Re: [Gramps-devel] markup in reports

[Brian M. <br...@gr...>]

> As a user of GRAMPS, I often have my laptop open while I
> talk to my older
> relatives. Their stream of consciousness "notes"
> often flow from one person
> to another. Over the new year, I was discussing ancestors
> with them, and
> needed a way of jumping quickly between people, taking
> notes as I went. I
> think users will very much appreciate direct edit.
> 
> -Doug

It's your data. So you are free to use whatever process works for you. But...

>From a genealogical research perspective, I would consider this bad practice. When your relatives are "discussing" ancestors, and you are capturing their words, you are performing an interview. And the results of that interview is the source of the information that you are putting in Gramps. As such, I would HIGHLY recommend that you take care to manage and archive your source content outside of Gramps - instead of inside Gramps as notes.

I use a word processor for the original interview. After the interview, I clean up the document. Then, I give it an appropriate date and name - like "Interview with Martha Corneila Smith - 2006-12-14". Then, I print the document and archive it with all the rest of my hard-copy sources. Additionally, I store the soft copy on my computer.

After I am happy with the form of the document, I add a source to Gramps that references the document. For the Repository, I usually put "Personal Collection of Brian Matherly".

After the source has been properly filed, and referenced by Gramps, then I extract the factual information out of it (birthday, anniversaries, etc) and enter that information into Gramps. Each entry in Gramps references the source I added previously.

This process works very well because it allows me to go back and double check my research if I ever question the accuracy of the data in Gramps. Additionally, if someone discovers my data on the internet and would like to see my source information, I can send them a copy of the document I originally produced. I have had this multiple times in the past.

Again, everyone is entitled to use whatever process works best for them. There is no need to defend your process. But I would discourage people from using notes to capture source information.

~Brian