Genealogy Do-Over - MGP, EE, GPS (what's he talking about ?)

I have blogged about the Genealogy Do-Over a number of times. It is a project started a couple of years ago by Thomas MacEntee. The concept was and IS a great one. For me, starting over, was not something I was willing to do. However, Going OVER what I already have made total sense to me.

Think about it. I didn't know what I was doing when I started. My daughter gave me Family Tree Maker when I started, because she thought I needed something to do. Little did she know. Oh, and little did I know.

In person classes, Genealogy in-person meetings, Hangouts On Air, Podcasts, Webinars are places to learn how to do this stuff. Its amazing how much "stuff" you can learn, listening and learning from and with others. Not to mention new features in Family Tree Maker.

The three terms in the Subject are part of the Do-Over / Go-Over for me.

• Evidence Explained
• Genealogical Proof Standard
• Mastering Genealogical Proof

With FTM2010, the Source Template feature was introduced to the program that was based on Elizabeth Shown Mill's book, Evidence Explained. It is our standard for how to craft citations. The other two items are also standards for our family research.

When the Genealogy Do-Over concept was introduced, I jumped on the bandwagon, but in my own way. I have blogged about that before on this blog, under the Label of GenealogyDoOver.

My goal has been to update my database to meet or attempt to meet the standards of these three items. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been, again, working on getting my 4,500 Citations into Source Templates. It's a slow process, time consuming, but worthwhile.

Remembering that the Genealogy Do-Over / Go-Over was to look at what we have now, and apply what we / I have learned since I started. Focusing on the Citations, makes me do that. I need to re-look at the Information / Claims / Facts that are in the Source of information (like a book or Source) find, where in that book the information is (Citation), Select the appropriate Source Template that best describes What I am looking at, and Where did I get it from. Honestly answering those two questions will get me to the correct Source Template.It define the Container of Information. The Citation Detail (field in Family Tree Maker) helps complete the citation.

Source = Container of Information

Citation = Where in the Container did I find and for who

I am mentioning all of this because I can across information in my database that I had entered a long time ago, but had forgotten about, because I wasn't using a Research Log or To Do List both of which I absolutely use in FTM2017.

I found this problem while cleaning up my Citations and have created a way to track the clean up and have a plan to manage this clean up.

Today, I was working "the plan", found a note that I need to Locate a source. It was from a reference in a Family Group Sheet that I have been working on from a Cousin. That series of Family Group Sheets (FGS) are the basis of my entire database. Been working on them for 20 years. This note, only referred to a database title, Thanks to Google, I found that record in the UK and it was online. (tip of the Iceberg, right?)

The next one was even better. This "locate source" was linked to my maternal Grandmother. This time, I really didn't have a Source Title to Search, so I looked to see if Ancestry had a Hint for her, that I haven't looked at for a while.

There is was, but it was even better then just giving me the ability to cite that source CORRECTLY but it was a page in a 1910 Yearbook, in the town in Pennsylvania where she lived.

West Chester State Normal School, Pathfinder,  (1910), Record for Rachel P Johnston, 1910 Staff; Online Image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 January 2019).

Yes, we know that Ancestry has a good Yearbook collection, but she had Graduated from High School in 1906, Her collage was in Massachusetts, where she graduated from, but this Yearbook was from 1910 and in Pennsylvania. Huh? It documented that she was on the Staff at West Chester Normal School, now West Chester University, in 1910. I knew that was the name of the school at the time, but her address was also at the Normal School in the 1910 Census. With this Source, with the information in this entry, I crafted my Citation and linked it to the Facts is that short paragraph.

Which led me to the 1912 Yearbook, where she was a coach. I do not think she it in this picture, but she is listed as Coach.

West Chester State Normal School, Pathfinder,  (1912), Record for Rachel P Johnston, 1912 Basketball Coash; Online Image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 January 2019).

I do not believe that she is in this photograph

Lesson Learned: Every once in a while, go back an look at what you have. In this case, I had a Citation that was not using the Template feature and I want my citations in that format, BUT it got me to relook at that record. Nothing new, but I was able to confirm small bits and pieces of data that i already had.

Had I don't learned about EvidenceExplained, the Genealogical Proof Standard, and Mastering Genealogical Proof, AND the Features built into Family Tree Maker, I would not have found these two gems about my Grandmother.

Evidence Explained: History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 3rd Edition Revised

Apr 3, 2017

by Elizabeth Shown Mills

[Sponsored]

Genealogy, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition

Jan 21, 2014

by Board for Certification of Genealogists

Genealogical Proof Standard

Oct 1, 2014

by Christine Rose

Mastering Genealogical Proof

Dec 4, 2013

by Thomas W. Jones

Some Videos on these topics on DearMYRTLE's You Tube Channel on these topics

• ESM's QuickLessons Study Group
• GPS (Genealogical Proof Standards) Study Group
• MGP1 Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group ONE
• MGP2 Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group TWO
• MGP3 - Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group

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Copyright © 2019 by Cousin Russ

User Question - Create Source Template

A Reader's Question

I would like to learn how to CREATE Source Templates.

Answer:

You can NOT. The Source Template Feature is built into the program. I am suspecting that you might want to learn HOW TO USE the Source Template Feature. The Source Templates are very close to the EvidenceExplained Standards. It's a matter of selecting the Correct Source Template and filling in the Citation Details to complete the Reference Notes as described in EvidenceExplained.

The book is available on the Family Tree Maker website store.

I have a number of blog posts on this Topic.

REMEMBER:

What am I looking at

Where did I get it

The Keyword search uses the first 3 characters of your search screen, Source Workspace, Add, and New.

Blog posts on this Topic:

FTM2017 Sources Template

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Copyright © 2019 by Cousin Russ

User Question: Batch Editing of "Source Citations"

The Readers Request for a Blog Post

Working with (or batch-editing) source citations generated by Ancestry.com

First, please watch this Video on this topic:

How do I merge duplicate source citations ?

Why? The term "source citation" in the question. That "term" is two DIFFERENT topics. I hope I explained that in that presentation.

Working WITH Source Information from Ancestry is one thing. Crafting a Citation based in the information used from that record is another.

I have blogged about this many times before, but I ALWAYS move ALL Source Information into the Source Template feature in Family Tree Maker. That feature was introduced in FTM2010 and is based on the EvidenceExplained standard that was present at the time. 

The SOURCE Templates are not as accurate as they should be, but I have been successful getting them as accurate as possible. Please remember that this feature only deals with the SOURCE information. The container of the information.

Crafting the Citation, is the next step. I say "craft" as it is not a science, being that you "this, this, and that". It takes time. 

The "out put" of the Source Template and adding the Citation Details will automatically populate the Reference Note. I have explained that with color coding on what information in the Reference Note comes from the Source Template and what information comes from the Citation Detail field.

To make it easiest for me, I use the Citation TEXT field for my information and do NOT include that, nor the Web Address into the Reference Note.

ANSWER to the Question: 

I will NOT and do NOT Batch Edit ANYTHING in Family Tree Maker, let along a Source or a Citation.

The thought that is always on my mind when working on Citations, is that most, if not all websites, that provide us with Source Information MUST BE Cleaned up, if I want for my Reference Notes to be as close to EvidenceExplained as possible, I must to them ONE AT A TIME !

But, that's just me.

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Copyright © 2018 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - How i craft an Evidence Explained Reference Note with the Template Feature

I have been part of a "What Did SHE Say?" study group on Google+, where we are studying Chapters 1 and 2 of  Evidence Explained.

Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, 3rd edition (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.genealogical.com and in digital format from the author's website http://www.EvidenceExplained.com] 

A link to our 3rd session, first dealing with Chapter 2 is HERE

This video is a result of the homework, provided by +DearMYRTLE  for this chapter.

Homework Questions - 28 Aug 2015 What Does SHE Say? Study Group

This does not go into how to select a Template, but in how to use the various fields that we are presented with to generate a Reference Note. A couple of observations were included at the end.




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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

What does SHE Say ? Homework Assignment #1

The What Does SHE Say Study Group, in the +DearMYRTLE Genealogy Community has homework. Imagine that.

Here is a link to the Homework Assignment:

Homework Questions for 14 Aug 2015 What Does SHE Say? Study Group

The Hangout On Air recording of the first session is here:

In response to the First Question and a lengthy discussion about Death Certificates in the HOA, I thought I would demonstrate one of those generic labels with a not so obvious feature, addressing Question 1 and that Each Fact, Claim, or piece of information can be easily evaluated within FTM2014


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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Citation Up Date / Clean Up for me -- Family Search and Ancestry websites

I am always learning by following the Evidence Explained User Forum on https://www.evidenceexplained.com/

Today, the Editor, posted in Reply to #20 a very important item for me:

The title of the website differs from that of the corporation. It is onlyFamilySearch.  While many people (as Russ did) use FamilySearch.com as the website title, the actual title does not include .com. (The confusion apparently exists because Ancestry long used .com as part of its website title; but FamilySearch does not. That confusion should be helped, now, by the fact that Ancestry has dropped the .com from its title.) 1)

Up until today, I have been using "Ancestry.com" at the Website Title in those Templates in FTM2014 that call for that entry. I haven't been back to see, what the Editor clearly points out, that Ancestry had removed the ".com" from their website Title. Family Search hadn't been using the ".org" in their website title.

I now have a new clean up project to do. Very high on my priority list, by the way, to removed the ".com" and ".org" from Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org in the TEMPLATE screen. All new Citations will not include those characters going forward but in the future will go back to update the Citation's.

Reviewing my Citations aren't a bad thing, as I continually learn how to craft my citations.

A big THANK YOU to Elizabeth Shown Mills for ALL of her work that she has done for us and continues to help with Citation.

Have already made a note in Evidence Explained and my QuickSheets based on that discussion as a reminder for myself.


1) Online Image Databases and FTM family tree maker 2014, reply to #20; Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage (evidenceexplained.com : accessed 21 May 2015)
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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

Please Read: QUICKTIPS Citations: How Much Is Enough?

Here is a great tip on Citations. Please visit the Evidence Explained website by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Her Quick Tips are awesome. This one is about our Citations.

QuickTips

I try very hard to follow those QuickTips, by using the Template feature of Family Tree Maker (FTM2010 to FTM2014 and FTMM-2 and FTM-3) I think we can do that. In fact, on her User Forum, I have asked the Editor to comment on several of the Reference Notes from FTM2014.

From that experience, I try to share them here with you.
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Copyright © 2015 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Response to 'You are bigger than your genealogy program

Dear MYRTLE published an interesting Blog Post

You are bigger than your genealogy program

to which I respond: YES. That is a reason why I share my experience with Family Tree Maker. I want to learn it I don't want to just "fill in the blanks", but want to get this program to work for me.

Like many, I started "just filling in the blanks" but I had learned as I started to "cite my sources". Didn't know why nor how, I just learned very quickly to be able to answer the "where did you get THAT information from". I am so thankful that I did.

Since the Source Templates were introduced to Family Tree Maker in FTM2010, I  have spent a considerable amount of time updating my Source information into the Template Format. The Templates in Family Tree Maker are based on Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace  I really didn't like the free formed citations that I had created. Printing a report was not a pretty thing. Using the Template feature changed that drastically. In this case, the program did the hard work, I just had to fill in the Blanks. 

I also have been part of two study groups, in the Dear MYRTLE Genealogy Community on Google+, where I have learned about the Genealogical Proof Standard with the book Mastering Genealogical Proof by Dr. Thomas W. Jones.  Between the time I started to research and now, I have learned much and how important it is to get beyond filling in the stories.

What I am trying to do is "make" Family Tree Maker "work for me".

For example, the blog post I did earlier

FTM2014 and Mastering Genealogical Proof - Chapter 4 Source Citations

I think I had been trying too hard. Using the Template feature and working with Evidence Explained, (the book), the Evidence Explained website and Facebook Page, I learned how to create Citations that are so much better.

As features have been added to Family Tree Maker, I have been able to follow other Genealogy tasks much better. Research Logs, Notes on about everything (bread crumbs), Citations in the Notes field, Citations on Media Files. Now I am able to use the "notes" field to generate the Stories or dialog WITH Citations about the person. I am moving the "research notes", from that field into the Research Notes field.

After all of that, I can generate reports or charts where those Notes aren't seen where the Stories should be. But, I can generate a To Do list, or Research Notes when ever I want.

My point here, is that I had to stop, slow down, redo a lot of work, so that I could get beyond the "fill in the blanks" mode that I started in, and learn (and still trying to learn) the techniques that we should be using, then learn how to use my program to "get the job done".

Hopefully, I have been sharing this effort with you, here.

When the Mastering Genealogical Proof gets a little further, I will have at least two more blog posts about other features in FTM2014 that helps me work beyond "fill in the blanks". But again, I had to work at this, both with the Program AND the other two resources. Not to mention the Conversation with my cousin, DearMYRTLE in the Dear MYRTLE Genealogy Community.
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Copyright © 2014 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - What goes where in a Source Template?

I am going to try to explain what information goes where, using the Family Tree Maker Template Feature.

The first item that I had to learn is that a Source and a Citation are two different things. The program, and many others, "Source Citation" as a term. But to understand the Template feature, we need to break them apart.

My understanding of these two terms is that a Source is a container of Information. A book, a record, a picture. The Citation provides more detailed information about the Claim or Assertion that is made within that Source. Family Tree Maker uses the term "Fact" to represent the Claim or Assertion.

This Source claims that something happened on this date at this place and is found on page ### of this Book.

Lets take an 1870 Federal Census Record that was found on Ancestry.com. Where the Source is found and what exactly I am looking at, plays a role in defining the "Source".

Here is a link to the Evidence Explained website, for the QuickCheck Model for Microfilm: Population Schedules, 1850 - 1870.

It has the First (Full) Reference Note in the center of that page. Within Family Tree Maker, there is also a field called Reference Note. The trick, for me, is to get those two "Reference Notes" to have the same information in them.

We are trying to fill in these blanks:

• Census ID
• Jurisdiction
• Schedule
• Civil Division
• Page ID
• Household ID
• Person(s) of Interest
• Film ID

For me to understand this, the first four items (in blue) define the Source. The last four items (in red) define the Citation. (Container and where the information came from)

So, what does this look like in Family Tree Maker? 

I selected the Template for the US Population Schedule for 1850-1870, by Census Year and Location. This example has been filled in:

• Census Year = 1870
• State = Maryland
• County = Baltimore County
• Publication number = M593
• File roll number = 576
• Website title = Ancestry.com
• Database publisher = Ancestry.com Operations, Inc
• Publisher location = Provo, Utah
• Database year = 2009
• URL = http://www.ancestry.com

All of this information came from the Ancestry.com website:

Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 11, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M593_576; Page: 40A; Image: 83; Family History Library Film: 552075.

Source Information:

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data:

1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

I picked up the data in blue for the Source fields above. The template tells me what I am looking at and where I got it from much like the First Full Reference Note.

The First Full Reference Note has more information which more clearly defines the claims (Facts) that I got from that Source.

Here is the same information from Ancestry.com, that I need to fill in those other 4 fields. (in red)

Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 11, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M593_576; Page: 40A; Image: 83; Family History Library Film: 552075.

Source Information:

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data:

1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

That is the information that needs to be entered into the Citation Detail of the Citation screen in Family Tree Maker.

To help me fill in those blanks, I put in the Comments of that Source (Template) screen this information.

[ civil division ]; Page __;  dwelling number _; family number _; Lines _ - _; [ person of interest ] household; accessed

I need to pick up:

• Civil Division = Baltimore Ward 11
• Page = 79
• Household ID = dwelling number 436, family number 546
• Person of Interest = William Howard

When I handle Census Records, I use the entire household when recording my information based on the Head of Household. To make the Citation a little clearer, I pick up the Line Numbers for the Household, I add the word "household" after the head of household's name (person of interest), and I add the date that I accessed the information.

That is the information in the Citation Detail field.

Since the Head of Household is already in the Citation Detail, I also enter it into the Citation Text field and other notes that I might want to make. BUT, I remove the Check Mark to the right of the Citation Text field and since I usually pick up the Web Address, I also do not include that in the Reference Note.

Here is what the Reference Note looks like.

1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore Ward 11; Page 79 and 80;  dwelling number 436; family number 546; Lines 39 and 40, 1 - 6; William Howard household; Image: 83; Family History Libary Film: 552075; accessed 01 Jul 2011; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 576; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com).

You will notice that this household was on two pages, 79 and 80, lines 39 and 40 on page 79, and lines 1 through 6 on page 90.

Please note that the order of the location is not the same, but the information is the same. The Census ID and the Schedule are not in the same order, but it is there.

The beauty of the Template feature is the consistency of the EndNotes or Reference Notes.

I go through this same process for each type of record that I use in Family Tree Maker. Look at the First Full Reference Note in Evidence Explained. Look at that record (Source) screen and understand what is Source Information and what is Citation (Citation Detail) information. Then create that short cut that I copy and paste from the Source Comment field, to update the Citation Detail field to complete the Family Tree Maker Reference Note.

Lesson Learned: Spend time understanding Evidence Explained, by Elizabeth Shown Mills and the Family Tree Maker Template Feature.

The book, Evidence Explained has been a very worthwhile investment to have on my desk. The Evidence Explained website and Facebook Group page are very worthwhile resources on this topic.
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Copyright © 2014 by H R Worthington