Cues & Clues for AQ: documenting

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Documenting Sources in AQ: Using Notes

The last couple of AQ posts discussed how to document one's sources by either:
1) Selecting an Event and Attaching a Source or
2) Selecting the Source and Attaching it to an Event which is only available in AQ.

Inspite of the ease of either of these methods, many still choose to enter all their sources into 'Notes' for a variety of reasons:

The ease in sharing between programs as usually the sourcing fields don't line up between software programs but the notes do
It is easier
It is the way one has always done it
That is the way it was done when we first started using databases to store our genealogical information

Regardless of the reason, Ancestral Quest allows users to enter 'individual notes' and 'marriage notes'. The program is very much aware that everyone does things just a bit differently and tries to accomodate accordingly.

So just what is the main difference between taking the time to enter the information through sources part of the program or just simply entering the information in notes?

The difference is in the printed end results.

When you use sources they appear as 'footnotes' on your pedigree charts, family group sheets and reports similar to this:

Note the corresponding numbers next to the date in 'Born' matches the same number in the Notes section of this printed Family Group Sheet and this would be the same if it were a Pedigree Chart or a Report.

If you use notes, there would be no footnotes next to the date in 'Born' but one would see what was entered in the 'Notes section' at the end of the record.

When printing a Pedigree chart, you would have to put a check mark in the box 'General Notes' as you would for 'Sources' or they will not print out. For a Family Group Record those options are defaulted for you.

It is hoped this discussion on documentation has been helpful!

Remember comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...
Claire ;)
AQ Cues & Clues
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Monday, November 4, 2013

Documenting Research in AQ: Select an Event and Attach a Source

Both Family Historians and Genealogists connect generations together with documentation and usually it is a lot of documents for just one individual or a whole family. How this is handled can be like the nightmare in our picture, however, in AQ it is not that complicated and should never be put off for 'later', talking from experience, often 'later' doesn't come and the origins of that record source can be lost forever.

AQ is unique in that there are two different ways to handle attaching sourcing citations to events:

Select an event and attach a source to it
Select the source and attach it to the event (Only available in AQ!)

Using the family of Hopkin Matthews and Margaret Morris as our working examples, lets see how their marriage certificate is entered into the database. From this marriage certificate the husband's name is listed as Hopkin Mathews, so I would first enter his name into my database. Then I would click the S' button to the right of his name which allows me to enter a source for this record. This is the screen shot once you do that:

Here you have 2 choices:
1-Select an existing source from the list of sources
2-Create a new source

As I was not sure if there was a source listed already, I clicked the 'Create' button which brought up the next screen.

Important things concerning this screen:
1-Select a 'Type' for the source (Later when looking, you are just looking a marriage registration)
2-Attach a scan of the source which you can see a thumbnail of in this screen
3-Use the 'Guidelines' sections of the screen which shows what information goes in each section***
4-Use the 'magnifying glass' icon next to the Actual Text and Comments fields to give full-editing
5-Select a 'Quality' rating - is it Direct/Primary, or something else, choose the correct one
6-Use the 'Sample Footnote" at the bottom which shows how it will appear as a footnote
7-The 'Short Title' is what is used in subsequent references within the same report
8-'Additional Info' - add any additional information that would not normally be there but be helpful

***These 'Guidelines' or 'Prompts' are a great help to all of us wondering what to enter into each box, these prompts were created by studying the following books in 1997 and 1998:
1) Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Document Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey, Pub. 1985
2) Evidence Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Pub., 1997

Click OK when done, the source has now been created and the Source Citation Screen now is displayed.

For this type of record there is need to fill in any additional citation details so I am done. You could add a location of this record in your home with a reference number if you wish but otherwise just click 'OK'.

Next I need to add Hopkins' wife into my database. Following the above method, I click on the 'S' button next to Margaret's name and again I would be looking at the same screen as above, however, instead of choosing 'Create' I click on 'Select' as this source already exists. Select the same source from the list of sources and click 'OK' which opens up the 'Select Citation' screen again. Making sure the correct one is highlighted and click on 'Select from List'. This does not create a new citation, it will attach this new record to the same citation. This will cause the same footnote to appear for both Hopkin and Margaret.

Following this method will add your documentation greatly. Tomorrow we will review how to Select the source and attach it to the event , this is a method that is only available in Ancestral Quest!

Remember comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...

Claire ;)

AQ Cues & Clues

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