Best way to record sources?

[Atholie]

I have never worked out the best way to record sources that share a common component. Eg recording BDM - they all have the BDM by state, then the index number and the name of the person but I have ended up with hundreds of BDM entries in the source list and have to scroll down them all to get to them ones I want. Is there a better way to complete the source entries?

[Michael Talibard]

Re: Best way to record sources?

I have never worked out the best way to record sources that share a common component. Eg recording BDM - they all have the BDM by state, then the index number and the name of the person but I have ended up with hundreds of BDM entries in the source list and have to scroll down them all to get to them ones I want. Is there a better way to complete the source entries?

For what it's worth, here is an extract from my source list. Under what circumstances do you have to "scroll down them all"? I do this only once for each, i.e. when creating it, and it's not that hard. I find the nearest lookalike to what I want to add, then I duplicate and amend. Then I cite that source wherever appropriate. Thereafter, if I want to see it, I get to it from a citation, not from the list.

[tinksquared]

Re: Best way to record sources?

I create generic source template. For example, the Texas Death Index.

Then per person, I input the citation in the details field.

Mrs. Callie Tinkle [Mary A.C. (Hodge) Tinkle], Died: 12 Apr 1904, Death County, Navarro, Certificate No.: 44514

So for all (currently 64) people I have that died in TX, there is just one source, with 64 citations.

[rclrocco]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Michael, You and I have chatted several times and I follow much of what you do with sources. As well as creating an individual source wherever required, I also add a surname field to the source entry. This is so that I can see at a glance to which branch of the family, the source is referring. this is far from essential but helps me keep track of which people may or my not have sources for their presence in the database

[Kim]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Michael, You and I have chatted several times and I follow much of what you do with sources. As well as creating an individual source wherever required, I also add a surname field to the source entry. This is so that I can see at a glance to which branch of the family, the source is referring. this is far from essential but helps me keep track of which people may or my not have sources for their presence in the database

I do pretty much the same thing. I have a NAME field, but I include SURNAME, First name. It just makes it easier for me to find something quickly.

[Michael Talibard]

Re: Best way to record sources?

… I also add a surname field to the source entry.

Too late for me to do that now, and I don't really miss it. But if you find it useful, good - we all use this great software slightly differently. As a matter of interest, with marriages, do you put both surnames? And do you have a name field also for census sources, where there may be several surnames in the one schedule?

[rclrocco]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Good questions Michael. With both marriages and censuses, I just have one surname field. usually because I am researching one grandparent line. With my wife's family as well, that makes eight surnames.I think this comes from my early family history days when I kept separate "paper" files for different surnames, or families , i.e. my four grandparents, and later others. I still have all those paper files and have never gone fully digital. I found it hard to drop old habits when starting to use Reunion, and am still nervous about committing everything to Reunion in case of hard drive crashes, major changes in software or the Mac etc
To return to the thread, Reunion is without doubt the best way I have found for recording sources, either paper or digitally, if that makes sense. In other words, I went back to the time when I wash't using a computer or Reunion,and made individual sources for all the meetings, phone calls, emails, letters from relatives, conversations, visits to churches, record offices or what ever it was gave me some piece of information. Another good example is Christmas cards ! For many years, the way I heard about new arrivals or changes in the family was via someone's christmas card, so I would and still do, enter that as the source. My rule is a source for each individual event.
Ask yourself , how do I know this piece of information, answer the question and make a source for it ! Even if its only there because you are guessing or have a hunch, or Auntie Mabel said so, still make a source for that guess ! I have many individual sources which are deduced from Record Office Entries. Hopefully those are temporary, and will be proved later. I find a good check now and again is to refer to my family trees, most are drawn manually, and ask myself how I know everything that is written on those. Your source list is one of Reunion's most powerful and versatile features, particularly if you also use the Logs feature thoroughly, it is the place where ALL the proof of your research is recorded. The Logs are WHAT you did, and your sources are what you found.

[Atholie]

Re: Best way to record sources?

For what it's worth, here is an extract from my source list. Under what circumstances do you have to "scroll down them all"? I do this only once for each, i.e. when creating it, and it's not that hard. I find the nearest lookalike to what I want to add, then I duplicate and amend. Then I cite that source wherever appropriate. Thereafter, if I want to see it, I get to it from a citation, not from the list.

Thank you for your reply, Michael. I do something very similar to your method but similar to rclrocco and Kim - I add a name (family & given names) field and also a BDM index field so I know what type of event it is for.

I think I probably asked the wrong question - I think I wanted to know how, using a method like that used by tinksquared (pasted below), I could print the source together with the associated notations of person, type of event and date etc :

"I create generic source template. For example, the Texas Death Index.

Then per person, I input the citation in the details field.

Mrs. Callie Tinkle [Mary A.C. (Hodge) Tinkle], Died: 12 Apr 1904, Death County, Navarro, Certificate No.: 44514

So for all (currently 64) people I have that died in TX, there is just one source, with 64 citations."

Thanks for your help.

[Atholie]

Re: Best way to record sources?

I create generic source template. For example, the Texas Death Index.

Then per person, I input the citation in the details field.

Mrs. Callie Tinkle [Mary A.C. (Hodge) Tinkle], Died: 12 Apr 1904, Death County, Navarro, Certificate No.: 44514

So for all (currently 64) people I have that died in TX, there is just one source, with 64 citations.

Hi tinksquared thank you for your reply. I was not very clear in my question - what I wanted to know was how with a generic source, I could print out a citation list with the associated details attached. Is it possible?

Thank you.

[Atholie]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Michael, You and I have chatted several times and I follow much of what you do with sources. As well as creating an individual source wherever required, I also add a surname field to the source entry. This is so that I can see at a glance to which branch of the family, the source is referring. this is far from essential but helps me keep track of which people may or my not have sources for their presence in the database

Thank you for your information rclrocco. I do something very similar - see my reply to Michael, above and also to tinksquared. I didn't ask the right question - I wanted to know if it's possible to have a generic source list with the capability to print a citation list with the associated personal details attached.

I'm in the process of reentering my family history and was hoping I could do it this way.

Thanks again.

[Atholie]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Thank you for your response, Kim. I had asked the wrong question - and with each of these replies I am becoming clearer in my head - sorry! If you look at my replies to the other responses, it might be clearer.
Thanks for your help.

[AE Palmer]

Re: Best way to record sources?

Hi tinksquared thank you for your reply. I was not very clear in my question - what I wanted to know was how with a generic source, I could print out a citation list with the associated details attached. Is it possible?

Thank you.

Possible? No. Close? Maybe.

1. Select the source in question.
2. Use the HAMMER (Tool at the bottom of the source list and select USAGE from Source X. Or use Cmd-U from the keyboard.)
This gives you a list of people that are connected (cited) using that source. To see the actual citation detail, you will have to go to the individual citation.

Off hand, I would suggest that this exercise points to a weakness in the methodology. For what it’s worth, I would opt for putting all of the info inside a source – making 64 sources instead of just one.