Margo: As long as you've asked: The Good Lord blessed me with a rather acute memory and the ability to absorb, process, and index data internally. It's a gift. In my mind's eye, for example, I can recall almost any old book of record from which I have ever extracted or abstracted, and come fairly close to describing the kind of script in which the record was written, what shape the record was in, and whether I had to blow dust off the cover when I took it off the shelf. If I can do that about the sources, consider what I can remember about the data that I put in my notes. In the past thirty years, I have probably worked 250 courthouses, but lately I work largely with microfilm. Although I did not take a degree in History in college, I took more than 30 credits in the subject because it was a sure "A," for I early recognized that my memory skill adapted naturally to Chronology, and History is Chronology. Those History "A's," enough for a major if I'd been so inclined, helped offset 4 hours of "D" in Spherical Trigonometry, an equal number of hours of "C-" in Descriptive Geometry, and having to take Calculus twice to get a miserable D+ (me, not the grade), and kept me in the Navy V-12 Program, Marine Option, during WWII. Which probably explains why I ended up taking my Bachelor's in Journalism after the War, and then a Master's in Advertising, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Management and Labor Economics, then spent almost fifty years in mass media, communications, and academics. My career expertise was in professional and academic research. That's where I'm basically coming from, but I'm over the hill, in my 75th year, and while I can remember what I put in my research files years ago, I can't find a letter that I laid down five minutes ago. Today I frequently arrive at destinations wondering what the hell I'm doing there. I have a systematic method of extracting and abstracting data, which I do manually because in doing so I also engrain the data into my memory banks. I have extensive paper files, and now extensive computer files, as well as my memory, all systematically organized, chronologically sorted. And I've been doing this stuff off and on now for more than 30 years, so I also have the benefits of experience and repetition. Plus, from the analytical viewpoint, the records are static. They are the same today as they were when I first consulted them years ago. Hence, my foundation does not shift. I can always go back and check. John Scott Davenport Holmdel, NJ