Sources again

[StewL]

Hi SF
I have used Legacy (now all bells and whistles) for a while now, and like you I lost the lot when my hard drive fried.
Also like you I have neglected to include sources for my research , and now I have around 800 individuals with almost no sources.
Discipline, hah, I would only be kidding myself, and it would take a month of Sundays now to sort out the sources, I have put it in the too hard basket, but have a seperate folder where I keep all my images and research. At least I have the discipline to continually update my back ups this time.

[wini]

Why is is that when I was working I always cleared my desk and filed all necessary papers.
Now, I can hardly see my desk or the floor.
I luckily started adding sources after about 6 months so the damage wasn't too much.

wini

[Shortfuse]

Its nice to know I'm not the only one who has been down this road.The first time I started attempting family history I thought I'd do it all on paper and even attempted to make my own reports up through XL.This was good for a laugh ,talk about a paper mountain !So this last attempt on the computer will have to include some form of recording the sources its just that the Legacy programme seems a bit over the top where sources are concerned.Ah weel better go and find out where this external hard drive plugs in
regards sf

[LesleyB]

Hi Sf
Sources in Legacy are OK to do - it just looks more complicated than it is, and they give you tons of options and little boxes to fill in which can look a bit daunting.

• 1. Click on the little books button under the person you are working with. Click on the event you are referencing e.g. birth, death.... then, if it is the first time you will need to "Add a new source" as you will not yet have any to choose from.
  
  2. In the "Source list name" box, type the name of a general source e.g. IGI, or Scotlands People or wherever you have found the info. You can fill in any other wee boxes if you like, but you can get away without doing so!
  
  3.Click Save
  
  4. Another dialog box will pop up - what it wants is the detail for this particular event. I usually just copy and paste in the line from SP or IGI e.g. if it was a death I'd found on SP, I'd copy and paste direct from SP into the details box:
  1875 LAWRIE CHRISTINA F 64 LEITH SOUTH MIDLOTHIAN 692/02 0504
  n.b. you will need to use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl V (hold down the control key and press letter V) to paste as there is no paste button in this dialog box. After a wee while your fingers will automatically fall into the pattern of left pinky on Ctrl, left index finger on V, and you'll not need to look! You can copy using Ctrl and C
  
  5. Then choose "Surety Level" : choices from "convincing evidence" to "have not decided yet"
  
  6. Now click on the "today's date" button to insert todays date. If you are trying to do it retrospectively, you can type in any date in the box - e.g. you may have dates on your printouts from SP.
  
  7. Click Save.
  
  Done!

The above are "bare minimum" guidelines, but at least that means the stuff is referenced: Legacy can do lots more if required. Next time you go to add a reference e.g. a birth, just click on the books icon, choose Birth from the list of events, then if you have already added the source you need e.g. IGI, if you click on the "Cite a Master Source" button, it will be there to choose from, you just need to add the detail. For IGI stuff I usually paste in the batch number.

As with many things in life, setting it up to begin with is the hardest part- once you have a list of sources to choose from it only takes a couple of seconds to reference where you've found some date with a couple of clicks and a bit of copy and pasting!

Hope this is of some help. There is more about it in Legacy help, if you really want to fill in all those wee boxes!

Best wishes
Lesley

[Shortfuse]

Hi Lesley
Many thanks for the exellent "how to",Going away for a couple of days so will try it out when I get back,this post should help others who are fairly new to recording sources.
Once again thanks for the info sf