Genealogy Data Entry Techniques

In the course of a week, I get to see a lot of genealogy data. Some of what I see is abysmal. Many otherwise highly-skilled genealogists do not seem to know that their keyboards have a SHIFT key! Instead, they simply press their CAPS LOCK key and then ignore upper and lower case after that.

Of course, the use of UPPER CASE text has a long history in the computer business. The mainframes of the 1960s and 70s only used upper case text. Data typically was entered on 80-column punch cards. The IBM 026 keypunch machine, the most popular keypunch machine ever built, indeed did not have a shift key and was incapable of entering lower case text.

By the late 1970s, all of this had changed, and data was being entered from computer terminals in normal upper and lower case. However, not everyone got the word. It seems that a number of people do not realize that the keyboards of the twenty-first century have improved since those "stone age" computers of 30 or 40 years ago.

Here are two short examples produced by a popular genealogy program. Which one do you find easier to read?

Example 1:

4. JOSEPH PATRICK KENNEDY, SON OF PATRICK JOSEPH KENNEDY AND MARY AUGUSTA HICKEY, WAS BORN ON 6 SEP 1888 IN BOSTON, MA,2 DIED ON 18 NOV 1969 IN HYANNIS PORT, MA, AT AGE 81, AND WAS BURIED IN HOLYHOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLINE, MA.

GENERAL NOTES: FROM THE TIME HE WAS A SCHOOL BOY HE WAS INTERESTED IN MAKING MONEY. HE HAD AN INTERESTING HOBBY OF TINKERING WITH CLOCKS. JOE WAS A POOR STUDENT, BUT GOOD AT ATHLETICS AND HAD AN ATTRACTIVE PERSONALITY. HE WAS ABLE TO OVERCOME MANY ETHNIC BARRIERS DURING HIS SCHOOL YEARS AT BOSTON LATIN, A PROTESTANT AND PRIMARILY YANKEE SCHOOL. WAS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST BANK PRESIDENTS IN US HISTORY. HE WAS FIERCELY PROUD OF HIS FAMILY. HE WAS QUOTED AS HAVING SAID HIS FAMILY WAS THE FINEST THING IN HIS LIFE. JOE KENNEDY WAS A VERY HARD WORKER, WHICH OFTEN DETERIORATED HIS HEALTH. AT TIMES HE WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR HIS RUN DOWN CONDITION.

Example 2:

4. Joseph Patrick Kennedy, son of Patrick Joseph Kennedy and Mary Augusta Hickey, was born on 6 Sep 1888 in Boston, MA,2 died on 18 Nov 1969 in Hyannis Port, MA, at age 81, and was buried in Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline, MA.

General Notes: From the time he was a school boy he was interested in making money. He had an interesting hobby of tinkering with clocks. Joe was a poor student, but good at athletics and had an attractive personality. He was able to overcome many ethnic barriers during his school years at Boston Latin, a protestant and primarily Yankee school. Was one of the youngest Bank Presidents in US history. He was fiercely proud of his family. He was quoted as having said his family was the finest thing in his life. Joe Kennedy was a very hard worker, which often deteriorated his health. At times he was hospitalized for his run down condition.

I certainly prefer to read the second example. The first one is much more difficult to read - so difficult that I may miss important information.

If you are entering genealogy data, please take pity on the future readers of your text. Please use upper and lower case characters, the same as you learned in grade school. Your fourth-grade teacher probably would have flunked you if you used all upper case in her class. Guess what? I'll also give you a grade of "F" if I see your genealogy data in all upper case!

Yes, there is a shift key on your computer. In fact, you can probably find two of them. Please use them only when appropriate.

For more information, I can suggest some good reading for you:

Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills (It says "professional," but don't let that scare you; it is packed full of tips for us amateurs as well). This book is available at many bookstores as well as at Amazon.

Basic Techniques for Genealogy Data Entry by Cherie Logan: http://noblechild.com/genealogy_basics.html

Genealogy Data Entry Guidelines by Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr.: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/5802/images/FAQ/047i.html

Comments

[Dino (All Dino, All the Time)]

Dick,

I like this article every time you write it.

(Sep 24, 2004) http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/09/genealogy_data_.html

(Feb 16, 2004) http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0407.htm#GenealogyDataEntryTechniques

(Mar 31, 2003) http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0313.htm

[Dick Eastman]

It bears repeating every year or two. I still see lots of genealogy data entered IN UPPER CASE.

[Michael White]

Why do some people want to have all their surnames in all caps? What is the point? Entering the surname as it appears normally is better because there are cases where the first letter is not the only capitalized letter (ie. Van, Mc, de, etc.)

[Dino (All Dino, All the Time)]

Surnames in all caps is a very old genealogical convention. It started out ling before we had a method to automatically search a document for a particular name with the press of a button. It was very easy to read a report/article/etc. and quickly find all of the SURNAMES if they were in caps.

The convention has stuck throughout the years. I guess that's what makes it a convention. Personally, I don't like the looks of it, but I find that most genealogists rarely ever consult me before they publish, so I let them do what they please.

[D Lohr]

> Surnames in all caps is a very old genealogical convention.

While I cannot recall whether it is a default setting, "Capitalize surnames on screens and reports" is still part of the Preferences for Personal Ancestral File(PAF 5.2).

[Gran]

As long as we are on the subject...nothing bugs me more than poor spelling and bad grammar. Esample: The word "your" is possessive as in "your grandmother." "You're" is the contraction for "you are."

Another example: "I appreciate you helping me." should be "I appreciate your helping me."

And, why in the world do people say 10 a.m. in the morning?

[Kalani]

The capitalizing of surnames, as pointed out as something that has been done for a while now, also helps when people whose surname cannot be really determined. Especially when you deal with foreign, non-American names. Some people just can't tell and sometimes, you have names that could be used either as a first or last name like Jackson. There is a big difference from Jackson and JACKSON, even Winston and WINSTON.

[Pierre Cloutier]

To reinforce the point, psychological tests have determined that a big part of recognizing words and improving reading efficiency, is the "shape" of the word: the combination of ascenders and descenders ("page", "house") create a unique contour. Since capital letters are all the same height, all-caps words have no distinctive shape, and are an impediment to reading.

Dick is correct in saying that the IBM 026 did not have a Shift key. However, the 80-column card had twelve rows, and was thus capable of 4,095 hole combinations, which included lower-case. For example, the EBCDIC character set, used by IBM, specifies 12-0-1 punch for lower-case 'a'. An operator could achieve this combination by holding down the "Multi-punch" key, while pressing other keys successively, a slightly awkward move.