Monday, March 3, 2014

FTM2014 - Webmerge, Citation Clean Up

Clean Up work is what I do following a Web Merge from Ancestry.com, specifically in the area of the Citation. The results in the Source Workspace and the specific Citation, does not meet the Evidence Explained format. At least in my opinion.

I have blogged about this before, but it's confusing so I am going to take another stab at it.

Family Tree Maker has a Template Feature that will have an Evidence Explained citation or Reference Note that is very close to the Reference Note from Evidence Explained. So here is what I do.

Here is a 1940 Census Record that is for a person in my family file. I look at the transcribed information to make sure that it is correct. I compare the lower Left and lower Right boxes to make sure that I am going to merge this record (lower Right) to my person (lower Left)


Looks good so far.I want to look at the image and gather MORE information from the image that won't appear in the merge, so I click on the Print Friendly Link on the Left.


I Print, on paper, that screen. I then look at the image, collect ALL of the information that I want and WRITE it on the printed sheet. I especially write the information at the top of the IMAGE, Enumeration District, Page number, Date that the Census was taken AND the LINE Number(s) for the person or household. I will use that hand written information later.

I walk through the Merge Process (NOT covered in this blog post, but elsewhere) and look at the Summary screen,, to make sure that there is a check mark in the Include Image (top of that screen), then click on Merge.


When the merge is complete and after I close the small window at the end of the Web Merge, I immediately click on the Sources Workspace.

This is the Ancestry Citation for that merge.


The Reference Note would look like this if I uncheck the Citation Text and the Web Link on the right.;
Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com, Year: 1940; Census Place: Sutton, Merrimack, New Hampshire; Roll: T627_2294; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 7-67.
This, I don't think, meets the Evidence Explained format. I need to MOVE this Free Form Source to the Template Source screen, remembering that the Template only deals with the information about the SOURCE.

In the upper right, is an ADD ICON, which will bring up an Add Source screen. That pop up window is the Free Form Source screen.


We then need to select the Template that we want. Clicking on New on the above screen will bring up a window where you can enter 3 Characters for the type of document you have in your hand. In this case, we want to move a free form Census record to a Template for a Population Schedule, United States, 1880 - 1940 Census  Record. I have chosen by Census Year, and by Location.


This will bring up the screen to "fill in the blanks" that is required for the SOURCE.


The only comment about this screen is that I add "County" on the County field on this screen. The other information is on that printed sheet of paper that I wrote on. When you click OK, this next screen appears.


I want to CANCEL this screen because I already have a Citation (the one from Ancestry.com that is not in the right format).

In the Sources Workspace, I now have two 1940 Census. I selected the one from Ancestry on the Left, and on the right, there is a pull down arrow which is where I select the newly created Template Source and select that.


This MOVES the free form citation into the template format. The upper right will give you an indication that this citation is in the Source Template. On the Right, there is a Gold Star also showing that this source is using a Template.


BUT we are NOT done. The SOURCE is in the right format, but the Citation is NOT.


When I created this Census Source, I pasted this information in the Comments for that Source:
[ civil division ]; enumeration district [ __ - __ ]; sheet number [ ___ ]; house number _; [ street name ];  family number _ ; Lines _ - _; [ person of interest ] household; accessed
After studying the information that is needed from Evidence Explained, I have determined that the above information needs to be entered into the Citation Detail. I copy and INSERT that information into the Citation detail box and edit it based on that printed piece of paper and hand written notes.

I uncheck the Citation text and uncheck the weblink as I don't want that in the Reference note.


To help me out, I copy the information from the Web Search Window about the Ancestry citation information into the Citation Notes tab.


Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: Sutton, Merrimack, New Hampshire; Roll: T627_2294; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 7-67.
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.
Description:
The 1940 United States Federal Census is the largest census released to date and the most recent census available for public access. The census gives us a glimpse into the lives of Americans in 1940, with details about a household’s occupants that include birthplaces, occupations, education, citizenship, and income.
 This information is just for me. It does help me fill in the "blanks" in the Citation Detail field.

One of the reasons for doing this is, as that View Source Online link in the lower right corner of that Citation. I can click on that link and go directly to that Citation online at Ancestry.com. Yes, I also have the Image of that Census Record in my file, in the Citation Media tab.

The real reason for this extra work is the Output, or End Notes in any report or chart.

Here is the Ancestry version if the End Note:
Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com, Year: 1940; Census Place: Sutton, Merrimack, New Hampshire; Roll: T627_2294; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 7-67.
Here is the Evidence Explained or Template Reference Note
1940 U.S. census, population schedule, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, Sutton; enumeration district 7-67; sheet number 2B; house  number not listed; street name not listed; visit number 45; Lines 72 - 73; Nathan A Sterns household; accessed 03 Mar 2014; NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 2294; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com).
There are a couple of minor differences between Evidence Explained and this Reference Note and that is the order that some of the information is presented. BUT the information is there. The other benefit is that the Citations / Reference Notes will be consistent.

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Copyright © 2014 by H R Worthington

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