{"id":372,"date":"2009-11-04T16:59:14","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T23:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/?p=372"},"modified":"2009-11-04T17:05:35","modified_gmt":"2009-11-05T00:05:35","slug":"highway-signage-and-your-genealogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/04\/highway-signage-and-your-genealogy\/","title":{"rendered":"Highway Signage and Your Genealogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

City Limits.<\/strong>\u00a0 What city.\u00a0\u00a0 1000 North.<\/strong>\u00a0 Where.\u00a0 The Federal Interstate System\u00a0 posted new signs all across the country\u00a0this last year to make their signage correspond more closely to GPS directions.\u00a0 And left off all the towns and cities from the signs.<\/p>\n

If you are a local resident of some years, you may know where you are when you change from South to North.\u00a0 But to the newly arrived, or the traveller just passing through, or the person without a GPS\u00a0in the car, the signs do not help all that much.<\/p>\n

And if the sign does not match the map, with\u00a0village and hamlet designations that do not appear on topographical or local state road maps, you may be left to wander around a rural area looking for some familiar designation. And hoping for a live person also wandering around to ask for directions.\u00a0 Always hoping they don’t say, “You can’t miss it!”<\/p>\n

This woe-is-us commentary will set the stage for a short treatise on the importance \u00a0of clear and complete<\/em> source descriptions.\u00a0 \u00a0Full <\/em>bibliographical details including volume and page numbers.\u00a0 And a note as to the format<\/em> of the record–microfilm, digital version accessed directly from the catalog entry (with name of library where the collection is housed), printed book, handwritten manuscript…on and on and on.<\/p>\n

The Family History Expos Annual Research Retreat at the Family History Library just ended.\u00a0 This time, we had 30 researchers.\u00a0 And they were sophisticated enough to keep us all running to find the records they needed.\u00a0 After one day, I began to make notes about what to teach them next year and how to model the\u00a0results I wanted them to achieve this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notes on how to read the catalog and\u00a0what catalog details are needed to locate records on\u00a0library shelves.\u00a0 Notes on what details to record so they know what source they looked at, what information the record provided, and what details they need so they can find the record again.\u00a0 Notes on where to record these details.<\/p>\n

Some attendees had calendars and logs loaded on their laptops.\u00a0 And they simply filled in the blanks with pertinent details.\u00a0 Like the road signs on the freeway, if the blank is not provided–the\u00a0entry details\u00a0do not get recorded.\u00a0 Forms are really timesavers.\u00a0 You can fill in the fields without having to remember them off the cuff.\u00a0 And\u00a0you are oriented to forms in genealogy as few study fields are.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My advice:<\/strong>\u00a0 examine the forms you use, online and off.\u00a0 Do they carry all the fields you need, including a place to record the library where you searched the record.\u00a0 If not, find a place to put these details–all the details.\u00a0 OR, select a new data program that will allow you to expand data fields.\u00a0 Incomplete forms lead to incomplete information and dead-end ancestors.<\/p>\n

The old genealogy family group sheets did not include a blank for the place of the marriage nor the place of burial for the children.\u00a0 Whole generations have spun around seeking these very details to locate burials of elderly parents and new jurisdictions to research for\u00a0dead-end lines!\u00a0 Don’t let\u00a0this assumption that “everyone knows” stop your pedigree success.\u00a0 Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com<\/a><\/p>\n

PS\u00a0 I am gearing up for the 25th Annual Christmas Tour sponsored by Leland and Patty Meitzler–the first full week of December.\u00a0 There is still time to register and attend.\u00a0 Just think, you can have access to me and my research skills for a whole week.\u00a0 Live at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City UT and focused on your hard-to-find ancestors!\u00a0 Sign-up now for a great week at http:\/\/www.christmastour.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PPS\u00a0 I’m still on a borrowed computer.\u00a0 I’ve decided to become a tech with\u00a0my own\u00a0laptop and\u00a0 cell phone.\u00a0 Being\u00a0 subject to one digital provider is a real drag.\u00a0 If you have sent emails without an answer, please hang\u00a0in, there.\u00a0 My 5 weeks of travel have taken a toll on punctuality.\u00a0 I’ll see you al l get answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City Limits.\u00a0 What city.\u00a0\u00a0 1000 North.\u00a0 Where.\u00a0 The Federal Interstate System\u00a0 posted new signs all across the country\u00a0this last year to make their signage correspond more closely to GPS directions.\u00a0 And left off all the towns and cities from the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arleneeakle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}