Recently I've been working on hundreds of profiles, as a Data Doctor, and while working on my own research in genealogy in several countries. I have notice a LOT of profiles that have issues in the location fields:
- No country entered (and not easily figured out by a non-native of whichever country it is). Was your ancestor born in London - England, Canada, USA, France or even Kiribati (Christmas Islands!).
- Abbreviations: "WA", is that in the US or in Australia? County/Shire/State abbreviations help no one! Especially when there is no country included.
From Help: Location_Fields
"Use the full place name for counties, states, provinces, départements, etc. Examples: Rhode Island, not RI; New Brunswick, not NB; Hampshire, not Hants; Seine-et-Marne, not S-M. Abbreviations of country names is acceptable as long as the abbreviation is standard and is recognizable."
Our database is truly international, we need to not make assumptions that others just "know" where that place is. Help your fellow Wikitree-ers, and spell out those places, please. Add a country name (or Colony name, etc., where appropriate) so it's not ambiguous.
As a Data Doctor, I'd love to see a Challenge that focuses on getting abbreviations out of place names.