Re: GED merge

[John R Harrington <johnh@cinti.net>]

Bryce W. Harrington wrote:
> 
> Hi Ken,
> 
> I'm forwarding this to the group because the issues you brought up
> affect all of us, and I figure everyone ought to have a chance to chime
> in with their opinions/ideas.
> 
> Just to bring everyone else up to speed - Ken volunteered to help with
> the Gedcom database, and I suggested he try merging a couple gedcoms so
> he could see what kinds of problems will crop up...
> 
> > From harringk@battelle.org Tue Apr 15 06:43 PDT 1997
> > From: Kenneth H Harrington <harringk@battelle.org>
> > Subject: GED merge
> > To: bryce@alumni.caltech.edu
> >
> >
> >      Bryce,
> >
> >      I did not totally disappear on you.  I will be glad to start on the
> >      northern lines.  Although, John is my first cousin and I don't think
> >      he would mind if I tried the southern.  Even though my personal line
> >      is southern, my interest is in both.
> 
> That's fine with me.  The northern lines will be more work because there
> are more gedcoms (from more people) and because of the spelling
> variations.
> 
> >      As you can tell from my absence for a while, I periodically have to
> >      travel on business.  During those times, I get very little of my
> >      personal business done.  That is why I waited so long to volunteer.
> >      However, since no one else has offered to help, I'll give you what I
> >      can.
> 
> I'll take what I can get!  ;-)  And there's no real rush to get it done.
> 
> >      I have gotten into the merge a little and see the need for
> >      conventions.  I did not want to get too far without your approval,
> >      concurrence or guidance.  Here are some of the issues.
> >
> >      Sources - For all birth, death, marriage, etc. information, I plan to
> >      point back to the source GED regardless of validity.  This may give us
> >      real problems in that we may get some obviously wrong information.
> >      This will be particularly true with links back to England.
> >
> >      Conflicting general sources - General sources are a little more
> >      difficult.  One GED's general source says all info came from Book 1.
> >      The second GED's general source says all info came from Book 2.  The
> >      birth dates do not match.  My inclination is to point information back
> >      to the root GED and get rid of general sources.  That way the
> >      researcher can go back to the source GED to find where that author got
> >      his/her information.  What do you think?
> 
> There are two things I consider vital that get included: the submitter
> name and the source.  The reason for the former is so that when people
> on the net find a surname they want more info on, they'll be able to
> contact the right person and not have to go through me.  The reason for
> the latter is that otherwise the data is at best hearsay and at worse
> useless.
> 
> For the event sources, I agree that pointing back to the original gedcom
> is a good solution, but only if the original didn't list a source for
> it.  There are only a few of us that use event sources - I suspect not
> every genealogy program supports them.
> 
> For conflicting general sources, I would recommend the following:
> Use the is most appropriate, and in the Notes section of the gedcom give
> a note listing the alternate source and the conflicting information.
> That way the data is preserved and lets the genealogist know that there
> is disagreement on the matter.
> 
> I know this is a pain, but I think it's important and needs to be done.
> Fortunately most of the conflict will be with Benjamin H. and his
> children and grandchildren, so at least the difficulty will be
> localized.
> 
> >      Variant last names - Here's a real problem.  I can put multiple
> >      variations in the list.  However, if I do that they will not be easily
> >      searched.  If various GEDs list Benjamin Harenden, Benjamin
> >      Harrington, Benjamin Harendeen, Benjamin Herndon, etc., how do you
> >      propose I list the variations?  I could choose one and add a note.  I
> >      could list them all in the name field, but in which order?  This one's
> >      up to you.
> 
> This is what I've done in the past: Keep a few main spellings
> (Harrington, Herrington, Harington, and [Herndon? Harendeen?
> Herendeen??]; then change other spellings to match one of these.
> Finally, put up to one additional variation of the name under the AKA
> field.
> 
> Now, what we do this time around is open to debate.  We certainly need
> to narrow the number of names used in the database; otherwise it'll be
> impossible to find where an individual is "filed".  But we do want to
> preserve the proper name progression where and when possible.
> 
> >      Multiple parents - One GED says Joe's parents were John DOE and Mary
> >      DEAR.  The second says John DOE and Patience WRIGHT.  My software
> >      allows multiple parents so that I can link Joe with two different
> >      mothers.  Other software that I have had in the past would not.  How
> >      do you want to handle?
> 
> >      Multiple birth, death, marriage, etc. dates - Similar problem.  Option
> >      1 - My program allows them in multiple records which are easily
> >      referenced.  Other programs may not. Option 2 - Do you want multiple
> >      dates in one record?  This second option is a lot more difficult.
> 
> This is a tough one.  My only suggestion would be as before - pick the
> one that seems most appropriate and put the other into the notes
> section.  This is what Toby Dills does and it seems to work quite well.
> 
> >      I am sure that there are more problems to be encountered.  These are a
> >      few to date.  What do you think?
> >      Ken
> 
> Good!  You've run into the same types of problems that I have; guess you
> can see how doing this merging business can get tough.
> 
> I hope that some of the professional genealogists on the list can clue
> us in on the proper ways of doing this.
> 
> Bryce

Ken & Bryce go for it.  I'm still trying to get settled down in
my new home.  Ken Saron Herrington sent me a bunch of Southern
GEDCOM's, if you want, I'll forward them to you.  I was collecting
them.

John
-- 

John R. Harrington

WebMaster:
Southern Harrington Research WebSite
http://www.cinti.net/~johnh