Rob, a pox on any genealogist who would relegate a " 'but' and 'however' or 'probably' or 'as a working theory' to a footnote"! Footnotes are for source citations--not for relevant discussions. :) Elizabeth ------------------------------------------------- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG www.HistoricPathways.com www.EvidenceExplained.com -----Original Message----- From: TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Rob Weir Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 1:13 PM To: transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TGF] Formatting research reports Hi Ann, I'd never say "never" but it is good to be aware of the dangers of bullet points. Edward Tufte, not a genealogist but a statistician well-known for his books on presenting information, put out a pamphlet called, "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within." It is worth reading. One of his observations was that the use of bullet points risks oversimplifying complex thoughts. By avoiding full sentences and summarizing in bullets we tend to lose modifiers that qualify our conclusions, the "but" and "however" or "probably" or "as a working theory." Or such qualifications get relegated to a footnotes where they are ignored by the reader. Although he was focused on the risks of bullet points in corporate presentations, I think a similar risk exists when writing a genealogical report as well. Of course, this does not mean that all bullet points are bad. But you need to look at how they function within an overall report to support a well-reasoned argument. Regards, -Rob On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Ann Watson <ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com > wrote: > Someone recently told me that in the Research Notes section of a > report, when there is a comment by the researcher/genealogist, it > should be text rather than bullets. ??? Is this a rule? > > Also I was told that the page orientation should be portrait, not > landscape. Is this a rule? Someones I make them landscape if there is > a wide chart. > > Thanks — Ann > > > Family Pictures Genealogy > Ann D. Watson > ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com > > > www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

When I tried to access your link it was broken.  Is ere another way to view this? Cheryl Proctor On Sunday, March 26, 2017 4:05 PM, Elizabeth Shown Mills <eshown@comcast.net> wrote: Rob, a pox on any genealogist who would relegate a " 'but' and 'however' or 'probably' or 'as a working theory' to  a footnote"!  Footnotes are for source citations--not for relevant discussions. :)  Elizabeth ------------------------------------------------- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG www.HistoricPathways.com www.EvidenceExplained.com -----Original Message----- From: TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Rob Weir Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 1:13 PM To: transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TGF] Formatting research reports Hi Ann, I'd never say "never" but it is good to be aware of the dangers of bullet points.  Edward Tufte, not a genealogist but a statistician well-known for his books on presenting information, put out a pamphlet called, "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint:  Pitching Out Corrupts Within."  It is worth reading.  One of his observations was that the use of bullet points risks oversimplifying complex thoughts.  By avoiding full sentences and summarizing in bullets we tend to lose modifiers that qualify our conclusions, the "but" and "however" or "probably" or "as a working theory."  Or such qualifications get relegated to a footnotes where they are ignored by the reader.  Although he was focused on the risks of bullet points in corporate presentations, I think a similar risk exists when writing a genealogical report as well. Of course, this does not mean that all bullet points are bad.  But you need to look at how they function within an overall report to support a well-reasoned argument. Regards, -Rob On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Ann Watson <ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com > wrote: > Someone recently told me that in the Research Notes section of a > report, when there is a comment by the researcher/genealogist, it > should be text rather than bullets. ??? Is this a rule? > > Also I was told that the page orientation should be portrait, not > landscape. Is this a rule? Someones I make them landscape if there is > a wide chart. > > Thanks — Ann > > > Family Pictures Genealogy > Ann D. Watson > ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com > > > www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Cheryl, the link isn’t broken. As noted in an earlier exchange with Renita, The URL in my message to Ann appears at the end of a sentence. Following it is a period that closes out the sentence. When one-or-another mail processor turned the typed URL into a hotlink, it grabbed the sentence’s period also. Remove that sentence period that should not be part of the hotlink and the URL works. Elizabeth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: mailto:cmproctor1@frontier.com [mailto:cmproctor1@frontier.com] Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 11:32 PM To: Elizabeth Shown Mills <mailto:eshown@comcast.net>; mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TGF] Formatting research reports When I tried to access your link it was broken. Is ere another way to view this? Cheryl Proctor On Sunday, March 26, 2017 4:05 PM, Elizabeth Shown Mills <mailto:eshown@comcast.net> wrote: Ann, if you need "evidence" to support your side of this argument, here's a link https://historicpathways.com/download/WattsFairfieldKershawCravenCamdenRev1.pdf. Start on p. 11 and count the number of times I've "sinned" against your friend's Thou-shalt-not. :) Elizabeth -------------------------------------------------- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG http://www.HistoricPathways.com http://www.EvidenceExplained.com