Intelligent Spelling & Genealogy

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D. Spencer Hines

Intelligent Spelling & Genealogy

Legg inn av D. Spencer Hines » 16 apr 2005 19:23:30

Yes, what you have written below is defensible and constitutes a
reasonable set of General Guidelines.

It is worth far more than that long, faux-magisterial, pontificating
screed and mess of rancid pottage which Nat Taylor posted on the same
subject.

Even so, to make any Genealogical Database useful to the consumer SOME
standardization of spelling and indexing is requisite.

In Summary:

1. Standardize Spelling And Put The Variants In The Notes....

2. Always Preserve The Original Spelling Of The Name In The Document --
In The Notes.

D. Spencer Hines

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Vires et Honor

""Paul K Davis"" <pkd-gm@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:410-22005461617224168@earthlink.net...

| You are quite right about lack of standardization. I have found, in
the
| contemporary records, something like fourteen different spellings of
one of
| my fourteenth century ancestors. For the sake of helping others today
find
| medieval people in my on-line database, I have tried to enforce a
certain
| amount of consistency, but always keep a list of the contemporary
spellings
| in the notes section.
|
| ...If you are convinced your "Reid" ancestor has
| nothing to do with a "Read" family, you may miss the true answer to
one of
| your questions. On the other hand, it also is bad scholarship to
simply
| "correct" the spellings, without noting the originals. Then you run
the
| reverse risk of lumping unrelated people together. Good scholarship
| includes not only stating what we know, but stating the limits on what
we
| know. A correct assessment of the range of spellings of a name can be
as
| important as knowing the "standard" spelling.

Douglas Richardson royala

Re: Intelligent Spelling & Genealogy

Legg inn av Douglas Richardson royala » 17 apr 2005 19:54:38

Good summary, Spencer. Right to the point.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

Website: http://www.royalancestry.net

D. Spencer Hines wrote:
Yes, what you have written below is defensible and constitutes a
reasonable set of General Guidelines.

It is worth far more than that long, faux-magisterial, pontificating
screed and mess of rancid pottage which Nat Taylor posted on the same
subject.

Even so, to make any Genealogical Database useful to the consumer
SOME
standardization of spelling and indexing is requisite.

In Summary:

1. Standardize Spelling And Put The Variants In The Notes....

2. Always Preserve The Original Spelling Of The Name In The Document
--
In The Notes.

D. Spencer Hines

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Vires et Honor

""Paul K Davis"" <pkd-gm@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:410-22005461617224168@earthlink.net...

| You are quite right about lack of standardization. I have found,
in
the
| contemporary records, something like fourteen different spellings
of
one of
| my fourteenth century ancestors. For the sake of helping others
today
find
| medieval people in my on-line database, I have tried to enforce a
certain
| amount of consistency, but always keep a list of the contemporary
spellings
| in the notes section.
|
| ...If you are convinced your "Reid" ancestor has
| nothing to do with a "Read" family, you may miss the true answer to
one of
| your questions. On the other hand, it also is bad scholarship to
simply
| "correct" the spellings, without noting the originals. Then you
run
the
| reverse risk of lumping unrelated people together. Good
scholarship
| includes not only stating what we know, but stating the limits on
what
we
| know. A correct assessment of the range of spellings of a name can
be
as
| important as knowing the "standard" spelling.

Faye Parker

Re: Intelligent Spelling & Genealogy

Legg inn av Faye Parker » 17 apr 2005 21:21:02

My family(recent) were illiterate, and mostly farmers. So many of the records we have has lots of variations in spellings. We have no idea how my grandfather's name was spelled each record has a different spelling. So when you go back 100's of yewars the problem is compounded.


"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."
by Lazarus Long

proud member of the IBSSG

---------------------------------
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D. Spencer Hines

Re: Intelligent Spelling, Grammar, Syntax, Logic, Conceptual

Legg inn av D. Spencer Hines » 17 apr 2005 21:31:32

Thank you, Douglas.

Here's another Bottom Line.

Good Spelling, Grammar, Syntax, Logic and Conceptualization ARE
important in Genealogy -- not in any way tangential or inconsequential.

One looks at a piece of Genealogical Writing and if one sees careless,
sloppy spelling, coupled to grammatical and syntactical errors, one
knows damned well there are very likely to be substantive GENEALOGICAL,
LOGICAL & CONCEPTUAL ERRORS as well.

Careless, sloppy "Educators" and their former "Students" seem to have
lost sight of this simple fact of life.

Sloppiness in one area leads to sloppiness in others.

Further:

Using "LESS" when "FEWER" is required is still ILLITERATE.

The "Educators" have let the side down on that one....

Declining Standards.

D. Spencer Hines

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Vires et Honor

<royalancestry@msn.com> wrote in message
news:1113764078.343019.16390@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

| Good summary, Spencer. Right to the point.
|
| Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
|
| Website: http://www.royalancestry.net
|
| D. Spencer Hines wrote:

| > Yes, what you have written below is defensible and constitutes a
| > reasonable set of General Guidelines.
| >
| > It is worth far more than that long, faux-magisterial, pontificating
| > screed and mess of rancid pottage which Nat Taylor posted on the
| > same subject.
| >
| > Even so, to make any Genealogical Database useful to the consumer
| > SOME standardization of spelling and indexing is requisite.
| >
| > In Summary:
| >
| > 1. Standardize Spelling And Put The Variants In The Notes....
| >
| > 2. Always Preserve The Original Spelling Of The Name In The
| > Document -- In The Notes.
| >
| > D. Spencer Hines
| >
| > Lux et Veritas et Libertas
| >
| > Vires et Honor

D. Spencer Hines

Re: Intelligent Spelling & Genealogy

Legg inn av D. Spencer Hines » 17 apr 2005 21:45:28

There was no established standardized spelling across the United States
until about 150 years ago. So people who did not use standardized
spelling before that certainly cannot be considered illiterate.

Noah Webster, Yale 1778, started the trend. <g>

The fact there was no standardized spelling "hundreds of years ago" is
completely irrelevant as to whether we have and need standardized
spelling TODAY.

Non-standardized spelling today would lead to complete anarchy.

Next thing we know banks would all want to print their own money. <g>

DSH

"Faye Parker" <fairplay51@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:20050417191118.53953.qmail@web41201.mail.yahoo.com...

| My family(recent) were illiterate, and mostly farmers. So many of the
records we have has lots of variations in spellings. We have no idea how
| my grandfather's name was spelled each record has a different
spelling. So when you go back 100's of yewars the problem is compounded.

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