Getting to Grips with The Master Genealogist – Part 3:Progress update

Apr 232012
 
TMG

I am starting to think that I should have called this series “Struggling with The Master Genealogist”. I certainly struggled with entering my source information this morning after having a break from TMG for a couple of weeks.

Whilst I had decided to tackle the TMG one area at a time, that can be difficult as different aspects are inter-linked. My task for this week was to enter all my BMD certificates correctly as sources, and cite them correctly. On reflection I realised it made sense to scan them, and attach the images as exhibits at the same time, and then file them in my newly acquired certificate binder. This meant that I needed to not only come up with a naming convention for the sources in TMG, but also for my computer files.

 

What have I achieved?

Whilst I had envisaged entering all my certificates in one session, that was unrealistic. I have entered certificates for one branch of the family and will continue to do so in batches.

For the certificates I entered today I have:

  1. scanned the certificate and saved the image to the Exhibit directory
  2.  named the document using the convention: SURNAME or MAIDEN NAME – FIRST NAME-MIDDLE NAME-TMG ID-YEAR OF DOC-DESCRIPTION
  3. edited the files in Irfanview and re-saved with a .jpg file extension so that it will be accepted by TMG
  4. set up a source in TMG using the naming convention for the Abbreviation: SOURCE TYPE CODE-SURNAME,FIRSTNAMES-YEAR-TITLE/DESCRIPTION
  5. attached the file as an exhibit to the source
  6. entered new BMD  events for individuals as needed and cited the source
  7. entered additional events to record occupation information on the certificates and copied the citations to these events
  8. added additional witnesses to events where appropriate, another benefit of using TMG
I am particularly pleased about the last two on this list, as these are the kind of the features that drew me to TMG.
I was unsure how much information from the certificates to include in the source citation, and having run some reports, I plan to go back and edit the citation detail fields. It has been beneficial to have entered a small batch first, so that I can assess the results before entering the remainder.

I have a perpetual feeling that I am probably doing everything wrong, but hopefully I am moving in the right direction.

 

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