Re: [PAF] Need Help with Sources.

[Richard L Halliday <rlhgen@juno.com>]

Joy Finch wrote:
Hello List. 
This is the first time for me to write to the list so If I do this wrong,
Please be gentle with this Newbie. I downloaded PAF 4.0 last week and I
need help with Sources.
1. I have collected a lot of documents. Birth, Death, Marriage etc. On
each Doc I put a personal Doc #. Mar 001, Dea 001, and so on. My question
is: When filling out the Source Screen, where would I enter this #?
2. When entering a census record, I would like to put all the names that
is on that record. Would I put those names in the Comment Section? 
If anyone has a great way of entering the source information and would
like to share it with me, I sure would appreciate it. I would like to get
over this learning curve and then get on with entering these 200+
Documents.
Thanks
Joyce Fitch
                  *************************
Joyce;
The PAF manual (downloadable and readable with Adobe) does give some help
with source citations (commonly referred to as "Sources"). I recommend
that you get a copy of "Family History Documentation Guidelines". It was
written specifically for PAF 4, but it works very well for PAF 5 as the
source citation scheme is almost unchanged.
Although this document contains many illustrations of PAF 4 screens, it
was not written by the Family History Department, but the Silicon Valley
PAF Users Group. They are selling it from their web site:
http://svpafug.org/sys-tmpl/door/. At their site select "Online Store"
and then "Documentation Guidelines". The cost for 1-9 is $10.00 each, for
10-24 is $8.75 each, and for 25-99 is $7.50 each. They are a registered
non-prophet organization and are not making any money on this
publication. They simply saw a need for this book and wrote it. The
postage is paid in the US. I am not associated with them since I moved to
Oregon in 1998 and have no financial interest in the book. My name is on
the list of contributors as I headed the committee to write it. However,
when I moved away from California, the book was extensively changed, and,
in my opinion, improved.
This book has a full explanation how to enter source citations in PAF 4.
There are many examples and nine tables with useful information such as
Frequently Used Source Entries, Frequently Used Repositories, etc. It is
over 100 pages of help. Chapters treat subjects such as What is a
Genealogy Research Source, What is a Genealogy Research Note, How to
Create Source Entries, PAF Source Template Guidelines, Source Examples,
Data Entry Guidelines for Names, and more. It is spiral bound so you can
fold it back on itself and it will lay flat next to your keyboard.
Now to your specific questions.
1. Private document numbers. When I began genealogical research I filed
my documents using a similar method. Now I file them by surname group
(e.g., Vest, Phillips, ets), then by document type (e.g., Marriage,
Christening, Burial, Census, etc.), and then chronologically. But no
matter. Personally I would use the Comments field of the Citation Detail
for those numbers. They are unique to your filing system. They help you
to find the document, but they do not help outsiders to find the source
you used.
2. Census Records (and other records which have information for a number
of people – e.g., obituaries). I would put this information in the
Citation Detail using the Actual Text button where I copy the content of
all of my sources. Then I would use the Memorize Citation button. This
copies every bit of a citation. When you want to use the exact same
citation elsewhere you only need to click on the Use Memorized Source
button. It is a great time saver! I like this one feature so much that I
now refuse to use PAF 4 even though I must print my reports on my colour
inkjet printer instead of on my laser printer.
I hope this has been of some help.

Richard L. Halliday

                    rlhgen@juno.com

Memory is less a record of things as they were than as we would have
liked them to have been.  Genealogists Beware!
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