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>

Ann -- No. No. However, it is a very good idea to clearly distinguish between your account of what the information is and your comments about it. Standard 26 says, "Genealogists’ notes clearly distinguish abstracted, quoted, and transcribed source content from their own comments, descriptions, interpretations, paraphrases, and summaries of that content." Harold Harold Henderson, Certified Genealogist ® midwestroots.net Genealogical writing and editing Current research and writing: Mozley 1800-1950 England/PA/WI Lowe 1770-1950 England/NYC/IL Flint/Gedney 1800-1950 IL/MO Thrall 1792-1934 VT/OH/IL On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 12:29 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

Ann, did you ask the person for their evidence to support that assertion? ???? 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 Ann Watson Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 12:30 PM To: transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com Subject: [TGF] Formatting research reports 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

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