Carol, I think it is important to have consistent criteria to determine surety settings and that these should be based on the use to which the surety settings will be put. In my case, I've set up some simple criteria which I can then apply consistently, and which provide guidance on where I should put my efforts to strengthen the evidence:
Surety Values- 4: Primary Source (e.g. birth date and name on Birth Certificate); 3: High Credibility Secondary Source (e.g. Name and birth date in official index of BDM; secondary information on a Primary Source, such as parents' names on birth certificate); verbal primary source. 2: Indirect secondary source, credible but not reliable as evidence; 1: Indirect source of unproven or unlikely credibility; guess based on some logic; 0: source is probably wrong, or is just a guess. Note that as Legacy only applies Surety at the source detail level, it is not easy to assign this based on the weight of other evidence supporting this source. I determine the surety solely on the source detail under consideration. For my direct lines I strive for 4. For all other lines if I have 3, I'm happy. There are two conflicting needs with sources. In order to guide your research it is important that every relevant source is referenced. However, for publication for the family (or for other uses as Elizabeth has described) only the most credible source should be included. This can be managed by using the "Add this detail to the Source Citation in Reports" checkbox on the Source Detail screen. Not sure if this can be applied to exports though. I am not sure that my use of the terms "Primary" and "Secondary" sources above is strictly correct, and am interested in the definitions you've provided above. Although I've not found the need for more rigour in this area, I'm finding this discussion thought provoking, and would be interested in others' views. However, I would really like a "-1" setting to specifically identify sources that are incorrect! This is important to avoid revisting old ground. On 5/29/05, Carol Byers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > When evaluating evidence there are three things you need to consider: > 1. Source (Original or Derivative) > 2. Information (Primary or Secondary) > 3. Type of evidence (Direct of Indirect) > > The best evidence comes from an Original Source, with Primary Information, > and has Direct Evidence. The weakest evidence comes from a Derived Source, > that contains Secondary Information, and the Evidence is Indirect is > Indirect. > > It would be nice if there was a way to quantify evidence and give it a > surety number? Has any one considered this, and developed a formula based > on Legacy's surety levels? > > Also, the "Surety Level" should not be based on one piece of evidence, but > should be weighted on the number and quality of the evidence sources? > > Any thoughts? > > Carol > Elk Grove, CA Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
