How to enter census events?
I'm new to Legacy 8 and wonder if anyone has advice for how to enter Census Events. What do you put in the Notes section and how do you format the information?
We started out as a Google+ Community - it is closing down so we have migrated here to Blogger. This will be the place for 6+ years worth of posts and comments (an archive of sorts) as well as the place to dish up current questions, comments, and tips about our genealogy software of choice, Legacy Family Tree.
ReplyDelete'Hi and welcome to Legacy! I like to put the census info in the Notes section so that I can tell at a glance who was in the household for that year. So, I'd say:
In 1940 the household consisted of:
1) John Smith, head, 41, married .....
2) Mary Smith, wife, 38.....
3) Billy Smith, son, 16, ......
etc, But, I include all the info I record for each census: occupation, birth place, etc.
Kathy
Linda - a couple quick questions - Are you new to Legacy or have you updated from version 7? If a different program - what did you enter there? Do you transcribe or abstract your census elsewhere? Do you link the census with the media pat of the program?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I ask is that we usually have a system or method that we want to see from our events - so I wonder what yours is. That said, I put the following information (lines, dwelling, family and address - followed by the household members, they are numbered as they appear on the document and I include their name, their relationship, gender, race, age, marriage information, schooling, literacy, place of birth, parents' place of birth, arrival, citizenship, language, employment, military, etc.)
I abstract the census because I have a template for what I include. If I have notes or corrections I put them at the end of the entry (a line separating that) in brackets. I don't use the description in the first four data entry items - I noticed you did - be sure to take a look at how your sentence reads (you will see census twice) . I have edited the event sentence definition so that it reads (whose ever event it belongs to) "Richard appeared on the census enumerated on 1 Apr 1930 in Seattle, King, Washington, USA." and that is followed by my abstracted information. I prefer to use the enumeration date and no description - but that is a matter of personal preference.
Why not abstract a census and then run a family group sheet or other report in preview to see what it looks like. Then you can tweak it so that your reports will be formatted and read as it works for you.
Tessa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the quick response. I'm new to Legacy 8 and it is the only version I've used. I had my records in PAF and wanted to try some other software with more features. I'm entering data in both Legacy & PAF right now because I want to be certain that I like Legacy.
I had never entered Census data in PAF and unfortunately have never taken the time to transcribe/abstract census data. I do save the census images on my computer.
Linda
Kathy Cardoza Kathy, Thanks for the reply and for including the sample.
ReplyDeleteIs the info you put in the notes field searchable?
~Linda
Legacy includes a sample file. If you are experimenting with a "process" use the sample file and pick any individual. Then if you don't like how it looks, it won't "mess up" your own file and you don't have to bother trying to correct or remove it. I always use the sample file for learning new things. Geoff wouldn't recognize his own family anymore!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is searchable....
ReplyDelete1st condition
Whom: Individual / Where: Event-Name / How: Contains / What: Census
2nd condition
Whom: Individual / Where: Event-Notes / How: Contains / What: 'The data you are searching for'
With 3rd condition you could limit to one census year, for example -
Whom: Individual / Where: Event-Date / How: Contains / What: 1880
Also, what you put in the "notes" on the event section can be seen on the Chronology report (the timeline). This is handy when you want to look at an individuals timeline to see if all is well or there are some irregularities! I utilize this section quite a bit.
ReplyDelete