Scotland - Tartan Trail Level 1

Profile managers: Doug McCallum [send private message] and Scotland Project WikiTree [send private message]

Navigation: Tartan Trail Team Page > Tartan Trail - Level I

You'll have received a Welcome email from our Tartan Trail Coordinator. It contains links to your assigned Trail profile, lessons to help you through our self-learning Level 1, and details of how to request help from our team.

Process

You should do the lessons provided in your Welcome email. Then, you should review the profile as it exists now, before you start working on it.

• Review the location name fields. Are they spelled correctly? Do they match the time period for the profile?
• Search for and confirm sources for birth, marriage and death, as well as any census during their lifetime, using the free resources listed below. Once you're certain you've got the correct source, add it to the profile, using a full source citation.
• Use a Research Notes section for any information that you are unable to confirm, find, or is disputed. This will allow others to perform futher research later.
• Review your profile for completeness. A basic profile should include enough information to prevent incorrect merging, a basic biography narrative, and a Research Notes section for any incomplete or unverified information on the profile. Use the checklists below for items to be verified.
• Submit your profile to the Tartan Trail Coordinator for review. A Guide will provide you with feedback and you should make any further edits they recommend. The guide will then choose the next profile for you to work on.
• After completing two profiles from this time period, you'll move on to the next time period: 1700 to 1799. A Guide will help you through this Level.

Project Approved Resources for 1800 to 1875

• Scotland's People Indexes are available for many record types. Note that they offer the 1881 census free of charge to view. Select the check box for "1881 LDS".
• FreeCen website: This site provides access to individual Census entries for Scotland between 1841 and 1891
  • This information should be cross-referenced with the search results from Scotland's People website: When used together, you can be fairly confident that the information is accurate.
• FamilySearch website: This repository contains records for:
  • Scotland Births and Baptisms up to 1875
  • Scotland Marriages up to 1875
  • Find-a-Grave Memorials

• If you do not find what you are looking for, you can ask our team to assist with a look-up on Ancestry. Ancestry.com is not normally an approved Project resource, however, due to the difficulties in accessing Scotland census data, the project will make an exception.

Level 1 Example Profiles

We are currently creating example profiles for Level 1 to give you some hints and tips on what a finished profile can look like.

Of course every profile we research is different as people lead different lives and have different lifestyles. What records are available for one person are not necessarily available for another. However it is hoped that the Example Profiles can provide some insight into areas you haven't considered for your own profiles.

The profiles that have been updated and made available as Examples are:

• Agnes McTaggart (Currie) Miller (1856-1948)
• James Hyslop Stevenson (1865-1954)

We will aim to have 4 completed examples and will therefore add to this list in due course.

Additional Resources

• Professions and occupations
• Sourcing Help to find ways to format your source citations well.
• Tartan Trail Resources (Collected sources of the Tartan Trail Team)
• Scotland Project stickers

Do's & Don'ts on Standards & Style

• Biography: There's no better way to honour a person than to write a few paragraphs about their lives and families. Typically organized in chronological order, this section describes the life of the person. It's best to write in biography style, versus timelines, as it is easier for others to build on later. We require our members to follow the WT guildelines for Biographies.
• Add as much detail as possible.
• Add a list of children with simple details. If the birth order is known, use a numbered list. If not, then use a bulleted list.
• Acknowledgements: We follow the style guide on Acknowledgements. We do not acknowledge uploaders of profiles. We do not retain a list of GEDCOM uploads. This information is tracked under the Changes tab.

• We discourage using tables on profiles. Although they are a convenient way to display data, they also intimidate newer members who may not know how to change or update them. Long bulleted lists of events, or Timeline formats are not encouraged.

• We discourage using coloured or non-standard fonts. Many are difficult to read on certain devices.

• Background Images / Wall paper: Throughout WikiTree, you may see examples of profiles that use an image as background or "wallpaper." Wallpaper is a matter of taste, and one profile manager may be for it; another one against it. Background can also be very difficult for members with vision challenges. So please be thoughtful about adding backgrounds, and don't take it personally if someone removes a background image. We discourage using tiled backgrounds as they may pose a problem for some members with visual issues. We've supplied tartan images which can be used for backgrounds for clan members.

Checklist Level 1

• Data Section
  • Is the data correct? Birth date and place should be the same in the data fields and in the biography. Parents should match sources. Marriage date and place should be the same in the data fields and in the biography. Death date and place should be the same in the data fields and in the biography. Are they marked as: before, after, estimate or exact?
  • If no children, check this box: If there are no more known children, is the box checked?
  • Certainty and confidence: Are the appropriate buttons selected?
• Biography Section
  • Is there a good biography? Are the sentences clear and concise? Are the facts confirmed by sources? Does the biography agree with the sources? If a marriage is mentioned, is it also in the Data section with the spouse attached?
• Sources
  • Are the sources considered reliable for Scottish Profiles? Family Trees, Millenium Files, Yates Publishing, Find a Grave indexes or memorials without photos are not considered acceptable.
  • Are source citations formatted correctly? Did you use inline citations?
• Categories
  • Are the appropriate categories added for: Birth, Marriage, Death, Location, Cemetery and Occupation? Are any other categories needed?
• Children List
  • Is there a list of known children? Is it sourced by at least one primary or secondary source?
  • Are the children attached to the profile the same as the ones on the list? Do the facts agree?

• Final Product
  • Is a Disputed Section needed?
  • Is a Research Notes Section needed?
  • Check the Suggestions for the profile and correct any issues
  • Are there any duplicate profiles?
  • Are the categories appropriate?
  • Are any stickers added appropriate?