Hi James, Here are a few examples that I have, similar to yours and how I deal with these tidbits.
One is from a history that was put together by a relative about a great-grandmother. Here is my example for that: ORAL TIDBITS, HISTORY, INTERVIEWS: "Agnes says that at one time Emily lived in Cobbleskill, New York - a mountainous area. Once, when Emily was sitting on her front porch with her baby, Mary Ellen, in her arms, a flash flood washed them away. The baby drowned, but Emily was found later - alive, and hanging by her hair from a tree. The family said that Emily was never the same after that. Agnes remembers her as a strange acting old lady who always wore a bandage on her hand." Say this is written by Ruth Smith. Right now I have this added in the "Notes" section for Emily only (not Mary Ellen), because for me, I want to verify more information first. But it can also be added as an Event, which I might create as "Flood" since many in history experienced floods that were quite devastating and it might not be the first time I find that type of fact for a person. Then I create a source in the "Master Source List" for "Personal Knowledge" and use Ruth Smith. I add that source to the "Source Clipboard." Then, whether you decide to add the information to your "Notes" or to an "Event" that you create, you can attach the source you just created to either one. When the "Citation Detail" screen pops up, there is a spot for adding who this person is and you can put something like, "Ruth Smith is this relationship to so and so". I like doing this for a few reasons: 1. If the story/tidbit from that person is about more than one individual, it allows you to add that person as a source for other information as well. (Say Ruth also provided me with some names and dates in a conversation, aside from the history she provided in notes). 2. Since the template is already there in SourceWriter (Personal Knowledge), I find it works well for lots of tidbits I get from various relatives. You can also "rate" the source (Surety Levels) which works well for something like personal knowledge, which can vary from person to person in truthfulness. 3. Using "Personal Knowledge" template works for interviews, oral histories, written histories from relatives, names and dates we get from relatives that we want to remember where we got the information. 4. By having a field where I can comment about who the source is or their relationship to the individual, it also clues me in on how reliable the source might be. EMAILS For emails, there is a source template (using SourceWriter) called "Emails". I use it for that type of correspondence since it allows for a subject line and date entry, which helps me find the email later if I want to refer to it. I can also enter the text of the email in the text section and decide whether or not to have it print in reports. For me personally, at first I did not enter any relatives as a "source" when I received tidbits. Which in a way, now that I think about it, was sort of silly for me, since I realize that these people ARE in fact sources. :) Then later when I saw dates, places or other facts (not just necessarily notes), I wondered where I received those facts and had to go back over all my old work (still in that process). Now that I use the "personal knowledge" and "email" templates, I can EASILY refer to wherever I received any information on someone. I hope this is helpful :) Angelique Welch James Cook wrote: > I'm talking about the tidbits of information handed down in legends, > sent in emails, or flow out of interviews? Things like Grandpa Moses > lived in a river boat on the river, or Great Aunt Sally dated Jesse > James, or whatever. The stuff that puts some life into all the facts > we collect. I've been toying with the idea of a custom event for > this, and I was going with one I wanted to call "Fun Facts", but I've > decided everything is not fun - like a triple killing in my tree. > And, of course, the 'fact' part is questionable. It may be a fact > that this story was often told, but the story itself may not be a > fact. Anyway, I'm looking for some ideas for how to do this. > > In the case of an event, I was thinking I could use an entry format in > the notes section like so > > "When I was a boy, we had rocks to play with, and we liked it!" - > Uncle Joe [Joe Doe 1847-1911] > > 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
