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Toni & Lena;
My thought is from the practical perspective on data bases and
genealogical research. As you, I and everybody moves forward with their
genealogical research, I am impressed more and more about James Mitchners advice
to all historical researchers, which is to leave information where somebody can
find it. This entails leaving it in as many places as possible in a fashion that
is clear to anyone using it.
Now for Islay / Argyll we are slowly drawing a genealogical picture
of the Argyll roots & perspectives from Juli's gravestones to your efforts,
to Karens on the LDS data base and the descendants around the globe. I suspect
that it may take a few if not many years yet but the information is
eventually going to come together and form something of a cohesive whole in so
far as known documentation goes. There will be an end to retrievable documents
eventually in all historcal research and that will end the genealogical
identification but not the speculation and on going searhing that will always be
still be valid.
That said Toni, it makes sense to store your information in all
locations where it can be retrieved, including Sinclair data bases, the
archivist in Islay if this exists, the LDS, and anyother data bases one can
think of logically. Now I have one other qualm and discipline that I suggest
members of this list use and follow your fine example.
That is to ensure to the best of their ability that they verify the
accuracy of their submissions before submitting the information to a data base
of any sort. It is simply because while the posting is easy, the amending of
existing records is problematic at best and impossible at worst. Then one can
see that in needing to correct information over time the difficulty of
seeing the creation of conflicting records with different input dates and
conflicting data.
This said I agree, with some hesitation not knowing the fields of
Lara's data base, in submitting to a data base where a confusion is
automatically created in the minds of a researcher. Now this may be alieviated
by the fields creating the identification of birth place, but this may too
may be confusing because of the hard time in identification of parish locations
geographically and reinventing the learning curve of locations is a real pain.
So my conclusion and best two cents woth is not to submit to a data
base unless that data base is capable of sorting by birthplace or place of
origin and location. Make sense?
Now the second point is academic in origin; and thrown out to the
community, is anyone interested in creating an Argyll data base. The need is
there as there may be for the Orkneys and other places of unique origin.
Thanks;
Neil
Forever Argyll
----- Original Message -----
From: "Toni Sinclair" <asflwr@cujo2.icom.ca>
To: <lal@algonet.se>; <sinclair@mids.org>
Sent: 11 April, 2000 7:17 PM
Subject: Sinclairs of Islay > > I have recently found the missing link to my family's history on the > Isle of Islay, and would like to submit it to your database. > > However, the Sinclairs of Islay, like most of the others of Argyll, do > not really connect > to the Sinclairs of Caithness, as they were originally McNokairds (see > the report by > Karen Matheson on the Sinclair website). They really do have a separate > history (which we shouldn't "Tinker" with!) > > My question is: Do you really want to include these Sinclairs in your > database? > In your introductory page, you encourage Sinclairs to deposit their > family histories so > that future generations will be able to trace their families to their > Norse/Norman/ Caithness heritage. Most of the Argyll Sinclairs will > never be able to do this. Will it only add to the confusion? Is there > a way to divide them, for the sake of clarity? > > Please understand that I am not trying to stir up a hornets' nest - > just trying to prevent > problems and misunderstandings down the road, because I there are least a > couple of > hundred Sinclairs which could be added, when I get them all sorted out! > > I'll look forward (?) to everyone's comments. :<) > > Toni S. > [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org > [ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html > |