Goal #3 'Make a concentrated effort to source every fact as I add it to my software program.' has received a lot of my time the last two weeks. I decided to take this goal a step further and looked at all my sources to make sure they were in good order.
I use Roots Magic for my genealogy software program. I have been watching the wonderful webinars that Roots Magic has offered. One of the webinars was on "Sources, Citations and Documentations with Roots Magic". One of the things mentioned was when sources are imported from another program they may need to be converted, individually to fit Roots Magic templates. Earlier in my research, I used PAF as my program. This got me thinking about my sources from the data I imported from PAF.
I decided to run a report to see how many facts I did not have sourced. To do this in Roots Magic, follow these steps:
- Click on the printer icon.
- Select "Lists", then "Fact List"
- Click on "Create Report"
- From drop down menu under "Create a list of:", select "Facts without Sources"
- Choose People to include "Everyone", or you can select individuals, groups, etc.
- Generate report
What happened to the other two facts? I couldn't find a source, so I deleted the information. I know this may be extreme but I wanted to have a fully sourced tree. I did write a note about the unsourced information and added that fact to my to do list in Roots Magic.
I am so glad I spent the time to get my sources in order. Plus, it is a good lesson for me. Now, I make sure I fully source each piece of information as I add it to my database. I only wish I had realized the importance of this when I first started out.
I believe I joined you in those webinars, and what a blessing they have been. Not sure about doing a list like you, because I already know I'm missing a lot, plus, with 40,000 names, I might just faint when I see the list! So, on that note, I admire you for getting it done correctly.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I really enjoy the webinars, too Wow! 40,000 names, I don't think I will ever have that many.
ReplyDeleteYou will, remember I got a earlier start.
ReplyDelete