Relying on sources as a soundness indicator in genealogy is like trying to understand a court case, but only having the witness list and the verdict. Sure you’ll know the outcome and you’ll know who was called to testify, but you won’t be able to understand why the decision was made. You won’t know what was asked nor what answers were given by whom. You won’t have a sense of the veracity of the testimony. And you won’t be able to get your own sense of whether the right decision was made. It’s the same thing with genealogy.
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Mac Version of Family Tree Maker by End of October
I just saw on the Ancestry.com blog, the news that Family Tree Maker will be “released for the Mac within the next two months.” The comment was posted on August 31st. So, that puts the release to be by October 31st the way I reckon.
Are you considering a switch to FTM for Mac? Leave a comment.
Genealogy Virus Continues to Spread
I was disappointed yesterday to hear of another outbreak of the virus that’s sweeping through genealogy. A new GEDCOM (GEnealogy Data COMmunication) file sharing site sprang up. I’m disappointed because this nonsense undermines the practice of genealogy. Mostly this is because many (if not most) GEDCOMs being shared contain incorrect conclusions. Sharing incorrect conclusions is the single biggest threat to our hobby. It wastes an incredible amount of research time.
Automatic Numbering in Family Tree Maker 2011
Family Tree Maker 2011 joined the rest of the genealogy software world in their 2011 release by adding an automatic numbering feature. It can add numbers to individuals and relationships. You can add a prefix or suffix. Best of all, it doesn’t stomp on identification numbers you may have manually entered. In this video I show you how to set it up and how manually entered numbers are handled.
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Recording Source Detail in Reunion for Mac
Adding sources is important and tedious. Genealogy database software Reunion for Mac prevents some of the tedium by allowing you to associate individual sources with multiple events and facts. To do this you’ll want to make sure the data you enter for the source is not specific to an individual. The information that is specific to the individual goes in a different place, called source detail. In this video I show you how to record different source details for census, birth, and marriage events that use the same source. [Read more…] about Recording Source Detail in Reunion for Mac