In addition to –
or sometimes in contrast with – the Family History Center guidelines, here
are some of the conventions I use:
Dates
-
Always choose the "05 Mar 1997" format for readability, brevity and clarity.
-
Never disable the double-date option. Double dates have an important purpose.
-
Use "stillborn, child, infant" as death date where appropriate.
-
Use date range for birth dates of groups: "(3-sibs) Brown 1901-1922" to
indicate range of birth dates.
-
Try to provide estimated date ranges for unknown dates.
-
Avoid open ended ranges (e.g. bef. 1922) where possible. Such ranges cover
LOTS of territory!
Gender
-
Use "?" where gender is unknown or where single entry stands for several
people (e.g. "(3-sibs)")
Names
-
When using initials, always include the period to distinguish from
single character names, e.g. "Harry S Truman".
-
When using the a/k/a, enter a whole name for proper indexing.
-
Use Title for terms of address: Dr., Sir, Lt., Duke &c
-
Use name suffix (following a comma) for:
-
Designator: "Jr.", "III"
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Locality: ", of Northumberland"
-
Trades: ", Carpenter"
Separate multiple suffixes by commas using the above precedence.
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Use "(unmarried)" as name for spouse; Prints nicely in reports.
-
Use "(n-sibs)" as given name for children where details are unavailable
or unwanted. Forces into next generation display of GenRpts.
-
Where wife's birth surname is unknown use husband's surname in parentheses:
"Hillary (Clinton)". This form may be used for widows' remarriages as well.
-
Use "\\" to indicate unknown or absent surname
-
Delimit complex surnames by "\\"
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FHC guidelines, provided by Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr. |
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Places
-
Use "town, county, state" format
-
Keep place for unknowns: "_, Dutchess, NY" for Dutchess County.
-
Use standard 2-letter postal abbreviations for states.
-
Use standard 3-letter abbreviations for countries.
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It's important to use the underscore as a place-holder
for the town. There is a bug in FTM that deletes a lonely leading comma
when exporting to GEDCOM files. |
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