Data Recording Conventions

[sueannbowen]

Dear All

My software package has room for a birth date and baptism date as well as death date and burial. But if you enter baptism date only (and for the early stuff I don't have many birth dates) or burial date only the person doesn't start or end properly. What does everyone else do? Do you enter the baptism date as the birth date?

Am in the process of moving (by hand) all of my stuff from one software package to another which is why I have not been around much lately. I found a couple of fundamental errors due to very sloppy work in the beginning and am now going through everything, document by document as though it were all new. Fortunately the weather has been so poor of late I haven't felt the need to escape to the garden as I would normally do in the summer.

Anyway, enough rambling - what do you think?

[margarita]

My software allows you to indicate if a date is approximate, calculated or estimated.

If I only have a christening date, I put the year of the christening in the space for birthdate and add that it is approximate.

Regards,

maggie

[sueannbowen]

Thanks Graham I think that makes sense. I am moving from FTM 2005 to Rootsmagic4 . And I could import from one to the other but since I was rubbish at inputting originally I am making myself go over it all agian. Sort of hairshirt really!

[sueannbowen]

Thanks Maggie mine only allows Abt. so I reckon I will go with the baptism date and perhaps a file note.

[Pam Downes]

Thanks Graham I think that makes sense. I am moving from FTM 2005 to Rootsmagic4 . And I could import from one to the other but since I was rubbish at inputting originally I am making myself go over it all agian. Sort of hairshirt really!
An action I would whole-heartedly agree with.
I know I didn't do things properly when I first began genealogy so I went back to the first lot of parish registers I transcribed from and it was incredible how many errors I'd made in just a few entries. Two incorrect dates and the continued mis-spelling of the surname spring to mind. (Usually spelt Woodhall, but that vicar always wrote Woodall.)
Nowadays I check, check, and check again that I've got the stuff correct.
Pam

[sueannbowen]

An action I would whole-heartedly agree with.
Nowadays I check, check, and check again that I've got the stuff correct.
Pam

It is a bit like sticking bamboo under my fingernails or pocking my own eye out with a stick! It will be marvelous once it is done!!

[arthurk]

Thanks Maggie mine only allows Abt. so I reckon I will go with the baptism date and perhaps a file note.

Sorry for the late reply - I've been away from the forum for a few days. Anyway, according to the printed guide "Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic 4" it will recognise a wide variety of date modifiers (to use the technical term), including about, estimated, calculated, circa, say, perhaps .... and quite a few more. I've found the book very useful - and easier to work through or dip into than the program's help file.

Arthur

[sueannbowen]

Arthur you are a Gem - I haven't laid eyes on the printed guide but I will be now. This is clearly the answer.

thanks very much