EMAILS:
Please read to the bottom of any email that comes in. The email which had the choice of dates for
this meeting also had a link to the newly updated manual that everyone should
have received. Many had not seen this
link. The manual was shared on drop box
and is also available on the snap.
The updated manual is now in the VCC MANUAL tab on the VCC
screens.
POW COMPLETE:
The POW sample is finished, so all inputters can add three
extra hours on their timesheets. We’ve
started Project 1 and have completed 33 veterans of 8500. We will work on it until January and then
start the USCT sample (4500 veterans) and work on them concurrently.
In order to get all the work done by the end of the grant,
we need to complete 75 veterans every week.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PROJECT 1:
Project 1 is the Union Army sample consisting of 8500 white
veterans. All of the veterans’ work in
this sample was done as many as 20 years ago when they only searched for the
veteran in 1850, 1860, 1900 and 1910, and they did not have ancestry to help
with searches. Some of these veterans
were re-done and updated in our Utah office a few years ago in the VCC database
and will have grids already made. For
those from our Census Re-Do project (that we call CEN REDO), the grid will be
made and the decades should be filled in
with NF or NS. You shouldn’t spend a lot
of time on these except to look for death information.
For those without grids made (done only once by the original
inputter), we will need to search the missing decades as well as look at the
soldier’s info already input and make corrections when needed. Some odd things show up:
· NY sometimes turned into OH
W is marked for race in 1850 and 1860 and should be taken out
Relation codes only went up to 9 (for example, sibling and step would have been Relation Code 4 and noted in remarks)
W is marked for race in 1850 and 1860 and should be taken out
Relation codes only went up to 9 (for example, sibling and step would have been Relation Code 4 and noted in remarks)
)
One other group from an additional Indiana/Wisconsin sample
should be up to current standards with grids made. Use your judgment if you think something
needs updating or ask if you are unsure.
If your veteran does not have children, write NO CHILDREN on the input log so that
Heather knows who to drop from the sample and how many she will need to add to
keep the number at 8500. If there are no
children, fix any problems with the veteran’s census and fill in any missing
decades for him that you can find. Then
stop and complete your input log.
Soldier work should not take longer than one hour.
THINGS YOU’LL NEED TO CHANGE ON PROJECT 1
·
Check the inputting for decades that are already
input
·
Make sure it’s the right guy
·
Add the URL to the screens and save the decade
to your veteran in the tree
·
If the URL is in the remarks box, move it to the
URL box (we didn’t used to have a URL field)
·
For 1850 and 1860, take off W in race
·
In 1850 and 1860 look at attended school and
make sure it was marked. Often it didn’t
get marked.
·
Take out the recidnum from the remarks
·
If in 1880, head of household isn’t marked 1,
please mark it.
·
If the child was given a fraction for age, it
will not show up. Please fix it. Fractions less than one are OK.
·
If the soldier shows up twice and the father is
missing, this is probably a veteran from the Walker data. It might have other
strange things too. If you don’t think you can fix it, please let someone know
who can help you.
·
If anything is confusing, please ask questions.
·
Some of those done in Utah under CEN REDO did
not have the MAR? column. We added that
option later. You should double check
that column for those who already have grids made.
We can’t assign you an entire company because Dora wants
them all searched in a particular order.
We’ll give you a list on your inputting log. You’ll have to search each by recidnum.
Soon we hope to be able to use Chris’s magic to capture the
indexed information into our screens so that we don’t have to input it. GEDCOM files will be improved also to include
the information that was input by the original inputter.
ABBREVIATIONS:
General inputting rule, if it’s there, put it in. Avenue can be written out. It is not incorrect to type what you
see. Checkers don’t have to take the
time to write down if the inputter didn’t abbreviate. Street and Saint are both abbreviated as ST,
but we should be able to tell what it is based on where it is (St. Augustine vs
Augustine St—the first is Saint the latter is street).
If it says District NO. 6, it’s OK to leave out NO (the
abbreviation for number). Please don’t
leave it out if NO stands for north.
FARMS:
FM should be input when it is found on the manuscript under
household number.
In 1930, if the manuscript says in the farm column that all
are farms, you can put a Y in the FARM field, or if it says none are farms at
the top of the page or in the column, you can input N.
RELATIONS:
Follow the same relation rules for the spouses as you do for
the soldier. Her family should be
Parent, Parent and Siblings to her.
On the manuscript if the relation is blank, you can leave it
blank on the screens rather than marking it unknown. [We used to mark unknown because a blank
would default to 0—step child, but this has been fixed.]. Remember, however, that the head of household
in 1880 was almost always left blank but should be input as 1, Head of Household.
OBIT SCREEN:
We’ll add a box for the social security number (SSN) so that
when you mark social security as a source of death records, a box will
open. Please input the social security
numbers. (This has been added, and if you don’t see it yet, clear your cache
and open the program again.)
It is OK to calculate the duration of the cause of death if
it is not given exactly in the form that you need for the screen. Occasionally you will see the date of onset
and the date of death. Calculate the
duration and input it appropriately.
Don’t worry about the length of contributory cause.
Names in the death certificate area on the obit screen
should be input like all other names: last
name, first name.
When there is detailed Find A Grave information such as an
obituary with parents names, places of birth, occupations, etc, do not try to
input this information in the death certificate screens. We decided to only collect this additional
information from death certificates in order to cut back on inputting time. The
link will be there if we want to go back and get more information later.
Mark all the death sources you find death information in,
but only include the two best links. Make sure you input all of the death
information you find, even if it isn’t all found on one source. If you find the FIND A GRAVE source through
Ancestry, you mark both of them as sources, but only put the link in for FIND A
GRAVE.
GRANDCHILDREN DEATH INFO:
When grandchildren’s death information is found in the same
cemetery with the children you are searching, you can input it in the obit screens.
IT IS NOT WRONG if you don’t. Use your discretion. If you are a slow inputter, don’t input this
information. It’s optional for faster people to input this information. Checkers should not write this up as a mistake
if they leave it out.
EXTRA KIDS:
If you find extra children of the veteran on a reliable
source (NOT a public family tree) like Find A Grave, a state census, or a birth
record with parents’ names where they are clearly labeled as children, then you
may add them to your grid and search for them.
Do not put in extra grandchildren on the grid if you happen
upon their death records, etc. Grandchildren
should only be on the grid when they are found in the census with your child,
the veteran or his spouse.
DEATH SCREEN QUALITY CODES:
Please read death screen quality codes in the manual. Let us know if you have any questions or
comments. These are new and we’re still trying to work out the kinks.
OTHER THINGS TO REMEMBER:
Noelle is always right.
Download your trees to the snap when you’re finished with
them.
Thank you, Sandy.
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