I too have several hundred sources but I preface the source list name with the two letter abbreviation of the state (most of my work is in the US). If I still have a relatively large number of sources for a particular state (like Virginia), I then add the name of the county so I get something like the following: VA, Amherst County, Wills (1761-1865) which lets we quickly find the source that I'm looking for by searching for, "va, am" which points me to an alphabetical list of all my sources for Amherst County Virginia - I chose the STATE, COUNTY naming convention since state names (i.e. abbreviations) are unique, county names are not.
I can then easily select the source of interest and verify that it is correct by reading the "output tab" below the Source List Name window: i.e. The Wills of Amherst County, Virginia (1761-1865), Rev. Bailey Fulton Davis, Southern Historical Press, 1985. A drawback to this technique is that if you can remember the name of the source (like a book title) my method will not work as easily as just searching for the book title, but I do obtain a relatively short list that is sorted by geographical location and then I can look at the list and find the correct source be it book, court record, cemetery record, etc. without much difficulty. The above only works for sources that are location specific (or if you force a source into a specific area), so I also use master sources like: obituary, death, marriage, birth certificates, wills, etc. When I cite them for specific individuals all of the detail information goes into the source detail - name, date, location, newspaper, etc. Not perfect, but it seems to work for me so far and I don't have to remember too much which is good since those senior moments are becoming more frequent. Dave -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mary Fowler Leek Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 9:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Searching Master Source |I want to use a Master Source that I've already created, but I can't find it | unless I read through all 1300+ sources. Is there any way I can search the | Master Source using a keyword? | | Ruth Nerud | [EMAIL PROTECTED] I know of no way to search using a keyword but if you know of an event or person where you've already used this source, just bring up the data and use copy to copy the source to your clipboard. If you need to change/ edit the detail, do that before you begin using it for the current event(s). I have approx 550 sources, not nearly as many as you, but I make my list as easy to use as possible by prefacing the Source List name with identifiers like Will: Book: Marriage record: 1850 Census: Obituary: Death Certificate: CD: Newspaper: Personal Research: etc. This way, I can quickly move to the area of interest in my source list and then use page down to quickly move through this specific area of sources. These Source List Names aren't used in the printed source, as they're only for my benefit. When I click on "Cite a Master Source", I just begin typing Bo and the list jumps right to the beginning of the list of books I've cited as sources. Then page down moves me quickly through the list until I see the book source I'm looking for. Other users may have similar ideas to help you organize your list. If so, I hope they chime in with their methods of handling a large source list. We can all learn from each other. Mary Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
