Person talk:Mary Gunn (2)

index versus original [19 October 2015]

You changed the contents of a source citation, adding a link to a familysearch index, apparently to justify the change. The index you cited is an index of the baptism, and not the birth record which is the citation you changed. So I reverted the page.

The image of the manuscript from americanancestors.org is not the original birth record. But it does spell the name Grisoald. Right or wrong, it is the most authentic data that has been cited. We can normalize the spelling for the page titles, but in telling what the source says in citing it, the source's choices should be reflected, so it is not represented as saying something it does not. If the original handwritten record is found, that should be cited, and it may be different. If so, its source citation should reflect what it says.

The baptism date on the page previously was 17 Nov 1719. I don't know where that came from, but presumably with a birth in Jan, it is a misinterpretation of the 11th month, which is Jan 1719/20. Two indexes (the one currently cited, and the familysearch one) apparently give the baptism as 17 Jan 1720 and 17 Jan 1719. Clearly the actual date is 17 Jan 1719/20, but until the handwritten document is located, that is speculation because, until then, we are relying on the skill and knowledge of the transcribers which clearly is variable. (familysearch indexing is done by essentially unvetted volunteers. I have been told ancestry indexing is largely done in India. I have no knowledge of americanancestors' procedures.) --Jrich 15:02, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, J. With your help and Neal Gardner's I think the pages for Mary Gunn and her family are getting much better.--Gunnj 15:21, 19 October 2015 (UTC)