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Archiver > TMG > 2005-01 > 1104597138


From: Terry Reigel <>
Subject: RE: [TMG] Baby Step 3 - Checking my output as I go
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:32:21 -0500
In-Reply-To: <200501011534.j01FY2xt002282@mail.rootsweb.com>


On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 07:34:08 -0800, Sue Richart wrote:
> Darrell wrote:

> --I would strongly recommend that you not develop a habit
> of omitting dates from Tags.
>
> I'm just going through the data slowly (you can see the
> brain matter smoking from the heat generated <g>), so
> they are fixed and back with dates. The lessons on
> sentence structure will help fix the basic problem.

I strongly disagree with Darrell on this issue. <g> I almost never
enter dates for occupation tags, because generally I don't know the
beginning and ending date - I just know the occupation at a specific
date from a census, death record, or the like. To me, output that says
something like:

He was a farmer in 1930.

is unhelpful and even misleading. It suggests that he was not in 1929
and 1931. So generally I leave out the date, and let the source
note(s) explain what the data actually said. If I find the same
occupation in multiple sources I just add the source citations to the
existing tag, and use a sort date that places the tag at a reasonable
place in a narrative.

If I know more about the person's occupation, especially if it changed
over time, I generally create separate tags for occupation initially.
But when I'm "done" with researching that person, I go back and
combine them, adding text to the Memo that creates a real narrative
about what I know about the person's evolving occupations, move all
the citations to that tag, and delete the others.

Terry Reigel


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