Hi Kirsten I realise that I have come into this "debate" late in the piece, but would like to make one point - it is a distinct advantage to use software in the way it was anticipated. Mainly so that the little twists and nuances included by the programmer/writer to make the software friendly and slick also suit you. But also to improve compatibility with later versions of the program and if you change to a different supplier. Not to mention GEDCOM compatibility! I am not saying you have to use software only as anticipated, but until you are as familiar as the programmer/writer, then there is a risk to you.
In the context of your question, I think the anticipated use is: * event is the thing that happened to the person * source is your evidence or reason for thinking that it happened thus. My thoughts on a census - it is an event insofar as a person was at a place on a date (residence, visitor, work) - but usually a source for other detail. Cheers, Brett ----- Original Message ----- I follow the logic in both Ron's and Jenny's arguments, and theirs may be one of those situations where there is no "right way," but it's missing the point of the original question. Along with the full source citation, I've chosen to transcribe the text from the record as it appears using the Text/Comments field for that purpose. In reports, this text appears in a paragraph below the core citation. My question is this: What is the benefit to creating an Event to display the information (with the record and location being the source for that Event) rather than simply having the text included with the source citation? I realize that this won't convert to a narrative (but don't care), and that it won't create a timeline (I do those differently anyway), but are there other reasons for creating a list of Events? Kirsten -----Original Message----- Jenny M Benson wrote: > Ron Ferguson wrote >> I *never* create Census Events for the simple reason that the Source >> would duplicate the Event. My Events comprise the information which I >> got from the census, eg. residence, occupation and maybe even name, >> date of birth etc. The census itself is only the source. > > On the other hand, I think one can argue (I would!) that "X was > enumerated in the nnnn Census of ..." is an Event/Fact and one could > even say it was a Fact (1) that "X gave the following information to > the Census Enumerator ..." and the Enumerator's Book is the Source > for that Event/Fact. > > (1) Using the word "Fact" in the sense that Legacy uses it, rather > than meaning an absolute and undeniable truth, knowing as we do that > Census Enumerators were prone to make errors, misread handwriting, > etc! Yes Jenny, I did did pick the census quite deliberately, because there are definitely the two ways of looking at it. Both are, in my view, perfectly valid. Indeed, one could muddy the waters even further by suggesting that even the enumerator's book is only a record of what has been transcribed from a census form submitted to the household and completed by anyone who could write, or from verbal information given to the enumerator. The address and sex are, however, likely to be correct, the rest as we both know, can be a load of rubbish. This example does, however, serve to illustrate the differences between Sources and an Events. If I remember correctly "Fact" was only recently introduced into the Legacy 'definitions', certainly in the last 5 years following representations from those who moved from another program, prior to that they had simply been known as Events. After that little diversion, the important thing, I believe, is for each of us to decide which way round we would wish to define the Source and Event, but above all recognise that one cannot have a Source without an Event(/Fact), and vice versa. A Source must be a source for something and the knowledge of an Event(/Fact) must have come from somewhere. My main point was, of course, that they cannot be one and the same. As I said, I choose not to have a Census Event because, for me, there would be far too much duplication in the records. Ron Ferguson Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
