* How to record more than bare facts?

[clionamhic]

I have come across some records for various ancestors that have prompted me to further research on the context in which these events happened. For example I found on a 1910 US census that a relation had served in the Union Navy in the American Civil War. From this I found a pension index card with the names of ships on which he served and battles in which he fought. I found a bit of background information on these ships and battles etc. along with photos or sketches of the ships.
Also a ggg grandfather who fought with the British during the American War of Independence. Again lots and lots of background information to be had.
So my question is - does anyone have suggestions on how to record this 'context information' in Family Historian please? I've downloaded the Military Facts template, but it basically just records the hard information (dates, regiments etc). Should I record the soft background information in a fact note - it seems to me that the fact notes are designed for brief one or two sentence notes (maybe I'm wrong on this?) - or should I write up my information in a Word document and link it to the person? I'd love to know how other people record or input this kind of information.
Thanks

[tatewise]

The general principle with all Facts that you enter is that they should be supported by Source document evidence.
So a Birth Event should Cite a Birth Certificate, a Marriage Event should Cite a Marriage Certificate, etc, etc.

See the FH Help > Book: "Getting the Most From Family Historian 5" especially Chapter 12 Recording Your Sources.

See also the how_to:index#beginners_guide|> Family Historian > Using and Recording Sources.

So you may need to create Custom Facts if you cannot find anything suitable in the FHUG Downloads, but each one should have a Citation linking it to a Source Record that can include a transcript in the Text From Source field and a link to a Multimedia image of the original Document and to a Repository Record identifying where the master Document is lodged.

[LornaCraig]

For historical events in an individual's life I use standard or custom facts to contain what you call the 'hard information', citing source documents such as censuses or military records in the usual way. In the note field for the fact I enter brief details but I also add 'See historial note on xxx', where xxx is the battle/industry/country or whatever in question.

Rather than keeping the background historical/contextual information in a Word document, I create a Note Record which can be linked to more than one individual if appropriate. The Text of the Note Record contains, in effect, what you are thinking of putting in a Word Document, but the advantage is that you can add sources to the Note Record. That way you can record where you got your background information from, and add multimedia images of ships, industrial machinery or whatever to the Source.

I find this approach makes it easier to see which sources provided the 'hard information' about the individual (cited against the facts) and which sources provided the background information.

[AdrianBruce]

... it seems to me that the fact notes are designed for brief one or two sentence notes (maybe I'm wrong on this?) ...

Goodness no. Notes can contain lengthy text, even though lots of people who write software seem not to realise it. Where else are you going to put the full details about an event?

Linked Word documents are not that helpful because they're "outside" FH's view and you've got to go off and read them. Quite aside from the fact that your sourcing for the text in them then gets separated from your sources in FH.

Sometimes I'll put context details in with the note for the event, sometimes in a separate linked note, as Lorna suggests. It partly depends on whether I think the context will be required by more than one person, or how the "printed" report will look.

Adrian

[tatewise]

Adrian Bruce asks:

Where else are you going to put the full details about an event?

Well assuming you use Sources, there are several Citation fields, and of course the Source Record itself.

I agree that Word documents should be avoided, partly because their format is not supported on all computers.

Adrian also said:

It partly depends on ... how the "printed" report will look.

This is an excellent and often overlooked point.

[LornaCraig]

It partly depends on ..... how the "printed" report will look.

Yes, this is another reason why I use shared Note Records. I think a large chunk of historical background information sits best at the end of a report, or at least the end of the secion on a particular individual. If it is in the Note field for a fact, it breaks up what might otherwise be a fairly compact summary of an individual's life. On the other hand if it is in the Text field of a Source record it looks out of place in the Sources section, which many people regard as purely for reference and don't bother to read in detail. Also, there is an option in (most?) reports to include/exclude shared Notes as required, while still displaying the individual record notes.

[AdrianBruce]

... [If] a large chunk of historical background information ... is in the Text field of a Source record it looks out of place in the Sources section, which many people regard as purely for reference ...

Indeed. I'd go further than that and say it is purely for reference about the source materials. Similarly, the various citation fields are for information about how the particular source relates to the fact that it's linked to - and historical background information generally is different to those, so should not appear in those two places.

Of course, any rule bends if pushed in certain directions. If you were copying a chunk of Wikipedia to record what happened to the Royal Blankshire Regiment, then that text would be appropriate for the Text field of a source record. The shared note could then contain a rephrased, summarised, blended extract-version of the text for sharing between your X ancestors who were soldiers in the Blanks. (Because we wouldn't plagiarise Wikipedia, would we? )

[clionamhic]

Thank you all for the very helpful replies. It hadn't dawned on me to use Note Records - I think this sounds like an excellent idea, especially as I can add sources to it. I also take the point about how this text will appear on reports.
I've been concentrating on adding sources (retrospectively ) to my project and hadn't even noticed the Notes tab beside the Individuals, Sources and Repository tabs.
Is it possible to link a Note Record to a fact and/or person, and if so how is this done?
Thanks again.

[LornaCraig]

Is it possible to link a Note Record to a fact and/or person, and if so how is this done?

Note Records (referred to in some contexts as Shared Notes) can be linked to whole records of any other type, but not to facts. To quote from the FH Help files:

"...if you wish to make a note that is applicable to more than one Individual, Family, Source or Repository - or to a combination of records of different types - you should create the note as Note record, and link it to all the relevant records. For example, you might wish to make a note about an important house - who acquired it, when, who did they acquire it from, who modified it, who sold it … and so on. You can link to new or existing Note records by clicking on the Add Note button on the tab toolbar, when viewing the Notes tab in the Property Box, for the record you wish to link the note to."

When you have clicked the Add Note button, choose the 'Add link to Note Record' option. You will then be able to select an exisiting Note Record or create a new one. Here a word of warning might be useful: If you create a new Note Record via this route you will be typing the text in the Notes tab of the Property Box of the Individual/Family you are linking it to (which doesn't matter, as it will still create a Note Record for you) but any Source citations you add in that context will only apply to the linking of the Note to that particular Individual/Family etc. They will not apply to the Note Record itself. This is a rather obscure point, but can be demonstrated by adding a citation to Source X in the Notes tab of the Individual's Property box and then switching to the Note Record itself in its own Property Box, and adding a citation to Source Y. The different sources show up different contexts.

I find it is safest to create a Note Record independently first, via Add > Shared Note or by right-clicking in the Notes Record Window, and add any source citations to the Note Record before linking it to other records. Then I can be sure that any Sources are firmly attached to the Note itself. I have yet to find a situation in which I might want to cite different Sources when linking the same Note to different people!

(I have also yet to find a situation in which I need a Note Record which has a Source which itself has a Note Record... ! )

[PeterR]

Is it possible to link a Note Record to a fact and/or person, and if so how is this done?

It is possible to link the Note record to a Source record. It is then possible to link this Source record to any number of Facts as well as to Individual and Family records.

[tatewise]

It is perfectly possible to add a Note Record directly to any Fact and many other items too.

Just use the All tab and right-click on the Fact or Family link and select Add Note > Add Link to New/Existing Note Record.

I suspect it is possible to add a Note Record to any GEDCOM item that can have a local Note.
This includes any whole Record, any Name, any Fact, any Parent/Spouse family link, any Citation.

Lorna Craig said:

Also, there is an option in (most?) reports to include/exclude shared Notes as required, while still displaying the individual record notes.

I looked at the three most popular Reports: Individual Summary, Family Group Sheet, and Individual Narrative.
Unless I am mistaken, and apart one special exception, they all lump local Notes with linked/shared Note Records.
The exception is Individual Narrative that allows Inc. Shared Notes, but when included they also can only be lumped with the associated local Notes.

I could find no way to put Record Notes at the end of a Report or separate them from local Notes.

[LornaCraig]

It is possible to link the Note record to a Source record. It is then possible to link this Source record to any number of Facts as well as to Individual and Family records.

Ah, yes. But then you end up with the Note in the Sources section of the report, rather than the main body of the report. This does demonstrate the flexibility of FH and the Gedcom set-up, though: A Note record can cite a Source, and a Source record can have a linked Note record, so the connection between them can be set up in either direction.

Just use the All tab and right-click on the Fact or Family link and select Add Note > Add Link to New/Existing Note Record.

Yes, I had forgotten about adding the link via the All tab. It’s not mentioned in the paragraph I quoted from the Help files and it was too late at night to think straight!

Lorna Craig said:

Also, there is an option in (most?) reports to include/exclude shared Notes as required, while still displaying the individual record notes.

I looked at the three most popular Reports: Individual Summary, Family Group Sheet, and Individual Narrative.
Unless I am mistaken, and apart one special exception, they all lump local Notes with linked/shared Note Records.....
I could find no way to put Record Notes at the end of a Report or separate them from local Notes.

Sorry, I should have said ”... while still displaying the fact (event/attribute) notes”.
The Local notes and Shared Notes are placed together in a report, but I think that is reasonable. Both types of note are likely to contain general information about the individual, or family, as a whole, rather than about specific events or attributes. And because they are placed after the list of facts you don't get a large chunk of general/historical text in the middle of a summary of someone's life.
Yes, if the report contains more than one individual the Note will not appear at the end of the report but only at the end of the section on the individual. That’s why I said in my earlier reply
“I think a large chunk of historical background information sits best at the end of a report, or at least the end of the section on a particular individual.”

All three Narrative Reports distinguish between Event/Attribute notes, (Local) Record notes and Shared Notes. The event/attribute notes can be included or excluded regardless of whether other types of note are included. Local Record Notes can be included without Shared Notes. What I hadn’t noticed is that the converse is not true: although the Report Options allow for inclusion of Shared Notes without (local) Record Notes, this option does not appear to work. Is this a bug?

[tatewise]

Lorna talks about "All three Narrative Reports ..."

I think you are confirming what I found.
The Inc. Shared Notes option has NO effect in isolation.
It only works in conjunction with Inc. Event/Attr Notes, Record Notes, Marriage Notes, and Spouse Record Notes.
If any of those options are ticked then you get their associated local Notes unconditionally.
If the Inc. Shared Notes option is also ticked, then the ones that are ticked ALSO get their associated Shared Record Notes if any.
But if none of those options are ticked, then ticking Inc. Shared Notes adds nothing.

So taking Facts as an example, the associated local Notes and any associated Shared Record Notes will all be include in the initial body of the Report along with all the other Facts.
If the Shared Record Notes are some extensive context details then they will overload the paragraph.
Similar examples apply to Citation Notes and Source Notes, etc.

So it is important to know how Reports handle Notes, and recognise that while it is possible to add Record Notes in many places you cannot exercise much control over where they get reported.

[LornaCraig]

So taking Facts as an example, the associated local Notes and any associated Shared Record Notes will all be include in the initial body of the Report along with all the other Facts.
If the Shared Record Notes are some extensive context details then they will overload the paragraph.
Similar examples apply to Citation Notes and Source Notes, etc.

So it is important to know how Reports handle Notes, and recognise that while it is possible to add Record Notes in many places you cannot exercise much control over where they get reported.

It might be helpful if the terminology in FH were tightened up a bit. For example, you can create a Note via Add > Shared Note but when you link it to a record via the notes tab of a Property Box you select the option to Add link to Note Record.

The Narrative Report Options refer to Record Notes (otherwise known as Local Record Notes), and Shared Notes (which are otherwise known as linked Note Records). When you say Shared Record Notes I assume you mean (Shared) Note Records? When you say Record Notes I assume you mean Local Record Notes?

As far as I can tell, Local Record Notes always get reported after the section containing all the individual’s/family’s facts. And the Shared Notes, aka Note Records, I use are only for general background information so I never link them directly to facts, only to whole records. So they too are always reported after the section containing facts, never within that section. That gives me enough control over where they are reported for my own purposes, but I agree that it would become a bit of a minefield if you had some Shared Notes associated directly with facts.

[tatewise]

Lorna, I agree with everything you say, and all your assumptions are correct.
I only mention linking Note Records to Facts because it was requested by clionamhic.

[clionamhic]

Thank you all for such a comprehensive response to my (first) query on this forum. I am genuinely impressed, and your replies and the information contained therein just reinforce my impression of Family Historian 5 as the very best family history software on the market. FH3 was my first genealogy software several years ago and having tried Rootsmagic and FTM 2012 (both of which have their merits) in the intervening period, I appreciate the extensive capabilities of FH5 all the more.