Thursday, June 20, 2013

Sources Can Now Be Interchanged Between RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree

I'm away from home in Santa  Cruz with my daughter and grandsons, but I couldn't resist trying out the new Source interchange in RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree.  I've been waiting for this!

The RootsMagic blog posted RootsMagic becomes Only Software Certified to Collaborate and Share with FamilySearch Family Tree today, so I thought I would try it out.  I had to update my RootsMagic program to Version 6.2.0.0 before I could work with the sources.  

For my grandfather, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), I clicked the icon next to his name on the Family View to open the FamilySearch Person Tools window.



The "Sources" link is on the line just below the person's name in this window.  It is on the same line with "Find matches," "Share data," "Discussions" and "Changes."

IIt shows that I have seven sources already added to My FamilySearch person - because I added them using the source box several months ago.  However, I have more sources in my RootsMagic program than in the FamilySearch person.  So I want to add some of the sources that I have that help identify my grandfather and connect the sources to the unsourced events in FamilySearch.

I clicked on the "Sources" link:


The Sources for my RootsMagic person are listed in the left-hand column and the sources for the FamilySearch person are listed in the right-hand column.  Some of the sources are the same, but I have more for my RootsMagic person, including his death certificate that documents his death date and place.

In order to add a source from RootsMagic to FamilySearch, I need to check the box beside the desired source.  I checked the "Lawrence Mass. VR Certificate" source in the RootsMagic list, and the "What do you want to do with this RootsMagic source?" window opened, as shown below:


On the screen above, I selected the "Death" fact from the list.  The only Facts that can be tagged are Name, Gender, Birth, Christening, Death and Burial.  I picked "Death."  When I clicked on the "OK" button, the "Attach Source" window opened and demanded that I type in a "Reason to attach source:"


I typed the reason in as shown above and clicked on the "Attach" button.  The Source was attached to my FamilySearch person, with a notation that it is for the Death fact.


I went in and added the same source for the Birth fact also, and also the Birth certificate I have for his Birth.

Now, what do the sources look like on the FamilySearch Family Tree for Frederick Walton Seaver:



As you can see, the three sources I added are included in the "Sources" section of Family Tree.  The source citations are exactly as I wrote them in RootsMagic (and now I see an error.  Drat!).  

When I look up on the "Vital Information" I can see the tagged items for both the Birth and Death information, including the Lawrence Death Certificate:



From what I can tell, this process works simply and efficiently. On the right-hand side of the screen above, you can see the Changes made tonight to add the Sources.  I should upload the document image to the "Photos" section of the Family Tree.  I could add a "Story" to transcribe the death certificate information.  

There are other choices that can be made using the "Sources" link and perhaps we'll explore more later on.  For instance, there may be records on FamilySearch for this person that I can attach to his Profile, and I can then add them to RootsMagic without typing them.  

This is just a first look at the Source interchange between RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree.  It works, and I'm really happy to be able to make it work the first time and, so far, every time.  

The next item that I hope will be integrated into this interchange is Person Notes, Research Notes, and Fact Notes.  Hopefully, RootsMagic and FamilySearch will enable interchanging of images also, and tagging of images to Facts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/sources-can-now-be-inrterchanged.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

No comments: