a specific branch of the family? What are good references for organizing family history records? I use Reunion (for Macs) and am still learning about its features. Thanks! Mary K --To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
