Genealogy Project - A Reboot

Due to some computer issues, I've recently purchased the most recent version of Family Tree Maker.  While there are definitely some problems with the Family Tree Maker line (which we won't go into here), after restoring the family file, I realized that I had, in my attempt to collect names, failed to keep a clean file.

For example, certain sources were essentially web-based indexes.  Some of these citations may have been accurate.  However, my goal was to have a well-sourced genealogy, and when looking through, I realized that some of the sources I used probably didn't fit.  In my very first post, I mentioned that I wanted source to be viable.  I didn't think, in retrospect, that some of the sources that I used were.

The second thing was that Family Tree Maker now allows for a description field in facts - one which allows for the input of a location, and then a description.  This, in and of itself, is one of the main things which made me decide to "rebuild" the Genealogy Project.  For one thing, Family Tree Maker tries to place things on the map based on the location field.  In some instances, the location was XYZ Church, in State.  I wanted to maintain all such documentation in the file, so that became the location, and was, in the end, something that Family Tree Maker ("FTM" from here on out) couldn't work with.  The new version allows me to input a place, and put churches, hospitals, etc., in the description field, thereby retaining all the information without creating problems of unknown locations in the location field.

An added benefit of rebuilding the file is that I am rating each source citation used.  FTM has the four star system, which I am using for simplicity's sake, although I feel it leaves some things to be desired.  Nonetheless, it allows for a quick comparison between sources for purposes of quality.

I plan to get blogging again, if only to document the Genealogy Project approach, and I may start to share family information again as I get to interesting people or genealogical dead-ends.