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Data
Entry Standards for PAF files |
All the people who have contributed to this
document know what it takes to have a computer friendly PAF 5.2.18 file to
interface with the IGI or trade with a family member. We are writing this to help you enter your data or modify your
data if already in PAF using the rules and examples shown here you WILL have a
computer friendly file and data. This
is so important if you share your data and to make it TempleReady
compatible. If you use any of the
online utilities like Insight from
www.Ohanasoftware.com
you WILL find the IGI data
you need if it exists. The Name, Event
Date and Place have standards of how they are put together and
constructed. These Standards are
discussed below.
FOLLOW THE STANDARDS!!!
What is a Name?
To
the computer a name is // (2 back slashes).
A Name NEVER contains special
characters, such as ( ){ }[ ] ? . , + .
Only alphabetic characters are allowed.
The name NEVER contains documentation that should go in the Notes. What you put to the left, middle and right
of the // is standardized. The given
name(s) are to the left of the //. The
surname(s) is always between the //.
Any Titles such as Jr, Sr, Dr, Rev goes to the right of the // and is
not part of the searchable name.
Good
examples:
·
Joseph/Smith/Jr
·
Joseph/Smith/ II (if there is no Jr or Sr and there are
several identical names you may put I,II,III,IV to the right of the last / to
distinguish between the names.)
·
Olivia/Newton-John/ (A Hyphen is not a special character)
·
Jim or James/Smith/ (If they were known by a nickname, write
“or” between the names
·
Jim/Smith or Smyth/
·
Mrs John/Smith/ (the Mrs is only allowed if you repeat the
husband’s name exactly and put a Mrs at the front of the Given name. This was very common in older records when
just the father’s name was recorded on the birth of a child or a marriage.)
·
Mary// (if you know the
given name and not the last name. Mrs
Mary/Smith/ is not allowed – just use Mary//).
·
/Jones/ (use only for a Child who was not given a
name and was stillborn or did not live long enough to give it a name and very
sparingly in other instances)
Bad
examples:
·
Joseph Jr/Smith/ (any
thing put to the left of the last / becomes part of the name and Jr is used to
distinguished between father and son and is NOT part of the name.)
·
Jim (James)/Smyth/ (there are NO special character allowed in the name. The ( ) are special
characters and are NOT allowed.)
·
Jim/Smith (Smyth)/ (Never
use parenthesis)
·
Mary Second
Wife/Jones/ (NEVER put documentation or
descriptions in the name. Documentation
goes in the Notes.)
·
Mrs Mary/Jones/ (If you
know the given name only, it is NEVER allowed to put the Husbands name as her
last name. Just use Mary//.)
·
Son/Jones/ (NO)
·
Daughter/Jones/ (NEVER)
·
Baby/Jones/ (NO)
What is an Event Date?
To the computer the date
must be at least 4 numeric characters. In PAF
go to Tools-Preferences-Formats for the different formats you can enter a
date. I will use the default format in
these examples. The default has a 1 or
2 numeric character day of the month, a 3 character alphabetic month, and a 4
numeric character year in all formats.
Good
examples:
·
4 Jul 1776
·
Jul 1776
·
1776
·
Abt 1776
·
Aft 1776 (Use sparingly.)
·
Bef 1775
·
Cal 1776
Bad
examples:
·
4 Jul 1776/1777 (YOU are a better guesser than the computer – which
one will the computer use????)
·
4/5 Jul 1776 (YOU tell the
computer the date to use otherwise it will have to guess.)
·
4 1776 (a day of the month
can’t be used unless the 3 alpha month is also used.)
·
4 Jul 1776 or 1777 (Why
make the computer guess at your data??)
·
The year the barn burned down.
(Put in Notes)
·
(Remember, NO special
characters in the date.)
What is an Event Place?
The Event Place is 3
commas (,,,) to the computer. Anything
more or less than 3 commas in the Event Place makes the computer GUESS at what
you meant and you NEVER want that to happen. In the IGI the fastest growing Region is “World Misc” because of
incorrect and misleading Event Places.
If you want your data to go to “Cyber Space” and never be found then
DON’T use the Standards in formatting the Event Place. The only exception to the Standard is
Countries or States in the British Isles (England, Ireland, Etc) and then 2
commas are used. When inputting States
in the British Isles the British Isles is assumed or put British Isles to the
right of the 3rd comma. The
3 commas separate the City, County, State, Country. This is good no matter what country or
region of the world you use.
Abbreviations are NEVER allowed. It can’t be said strongly enough that
abbreviations have no part in an Event Place.
Not even the computer can make a guess at an abbreviation. Your data will end up in the “World Misc”
region never to be seen again or used.
If you have to use the “Of” in an Event Place use it only when
needed. It is only used to explain that
the persons Event was in the nearness but not in the boundaries of a CITY. It is used ONLY with the City portion of a
Place. The State and Country must be
included by name. A comma can’t take
the place of a State and Country. “USA”
is the Country for all the States in America.
Good
Examples:
·
Salt Lake City,Salt
Lake,Utah,USA
·
,Salt Lake,Utah,USA
·
,,Utah,USA (if you use this format then please do the
research to flesh it out.)
·
Salt Lake,,Utah,USA (use only until you can’t find the county or
no County exists, ie. Alaska or D.C.)
·
London,London,England (Legal for the British Isles)
·
,London,England
·
Of London,London,England (Close to but not in City London)
Bad
examples:
·
Salt Lake,Utah,USA (Needs 3 commas)
·
Salt Lake,Utah (Still does not have 3 commas)
·
Slk,Slk,Ut,USA (NEVER abbreviate)
·
Slk,Ut,USA
·
Salt Lake,Salt
Lake,Utah,U.S.A (No – it’s just USA)
·
Salt Lake,Salt Lake
County,Utah,USA (The word “County” or
“Co” is NEVER used in the Event Place Name.
By default any place named after the first comma is the County.)
·
Near the east end of the
Brooklyn Bridge,,New York,USA
·
Salt Lake or
Provo,,Utah,USA (Never let the computer
guess at your data)
·
Salt Lake,Salt
Lake,Utah (No country)
·
Of,Salt Lake,Utah,USA
(used only to indicate the nearness to a City.
Very few Towns or Cities are named Of.)
·
Of,,,USA (Only sissy’s take this route)
·
,,England (not a good idea
·
,,,USA (really not a good idea)
There
is no way to state all the ways an Event Place can be entered that will make it
unfriendly to the computer but if you follow the Standards for the Event Place
there is no need to look for bad examples.
All
the above Standards can be found in the “Member’s Guide to Family History”
booklet pages 7-12 at any Family History Center. I have included examples to illustrate the Standards. Please give this the widest possible
circulation. For those of you who are
Ward, Stake and FHC specialists this is a great handout to any who are active
in working on their PAF files. PLEASE
apply these Standards to your PAF data and you will be doing a great favor to
all who use it for all eternity.
Standards apply to everyone in every situation, so you are not the
exception.
Any
questions or comments you can email me (Bob Nielson) at nielsonrwd@aol.com. I can email this to anyone interested in
WORD format. It takes me between 15-30
minutes to standardize most files if you would like to email me your file and I
will send it right back. If there are
any abbreviations, you must clean them up first. Standards in our PAF data helps us all work from the same sheet
of music and allows our computers to process the data efficiently with no
surprises to those we share data with.