Citations

[sheila]

I know everyone is probably tired about answering questions on citations, but I have upgraded to Reunion 11 and do not understand the difference between (Source Citations: Names, Detail)
and (General Sources: Detail). Would appreciate a little help in understand this.

Also, I very much agree that the "Detail" input should be a pop-up screen and more then 256 characters. (Frank, are you listening...please.)

Sheila

[Frank]

Re: Citations

Start here...
Click a ? button and search the manual for: what is a general source

[ttl]

Re: Citations

The detail field is intended to hold small clarifying bits of data as to how the citation pertains to the person and the specific data field. The manual gives page numbers of a source as an example, but I also use it to specify what part of a data item the source refers to, such as first name vs middle name or birth place vs birth date.

It seems as if many people would like to transcribe the source into the detail field. A better way to handle a source transcription for a specific person as Reunion is currently configured (as contrasted with a full transcription in the source's Free Form Text field) might be to add the transcription to a person's Misc Notes field or a "Source Notes" field and cite the source there. This would be unlikely to have character count limitations and could be set to be quite visible in a family view.

Regarding general sources, the first source I cite for a person is one I usually designate a general source. It often merely documents that a person existed, and maybe a name. As the person's details are fleshed out, I'll generally cite a non general source against each new bit of info, but keep the general source as part of the record showing the development of the person's data.

[Steve K]

Re: Citations

I'd love to hear (uh, read) more on how people use general...

[Michael Talibard]

Re: Citations

I'd love to hear (uh, read) more on how people use general...

Well, since you ask, I never use general sources. The manual says their purpose is to avoid the "clutter" of source citations in field after field - but I love to see all those source citations anyway. This is but one example of the principle that you don't have to use every feature of the software just because it's there. For another example, I make very little use of detail fields, preferring the detail to be in the source proper - simpler that way!

[bmohr]

Re: Citations

I'd love to hear (uh, read) more on how people use general...

Like Tim, I use general sources to document my initial "discovery" of a person. The first source to provide some concrete information about an individual becomes a general source (as well as being a regular source for the particular facts it provides). Most people in my file have exactly one general source. Those without a general source are most often placeholders (for example, parents added to tie known siblings together). In a few rare cases, I was only confident enough to add a person to my file by the combined weight of several sources, in which case they all get to be general sources.

[E Kus]

Re: Citations

It’s my for post. I am a very happy Reunion-User – except documentation of sources makes me sometimes some haedages...
Documentation of sources seems to me to be a very controverse issue within the user community and the developer of Reunion (hot potato?).
Regarding “General Sources”, I never found a practical case making sens to use it….
But I love to suport the proposal of Sheilas initial post regarding extension of more then 256 characters in the source detail.

[mjashby]

Re: Citations

It’s my for post. I am a very happy Reunion-User – except documentation of sources makes me sometimes some haedages...
Documentation of sources seems to me to be a very controverse issue within the user community and the developer of Reunion (hot potato?).
Regarding “General Sources”, I never found a practical case making sens to use it….
But I love to suport the proposal of Sheilas initial post regarding extension of more then 256 characters in the source detail.

The key 'problem' with the proposal/wish is that, if implemented, then source titles that exceeded the present limit would not be transferred correctly using GEDCOM which sets that limit as the maximum line length allowed (See http://www.tamurajones.net/GEDCOMLines.xhtml if you want to read the technicalities).

Breaking GEDCOM compatibility would probably upset more people than would leaving the present limit in place.

Mervyn