BYGONES-USERS-L Archives

Archiver > BYGONES-USERS > 2002-07 > 1027529835


From: "Cheri Casper" <>
Subject: RE: [Bygones] Importing people? Sources?
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 10:04:44 -0700
In-Reply-To: <4.2.0.58.20020723232245.00c4ff00@mail.utah-inter.net>


Troy - I don't know what version of TMG that Barbara is using, but I am
using 5.02. Currently report options are not available. These are coming
out as part of the next program update. Therefore, I don't have a way to
test any theories on doing this. Actually, I am working toward some
consolidation in ByGones. I started making sources in my MSL for *every*
relevant e-mail from a family member; thus for Ann Anderson I may have more
than one source. I am going to try to make only one source for her and use
the citation detail fields to add the specific information such as the date
of the communications. But, this is not currently the way my source list is
set up. In BG I will make only one source for her and just create an
extract each time and/or use the correspondence log. I have to think
through this.

In TMG sources can be either specific or general and I would suspect that
many people have both. I have only one entry for the 1850 KY census, for
example, but do have specific sources for various obits, birth certs, and
the like. How you determine whether to use "general" or "specific" depends
on how you want your bibliography to look like, so you have to consider that
first before deciding exactly how you want to add your sources.

In TMG every source has an ID number and I have been using the Notes on
Source field to record that info. I don't know if other programs have ID
numbers assigned to sources, but it would be nice to have a filed (maybe
X-Ref) on both the Extract and on the Source database form so you could put
in the ID number of the source as it is found in your regular genie program.

CheriC



-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Adair [mailto:]
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 11:10 PM
To:
Subject: RE: [Bygones] Importing people? Sources?


Thanks again Barbara and Cheri for your comments & discussion on importing
a TMG Master Source List into Bygones. I've never thought of trying to do
that; and it is an interesting topic to give some thought to.

Although I don't recommend actually trying this, if a TMG user is bent on
trying to import their Master Source List data into Bygones, I think it
would probably "fit" somewhat better to try to import the data in a Bygones
Research database rather than into the Sources database since:
(1) The Sources database in Bygones is meant to be used to record
information on large groups of records or indexes that are available to be
searched for records on specific people (for example, 1887-1935 Salt Lake
Co., Utah Marriages are available at the Family History Library, etc.);
while
(2) The Research database in Bygones is used to record a search in a record
group or index for a SPECIFIC document/person (for example, the marriage of
Walter Pettit and Phyllis Haselman that was found in the collection of Salt
Lake County, Utah marriages); and record that specific document if it is
found.
(3) Since I would guess sources entered in a TMG Master Source List are for
SPECIFIC sources (a specific marriage certificate, rather than a collection
of marriage records available at a specific library, etc.); IF I tried to
import a TMG Master Source List into Bygones, I would probably try to
import it into a Research database.

One option of doing this with TMG 4 would be to:
(1) In TMG, go to the Report menu, and choose to create a "List Of All
Sources." I would probably save it as either an "ASCII delimited with
tab" file, or as a Microsoft Excel file.
(2) Then in Bygones, you can use the import command to import the data into
a Research database. However, the structure of the fields will probably
not match very well. For example, in Bygones, there are not separate
fields for the author, title, publication info, etc--there is just one
"Full Citation" field that is used to enter a "full citation" with
author+title+publication info. So, Cheri's suggestion of simply copying
the full citation of the preview of the full footnote is probably a better
way to transfer "full citations" from TMG into Bygones.
(3) There would then be a lot of fields you would need to edit and complete
in Bygones.

But doing the above is actually the reverse of how I generally use Bygones,
and anticipated Bygones being used. I usually:
(1) Record my genealogical searches as I do them in Bygones. This, of
course, includes recording both "negative" and "positive" searches.
(2) When a search is "positive," and when it is for a good "primary source"
with new information, then I will also add the information to my lineage
linked genealogy program, with the citation for the source. (I don't
actually add every "positive" search from Bygones as a "source" in my
lineage linked database. For example, I might look for someone in the
Social Security Death Index, and find them. The SSDI entry would include a
birth date, a death date, and a "last residence." However, if I already
had, or was able to access, the death certificate for the same person, I
would consider that a better source for their death date & place, and
probably cite only the death certificate as my source for the death
information. The supporting SSDI information would be on my Research Log;
but in that case, I personally wouldn't cite it as my source for their
death information. So, in my case, my research notes often contain
information on more sources and searches than I have cited in my
lineage-linked genealogy program.)

So, importing source citations previously entered in a lineage linked
genealogy program as TMG, and then reconstructing research logs from that
data, is actually kind-of using Bygones in the opposite way I personally
use it--but hey, it's your data, and you can try to do whatever you want
with it!

If you do try doing it, I would be interested in hearing how it goes, and
whether you felt it was useful or a waste of time, etc.

Thanks,

Troy

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