Saturday, September 19, 2015

Errors in Standard Dates and Places in Family Tree

In Family Tree, the dates and places we see are not necessarily the ones the computer sees.
(You may want to read that sentence 2 or 3 times so it really sinks in.)

I have seen places spelled-out perfectly that have been interpreted (standardized) by the computer as being some other place in some other country. A bunch of my ancestors born in "Scotland" were standardized as born in "Scotland, St. Helena"! Ancestors shown as born in "Paddington, London, England" have been standardized as born in County Tyrone, Ireland". new.familysearch.org has left us a legacy of interesting "standard" forms! 

What has changed recently is that FT is informing us if a date or place has NOT been standardized. This is a major improvement but it is unable to detect places that have been WRONGLY standardized.


Hint: To see how any date or place has been standardized, see the pop-up when the mouse pointer is hovered over it.

Look at this record: 
Name: Robert Teal
2VSQ-XTP​
Birth: abt 1790
of Holme, Yorkshire, England

Are the date and place of birth standard? You might think not from their format, what does the pop-up say? (Please don't change it as I may want to use it in a lesson.)


To Fix Errors: If a date or place is standardized incorrectly, edit it and choose a standard date or place that pops up.


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