>How Much Documentation Do I Need? > >About two years ago, following a spirited discussion of the growing >demands placed on genealogists to document, document, document, I >received the following message from Bob Sawyer, a fellow >Washington-area computer-genealogist. > >Richard, he began, I poked the future key (Ctrl-Alt-Del-F), and found >this letter: 27 Oct 2020 > > Dear Cousin Lucy, > At long last I have published my books (Volumes I and II) of ancestors >(make that ancestor), and your copies are coming under separate cover. >I hope you enjoy them. Over the years, the documentation standards >have required more and more footnotes, end notes, parenthetical >commentary, and appendices. While I have found three thousand ancestors, >printing costs limit me to including only one, Great Grampa Henry - see >page 37. > >The first 36 pages explain the books' sections and acknowledge those >contributing assistance (See cab driver who took me to the Library of >Congress, p. 20. You will enjoy his comments). Pages 38 to 876 tell you >where I found the information about G-G Henry, so that you can check and >draw your own conclusions about details of his birth, marriage, and >death. (I have over a hundred fascinating pages about his life, but, >alas, could not afford to include them.) You may find it interesting >that the Massachusetts State Archives >employee on duty at 2:31 p.m., 23 February 1990 (see pages 79, 101, and >124-140), was our cousin once removed. (She witnessed my microfilm >viewing that day, and you will find a copy of her credentials (p. 160), >with the description of the film reader's make, model, serial number, >and 5-year maintenance log. She signed the statement, verifying my use >of the film, and the fact that I wore my glasses - see page 290). > >Since old Henry's birth date was not on the tombstone, I calculated the >date from that miserable line: ...at the age of 87 years, 3 months, and >3 days. You will find the calculation explained in Appendix M, pages > 901 to 1467. Appendix X, in Volume II, includes summaries of >documentation standards and annotation formats from NGS, Barzun and >Graff, Lackey, Chicago Style Manual, Turabian, and the publishers of >Walt Disney comics. Most citations are duplicated in each of those >styles. > > Lucy, the more I think about it, with your day job at the plant, your >night-time cab driving, and the weekend Bingo sessions, you won't have >time to read two books. Here's the main text from page 37: > > Henry Harborhaven (may have been Henry Bratsmith) > b. 4 Jan 1834, in New York or New Orleans > m. 11 Jun 1867-73, somewhere in Nebraska > d. Beats me. See Volume I, p. 301 > >I won't send the books. Say hello to Jack and the kids. >Regards, >Cousin Bob > >Cousin Bob obviously had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote >that delightful piece of satire. But it is easy to see why he wrote it >when you consider that a major portion of the thread dwelt on an article >in a genealogical journal questioning whether - with the ability of >computer software to easily alter scanned documents - a photocopy or >digitized image of a primary document could be considered adequate >documentation - or even be considered at all