Kirsten, Just to clarify, my response was not intended as a critisism of your post, but was really an extrapolation from a specific to my own general perspective. I often think that too many of us get bogged down in the minutiea of sourcing at the expense of thorough research, and verification using multiple sourcing.
Personally I would prefer to see an event sourced more than once, even if a bit sloppily, rather than once, by a perfectly formed presentation. I don't expect everyone, nor necessarily even anyone, to agree, and again, I make the point that I am not referring to those who write reports professionally, or where a peer review will be required. Ron Ferguson _____________________________________________________ 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: > 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
