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Archiver > TMG > 2002-03 > 1015006887


From: "Cheri Casper" <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] newbie questions
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 10:30:06 -0800
References: <00a801c1c145$5de6de40$6de6950c@94bde>


Colleen - Before you set up any sources, I would highly recommend that you
get a copy of Evidence by Elizabeth Shown Mills. It costs around $15-$20,
but it worth about 3 times that much. She will give you lots of wonderful
practical examples on how to do various types of citations. Also on Lee's
website are details on all of the Mills' source templates as they are
defined in TMG. I would suggest that you print out a hard copy of these.
They are a good starting point, but the TMG templates don't match Mills
exactly. And, if your experience is anything like mine, your document is
just a tad bit different from any of the examples and you have do a little
tweaking with the templates anyway, but with a copy of the TMG templates,
Mills, and the help of this list, you should be able to conquer all your
source & citation questions.

Personally I have switched from generic to specific because I have found
that even within a given state, birth certificates differ in the name of the
issuing agency, format, etc. from any given time period to another. Once I
have used a specific source for all occurrences where it is needed, I make
the source inactive so it doesn't clutter up my MSL. But I am sure that you
will find others who use different methods and whose systems work as well
for them as mine does for me.

CheriC
IBSSG =^..^=


----- Original Message -----
From: "Colleen and James Conlan" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 9:20 AM
Subject: [TMG] newbie questions


Greetings-
I'm new, still confused, taking lots of deep breaths, and taking it on faith
that I will eventually be glad I chose this program! I'm still entering data
into a PRACTICE set, as I read on Lee's tips page. Can anyone help me with
these specific questions? (I have silver edition, version 4.0)

-Many of my sources are copies of birth, marriage and death certificates.
Some I got from my mother, and some I got from Vital
Records, either in person or by mail. Is each certificate a source? Does
each have its own entry and source number in the master source list? I know
its "up to me" how I want to enter sources, but how do you folks do it? The
examples in the SAMPLE dataset don't include any birth records or
certificates.

I had entered my birth certificate as source #1, abbreviated as "Birth
records, Connecticut" but I have many birth records from CT. Should I call
it "birth certificate-Colleen" instead? Do I then end up with a master
source list filled with "birth certificate-Colleen O'Neill", "birth
certificate-Bernard O'Neill" etc? Is this appropriate or desirable?

-As I was entering new sources, I was clicking back and forth between the
SAMPLE set and my PRACTICE SET. A few times I cancelled entry of the source,
then went back to it. Now my automatic numbering is off. I have to renumber
each source after I have entered it. Is there a way to remedy this?

-In Person View, in the narrow column between Type and Date, what does the
asterisk (*) signify? Not all items in this view have one.

-My program came with the Getting Started Manual. Is there a way to purchase
the User's Guide and Reference Manual?

Many thanks for any help you can give...Colleen





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