Gulf Coast Hurricanes Team Chat - 2019 Source-A-Thon

Question

The
Gulf Coast Hurricanes Team
Welcomes all Source-a-Thon participants!!
 
It's time to prepare for the big weekend, which starts at 8:00 AM (ET) on Friday October 4th, and ends at 8:00 AM (ET) on Monday October 7th! 

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, post them here. Share with us which areas you plan to work on! 

• Team Space Page - for more info

There are plenty of unsourced profiles that need our help, and we look forward to working with you all to improve the health of WikiTree!

Note: If you haven't signed up yet, post an ANSWER to the official registration G2G post and mention the Gulf Coast Hurricanes team! Deadline for sign-up is Wednesday, October 2nd, at midnight ET!

Comments

The Gulf Coast Hurricanes team now has a spreadsheet page that can be used to help us stay out of each others' way! 

View the spreadsheet here.

The spreadsheet includes links to the Unsourced Profiles lists for Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The lists themselves are sorted by Birth Date, and have a page break for every 1000 profiles. Because they are sorted by date, it should be easy to pick out  a decade's-worth of profiles to source. There is a section below for each team member to enter what they are currently working on (column B) and what they have completed working on (starting in column C).

Detailed information on how to use the spreadsheet are included on the Team Space Page. Please try to get familiar with it and the lists it links to before Friday, so you'll be ready to go when the Source-a-Thon begins!

Looking forward to it!

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I hope everyone on the team takes a few moments TODAY to look this over for the Source-A-Thon TOMORROW!

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I went ahead and added where I will be starting tomorrow. Hope that was okay. I thought we shouldn't wait until the last minute to have to see where everyone else was going.

May we blow this outta the water like the hurricanes we are!!

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Good idea Gigi! See you tomorrow!!

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We could catch the Maple Leaves tonight!

Answer 1

I'll probably work in areas where I'm most familiar: Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. I'll see where the crowd goes, then head the other way!

Answer 2

Yes, indeed! I will work on Louisiana profiles.

Answer 3

Count me in for working Mississippi. I registered on the official registration G2G post.

Comments

I viewed the Walk-Thru-Video and observe that after adding one source the DD marked the profile fixed. Is that the approach we should take? I see FAG is not a valid source for this exercise.

Dale

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Welcome back, Dale! Yes, for the Source-a-Thon that is a valid approach. One valid source added earns the point for that profile. Anything more you do on the profile is just kindness on your part and doesn't benefit your/our total. If you want to do more work on a profile it would make sense to add a personal category to it and come back to it after the Source-a-Thon.

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Regarding FAG, it's a mixed bag. It can be a valid source for the burial location and dates, only if it includes a photo of the grave and shows the dates on the headstone. It is not valid for places of birth/death, full dates when the photo shows only years, or relationships to other family members. Sometimes a memorial cites sources but that is rare. Sometimes it includes an obituary which is a bonus, just don't use the obit to mention living people in the profile.

It's generally not considered valid at all for pre-1700 profiles, except for the very rare instance where an original headstone exists and is legible.

Where did you see that FAG was not considered valid?

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Regarding the walk-thru video, I would add that it's always a good idea to add a simple explanation on the edit screen in the "explain your changes" box before saving. Just a simple phrase such as "added source" is good enough. The video skips this step and technically it's optional, but I like to give a reason for my edits as a courtesy to the PM.

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On the document Team Space page > below Help and Tips > General Info about the Source-a-Thon :

• Valid sources include census records, BMD records/index references, military documents, land documents, wills, etc. A source cannot be another user-generated family tree, such as Geni or an Ancestry Member Tree.

While not specifically excluding FAG, it is not included. I suppose the Death date in BMD could be FAG if showing the correct criteria.

Don't mind me. Just part of my pre-game process.

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That's OK, I see where you're coming from! I guess Findagrave falls somewhere between etc. and user-generated trees. The tricky part is matching a grave to the right person without relying on the unsourced biographical data that might be linked to it.

Answer 4

Suggestion: When we get down to it, let's post what State and what century we are working in to avoid working over each other. If it's a really big number, we can start at a different letter, like 'N' to get that century covered.

Texas 1800-1899 has over 8000 unsourced profiles, so we should probably break it up into 4 parts.  I just looked at the attached list and it is not organized alphabetically.  Any suggestions?

Comments

Edie, the lists are in birth date order, and have page breaks every 1000 profiles. So the Texas 1800-1899 list has 9 pages. I would suggest picking a page to start on, then someone else who wants to work on that century can start on a different page.

For lists that are less than 1000 profiles, you could pick say a birth date range.

We plan to set up a tab on the Data Doctor spreadsheet, where we can track who is working which state and page/range/etc. That doesn't prevent others from working on a profile in your selected zone, but it does help reduce head-butts. I'll post a link to the spreadsheet once it gets set up.

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That will work great!

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I should have qualified what I said. There are three different types of lists for looking at Unsourced profiles.

1. The links to Unsourced lists that are divided by century, as shown in the Team Space Page, are listed in Birth Date order as I said. As you edit and save them, the list remains static -- it doesn't change until the next week's system update. 

2. If you go to the Unsourced Profiles Category pages and work directly from the profiles on those lists, they are all sorted by LNAB. After you save a profile, that profile no longer shows up on the list (assuming you removed the Unsourced category). You need to refresh the page to see the profiles disappear.

3. You can also generate a list on WikiTree+. Those can be sorted in several ways: by name, creation date, birth date, death date, birth location, or death location. Those lists are also static - they do not change - after making edits to the profiles.

There are pros and cons to using the different types of lists. It's a matter of personal preference, but it's probably easiest if everyone uses the same type of list.

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As a 4th option, as in the video, go to top menu> Find>Unsourced profiles and drill down through country and state to select list. These are grouped alphabetically.

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I think working different pages will be the simplest strategy to not work over each other.

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Thanks Dale for that reminder on how to get to the Unsourced lists via the drop-down menu. I always forget about that and hunt them down the hard way! 

Edie, I agree that selecting different pages would be the easiest way to keep from colliding with others. In the end, though, it will be up to each individual how they want to approach it. With so many unsourced profiles, hopefully there won't be a problem!

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I think that we will save time by not accidentally working in someone else's area by communicating where we are.  It's  frustrating to be working a page and then discover someone has started working the same page, so we have to go find a new spot. Plus, then if some are working alphabetically and others by dates, we will be all over each other and we may miss a lot because we move off a page.  As long as we're communicating and coordinating, we will be fine.

Answer 5

Nor'Easters wish you all the best during this Source-a-thon. Go get 'em and have fun.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, I am under a deadline to finish some work this weekend,  so I won't be able to work like I normally do. But I will at least do some. I am working on Texas between 1700-1799.

Comments

No problem Edie, sometimes real life has to take priority! Thanks!

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Every time I take a break I source a few for relaxation. Gulf Coast Hurricanes whirl on!!

Answer 7

Gigi is tearing it up for the hurricanes! You go, grrl!

Comments

Y'all are all awesome! if we were ranked by average team effort, we would be in the top 10!!

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I got past the maple leaves but just couldn't catch those Springboks.

For as small a team as we had I have to say we worked HARD and I am very pleased with each of the team member's efforts.

BUT have to say I am also tired and glad it is over with until next time!!

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You were amazing! I almost caught YOU, once, maybe Friday night! You were an inspiration and kept me going when I felt like quitting. Thanks for all your good work!! Now get some rest!

Answer 8

Thanks, everyone, for all the hard work! Every source added improved our global tree! I enjoyed working with y'all, and hope to do so again next time around!

Answer 9

The Virginia Sourcers thank you for the 874 sources you added to WikiTree during the Source-a-Thon. It was another great showing of community collaboration and we appreciate all that you did!

:Thank you

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