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Archiver > TMG > 2002-09 > 1030982711


From: Christopher Brooks <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Tip of the day: Census people
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 12:17:27 -0400
In-Reply-To: <200209021432.g82EWtlN030353@lists5.rootsweb.com>


bob gillis wrote:

:Adding unrelated people by adding as witnesses is not the "normal"
:way.
:It is one way. I add often add unrelated people in the memo
:especially
:if he has a different surname as is a "fisherman boarder".
:If I come across the name later I can do a search for memo contains
:"whoever" and find the tag.
:What features are we depriving ourselves of?

For one, the ability to search via filter for "all unrelated persons"
in this dataset. Assigning an individual an identity gives them a
place in the picklist. Giving an individual only a Memo for an
identity places the burden of remembering that they exist on the
researcher. While feasible for small datasets, if the number of
individuals is in the thousands or tens of thousands, I would think
relying on Memo and memory only is an invitation to lose people.

Computers sort and search better and faster than humans. It would
seem to make sense to set up one's system in such a way as to
maximize the ability of the computer to do what it does best.

Chris

Christopher Brooks
Franconia, NH






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