Reader Question:Best Practice on Data Entry

Responding to a Reader Question:

Do you have a blog / blogs on best practices for entering data so that it is a consistent format ?

That is a difficult question:

Data Entry, Best Practice: RECORD (enter the data) that is provided by the Record. (and look at the original image, if there is one).

In many cases, that will result in very inconsistent Facts. For example: I have my father's name entered at least 7 different ways, ALL based on the Records, appropriately cited, where that name came from.

There IS a Best Practice for Place Names, and like the above, I have blogged about this. Best Practice for Consistent Place Names, use the Place Name Authority, in the Places Workspace, with the Resolve Place Name tool.

I have blogged about Dual Entry of Historical Place Names, where I enter the Historical Place Name AND the current place name, as I rely on the Map feature. In the blog post, I mention that I mark the Current Place name a PRIVATE, so that it does NOT appear in the Ancestry Member Tree.
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