Family Historian User Group

I have been using the product Online Research Assistant (ORA) created by John Cardinal. It greatly speeds up the generation of sources and citations for those websites that have an ORA capability. If one uses Ancestry for example, you need only create a boilerplate source once based on the source ID, invoke it when you need that source, and ORA will produce a citation based on a template that the user has created or a shared template. The whole process, for any template that you use, takes seconds to produce a citation, based on any citation model you choose. For some genealogy programs, it will automatically generate a source and citation, and populate the genealogical program database, although I have not used it myself. Take the following example direct from Ancestry:
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Source Citation

Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 25; Census Place: 25, Neepawa, Manitoba; Page Number: 10

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1921 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013.

Original data: Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. Series RG31. Statistics Canada Fonds.
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The "Source Information" and the "Original data" form the basis of the actual source for this collection - it is static and could be copied into a source in FH - just once.

The "Source Citation" can be generated by an ORA template. This is what I have generated automatically for TMG with formatting Codes:

Reference Number: [ITAL:]RG 31[:ITAL]; Folder Number: [ITAL:]25[:ITAL]; Census Place: [ITAL:]25, Neepawa, Manitoba[:ITAL]; Page Number: [ITAL:]10[:ITAL]. Entry for Willie Lacharite; Enumeration District: [ITAL:]31[:ITAL]; Sub-District Number: [ITAL:]29[:ITAL]; Residence Street or Township: [ITAL:]20[:ITAL]; Family Number: [ITAL:]105[:ITAL]; Household Members: [ITAL:]Melvina Lacharite, Amadda Lacharite, Ernest Lacharite, Oscar Lacharite, Helen Lacharite, Annette Lacharite, Peter Lacharite, Alexander Lacharite[:ITAL]. Accessed: 12 Feb 2021; URL($): https://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse. ... &h=7510351.

How and where do I populate the source/citation screen so that I automatically get a citation that looks something like this:

Ancestry.com. 1921 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013. Citing Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. Series RG31. Statistics Canada Fonds. Citing Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 25; Census Place: 25, Neepawa, Manitoba; Page Number: 10; Reference Number: [ITAL:]RG 31[:ITAL]; Folder Number: [ITAL:]25[:ITAL]; Census Place: [ITAL:]25, Neepawa, Manitoba[:ITAL]; Page Number: [ITAL:]10[:ITAL]. Entry for Willie Lacharite; Enumeration District: [ITAL:]31[:ITAL]; Sub-District Number: [ITAL:]29[:ITAL]; Residence Street or Township: [ITAL:]20[:ITAL]; Family Number: [ITAL:]105[:ITAL]; Household Members: [ITAL:]Melvina Lacharite, Amadda Lacharite, Ernest Lacharite, Oscar Lacharite, Helen Lacharite, Annette Lacharite, Peter Lacharite, Alexander Lacharite[:ITAL]. Accessed: 12 Feb 2021; URL($): https://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse. ... &h=7510351.

The total time to generate a citation like this, or any other citation for that matter, takes two mouse clicks and one paste, about 5-7 seconds max. Once you create the template for the collection you will always get the same consistent type of source/citation. Can anyone tell me how to integrate the ORA output into FH.

Rick,
I have been using ORA on version 6 from June last year, and was slowly making my way through creating auto-templates, typically for Ancestry, FamilySearch and the GRO UK. Since upgrading to FH version 7 I have been updating my old scripts and trying out new methods using Generic Sources and Citations, as I think it would be quicker than me having to learn lua to be able to write the DEAs! FH unfortunately does not have all the keyboard shortcuts to enable complete automation.
Still got a long way to go, but as you say, once you have a template in place, it is just seconds to get a Citation produced in a standardised way and updated into the Citation Where Used , Text from Source and Notes fields, based on the Ancestry data. I have not used it to create a new Source yet, but am Citing existing Generic sources.

I wonder how many others on the Forum are using ORA, the Online Repository Assistant?

I just created my first generic source/citation template and then used that to create my first new source and citation. I have tested it out and thus far it appears to meet my needs and be compatible with ORA. My next job is to re-write some of my ORA templates to remove some of the formatting that was particular to TMG and see if it will work when I add some of the FH formatting codes to produce the desired results. Time and more testing will tell.
Rick

I am a relatively new user of both ORA and FH7, but I've played around with the former using RootsMagic 7. I had written quite a few Auto Type Templates for various websites and databases, which ORA could then directly input into RM7 since it was a listed 'Target Application'. Fortunately ORA does seem to support FH7 (although only v6 is listed as a target, but it seems to work all the same).

I have now set up custom source templates in FH7 for most of my frequently accessed source types. I suspect I will write ORA Auto Type Templates for them that begin from the point of having created (or selected) a source based on one of my custom templates in FH7, allowing ORA to fill in the citation details only. The only control sequence that I have used thus far is {TAB} (and {TAB*3} for multiple key presses) but that seems to work fine to move between the citation fields in my FH7 source record.

I have not yet experimented with trying to get ORA to move between tabs in the FH7 source record window or do anything more advanced, but I imagine there are keyboard shortcuts or alt codes that would assist in that regard.

Just my two cents for anyone curious about my workflow!

Hello readers especially Rick,
I have been using ORA for about two years now and it has saved me a lot of time. Also the import is now more accurate although if the Citations etc are setup correctly some information can be lost.
Having said that one input on Family History 7 has eluded me since version 6. That is with the citation their is an input called 'Repository'. This I have to input by clicking on the rectangle, looking down to find the repository that I want. Have not been able to input 'Findmypast' automatically which is where I find most of the data at present. There is a gear symbol which I only know how to access with the use of the mouse.
If anybody out there knows different please let me know.
Genie 15

Genie15 wrote: ↑

12 Dec 2021 18:39

Hello readers especially Rick,
I have been using ORA for about two years now and it has saved me a lot of time. Also the import is now more accurate although if the Citations etc are setup correctly some information can be lost.

Genie 15,

Can you expand on your comment above? I don't know what "import" you mean, nor how you would lose information when using ORA. ORA extracts data from web pages and gives you tools to move that data quickly and easily to another program. I suppose data loss is possible if you create a template that refers to the wrong field(s).

If you are having trouble with an ORA template, please send me a direct message or join the ORA-L mailing list as discussing those details here is off-topic.

Genie15 wrote: ↑

12 Dec 2021 18:39

Having said that one input on Family History 7 has eluded me since version 6. That is with the citation their is an input called 'Repository'. This I have to input by clicking on the rectangle, looking down to find the repository that I want. Have not been able to input 'Findmypast' automatically which is where I find most of the data at present. There is a gear symbol which I only know how to access with the use of the mouse.
If anybody out there knows different please let me know.
Genie 15

Are you asking if the choosing a repository in FH7 can be automated in ORA?

There are various ways of creating a Repository record in FH v7:

• Use the Add > Repository command.
• In the Records Window, on the Repositories tab, right-click a blank area of window and choose New Repository.
• Click on the cog to the right of any Repository field and choose Select Repository. In the Select Repository dialogue, there is a New... button at the bottom ~ guess what that does.
• In Ancestral Sources there is a Link a repository... button that allows new repositories to be created.
• FHUG Knowledge Base Repository Records mentions some of the above.