Ron: No argument from me. My point to Graham was focused on the repetitive typing required if a Master Source is extremely generic like "Census," and on using Legacy's features to make source citation quicker. Whether you split at the country level, or by year, state/province, or go all the way down to the township level is up to the individual user. I wouldn't recommend extreme splitting any more than extreme lumping.
And although I do usually use SourceWriter templates myself and follow _EE_ as often as possible, I didn't recommend either of those to Graham, nor did I put any emphasis on source format--only on maximizing the features in the software. Kirsten -----Original Message----- From: Ron Ferguson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 5:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Sourcing Treatment for Obituaries Kirsten, Sure, it's possible to overdo lumping, it is also possible, in my view, to overdo splitting. I would hate to have to scan through all the 1911 censuses for the states of the USA., let alone those for every county, but I would not wish to stop anyone from working that way. I continue to hold the view that the method and format for sourcing an item should be that which the recorder is comfortable. If someone wishes to follow the EE style, then fine, but even Elizabeth Shown Mills accepts that there is no need to be 100% dogmatic about dotting all the "Is" and crossing all the "Ts". Where convenient I use Source Writer as a first preference, but for some items I still use the Basic Format if I find it more suitable for the way in which I wish to construct a source. If one is publishing in a professional paper, or the report is subject to peer review, then the situation may be different but most of us are not. To summarise, in my view, if the sourcing is accurate and, for the foreseeable future, will allow another person to find the item, and reads OK to the non-specialist, then that should be fine. I wish to spend my time researching rather than worrying too much about sourcing. Ron Ferguson _____________________________________________________ Now fully rewritten and revised: http://www.fergys.co.uk Includes the family tree for Alan J Grimshaw And the Fergusons of N.W. England ____________________________________________________ Kirsten Bowman wrote: > Graham: > > I think it's possible to overdo the lumping. A major benefit to > Legacy's system of two levels in the source record is in saving > repetitive typing and speeding the citation process. If your Master > Source is simply "Census," for example, then you must re-type all of > the information (country, year, state/province, etc.) every time you > cite a source. On the other hand, if you have several ancestors who > lived in the same general area at the same time you can have a Master > Source for the 1911 Census for Ontario, Canada (or even break it down > by county). In that case you enter that information only once, then > simply use the prepared Master Source and enter the details for the > specific family via the Source Clipboard. > > My database of roughly 7,000 names contains over 500 sources but > they're very easy to locate by using a system of grouping. Every > census Master Source begins with the year. This causes them to sort > first so I only have to type "1911" to go to the proper area of the > Master Source List. Every book that I cite has "book" before the > title in the Source List Name field so all of the book titles are > grouped together and sorted alphabetically by title. I use similar > grouping codes for birth, marriage, and death records although these > could also be grouped under "Vitals" by using that term (or just a > "v") as the first letter in the Source List Name. > > Kirsten > > -----Original Message----- > From: Graham [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 1:33 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Sourcing Treatment for Obituaries > > > I am trying to do the same as Doris. When I came to Legacy from FTM, I > realised that I had over 500 different Master sources, so scrolling > through them all to find the one I wanted for a new entry was very > annoying. I am down to about 300 now and wont be happy until I have > them down to about one page. My Master sources are simply, Newspaper, > Certificate, Census, BDM index, External tree, etc, and then the > Details explain which Census, who's External tree, what Newspaper, > etc, etc. I like to keep things simple and yet explain where my > information came from in an adequate manner for my needs and those > that follow me. > > Graham > 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
