* Recording Diary Entries

[mitcheip]

As part of my move from TMG to FH I have decided to review all of the data/Exhibits I have for direct line ancestors and I have to say I'm surprised how much "stuff" I have collected over the last 20+ years that hasn't been recorded, and I have only done myself, parents and started grandparents.

Anyway one thing I have come across are my Dad diaries that cover the World War II period which are great because they give actual dates and places that confirm and add extra detail to his service record. (I want to map his movements during the war period). There are things in the dairies that I think are worthy of recording that are not covered by the standard facts. Some examples are:- applying to join the RAF and being rejected, (too young), buying his first car, time spent in hospital, meeting my mother for the first time, where he spent his leave whilst stationed abroad.

So my question would be how should I record these events in FH? Some would be individual facts, some "family" facts, some requiring witnesses. I could record them as a custom "miscellaneous" events but it would be good to get some ideas from people who have already recorded this sort of data.

[jimlad68]

I have pondered on this for individuals for which there is a lot of data (Either like your example or where they have written a potted "My Story" or someone in the public eye). My concern would be that it would "flood" your genealogy program, reports etc.

I am inclined to put the main detail and especially dates in the genealogy database but then link/ refer to more substantial documents like a set of diary transcripts (or a document created from the detail), collection of newspaper articles, life story etc.

[tatewise]

Yes, the alternatives depend partly on whether similar Facts might occur with other people, and partly on what type of Reports you plan to produce.

Certainly create one or more Source Records for the Diary, and include Text From Source transcripts, plus scanned Media images of the pages. The reason for splitting over more than one Source Record is to manage their appearance in the Sources section of Reports, where listing the entire Diary for one cross-reference may be overwhelming.

As for Facts, then there are a number of choices. Try and use Standard Facts where possible, e.g. the purchase of a car could be recorded using the Possessions Attribute. Otherwise, common events such as hospital stays might warrant a Custom Medical History Fact although Notes and the Narrative Sentence might need customising for each case. Other details can either have specific Custom Facts or a general purpose Diary Fact with customised Notes and Narrative Sentences.

[AdrianBruce]

I suggest that you should think how you want to access the information that you are putting into FH. Do you think that you might want to pull off a list of all buying their first car events? Do you think you might want to pull off a list of all events when one of your relatives was wounded in battle?

If the answers are no and yes respectively (and feel free to decide differently) then you need a specific event type for Wounded but not one for Car Purchase. Even if there is no Car Purchase event type, you surely need to record data somewhere. You might use another, more general, event type (such as the possession one as Mike suggests). You might use a note against either the person or another event somehow linked.

Another aspect is how reports get printed - so if you never generate "printed" reports, ignore this bit. Originally I had a Military Service fact and lots of separate ones for events during their service. Trouble was that the first thing printed was to tell you when they started and finished, followed by a series of sentences about minor aspects of their service (from the Note for this fact) - and then it went right back to the start of their service career with their first promotion (say). Not what I wanted to see so I just put nearly all the details into the Note for the Military Service fact, rather than into their own fact.

Everyone will come to a different conclusion. You just have to decide for yourself - and considering the effect on the output is crucial, I suggest.

[tatewise]

Adrian has eloquently expanded on my thinking behind the first sentence in my reply.

[mitcheip]

Thanks for the input on this one.

Apart from my own use the major external use of my data will be to a Web Site on disc for family and relations. TMG had a companion product called Second Site that produced really good web sites. I haven't delved into FH web site functionality yet. I think my next step will be sit and look at the reports FH provides and what the Diary data might look like by entering a few Facts. Then I need to dig into the FH web site functionality to see if it gives me what I'm looking for.

Thanks again.

[tatewise]

You may be interested in the March 10/11 postings near the end of Creating a web site with FH (12356) regarding Second Site.