Data Conventions - Dates [Resolved]

[danuslave]

I'm not sure there will be anything stronger than 'convention' on this topic.  Even if someone sat down and made a list of 'rules' there would still be masses of information in the public domain that didn't obey them 

I would suggest that you find a system

that works for you

is clear enough for anyone else to understand

is consistent across all your records

... and avoid the format  05/07/1853.  Is this 5 July or 7 May   

Linda

[Sloe Gin]

For what it's worth, this is how Family Historian defines its options.

On the Date tab, there are three qualifiers available.

'Approximate' means that the date is not exact.
'Calculated' means that the date has been calculated mathematically, eg from an event date and age.
'Estimated' means that the date is based on an algorithm using some other event date.

Then there is a Period tab in which you can fill in dates as available.

Specifies a period of time.
'From' on its own implies that you don't know when the period ended.
'To' on its own implies that you don't know when the period began.
eg X was resident in France from 3 May 1922 to July 1925.

There is also a Range, where you can specify

'before'
'after' 
'between'.

A range allows you to specify a date, albeit imprecisely, eg X died sometime between 1841 and 1843.

You can also enter your own customised Date Phrase.

[Pejic]

My 2 cents:

If I am referring to an unobtained GRO record I use JFM, AMJ, JAS or OND and the year.

for the old/new year dates I use e.g. 1750/1 or 1729/30, this upsets FAP5 which insists on changing them to e.g. 1750/1751 or 1729/1730, so if I want to keep my format I precede my date with old/new which stops FAP5 recognising them as a date.

My calculated date ranges are in green with grey highlight.

As long as your conventions are documented, use what is most convenient for you, after all, in time, any convention will be superceded - as historical records show.

[kevinf2349]

Writing Q1 or other format is not accepted in Legacy

I can't speak for FTM but you can definately use MAR Q yyyy in Legacy. From the help system.

Quarter Dates

There is a special date format for recording dates from the indexes of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for England and Wales published by the GRO (General Records Office). These indexes are organized on a calendar quarter basis by the date when the event was reported to the GRO. The quarters are Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, and Oct-Dec. Legacy will accept a date based on these quarters that are entered in the following format:

[month] Q [year] - For [month] substitute the ending month for one of the calendar quarters. For year substitute the year of the Index.

Example: Jun Q 1876 would be the date for an event included in the GRO Index for the April to June Quarter of the year 1876.

It would appear that using Abt, Est, Cal, Bef, Circa, Ranges etc are all supported too but they do recommend adding notes to say where these dates were obtained or how they were calculated.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

[stonechat]

Personally I have entered e.g. Oct 1845 for the 4th qtr

FTM 2012 will accept any way you want to enter a date
You get " Unknown date. Enter a valid date", then click on ignore and it is accepted

However disadvantage of accepting this is when sorting or doing reports the date is not dealt with correctly

[GrahamSimons]

My guess is that the various software packages have used the GEDCOM standards as their starting point; after all they need to be able to export and import data as GEDCOM in order to exchange information. A bit of rootling around rather knocked me back, as the date issue is more complex than I had expected, with several different calendars to be considered. There is also the subtle distinction between date period and date range, something I had never even thought about. This link is to the GEDCOM standard, which may be informative:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pmcbride/gedcom/55gcch2.htm#DATE_CALENDAR_ESCAPE

[Guy Etchells]

If you know the person was born before a specific date (such as a registration date) then bef would be appropriate.
If you know roughly the date of event then abt if it is a guess then est.

However these conventions are simple one persons view of what is appropriate and are not written in stone.

I would suggest never use est.
Cheers
Guy

[Robert Fletcher]

My guess is that the various software packages have used the GEDCOM standards as their starting point; after all they need to be able to export and import data as GEDCOM in order to exchange information.

Well done Graham, you have found exactly what I was looking for and this outlines things very clearly. There is definitely a standard to abide by, what has surprised me with some of the responses here, is statements like, "Do whatever suits you" or words similar to that effect, this can only amount to "Genealogical anarchy".

The only other point to mention, is that before an event is entered you must have and accept that record however improbable it may seem, until such time as you find better evidence. The notes is the place to write why you think a date ot other event is not what is recorded.

I am now happy to mark this thread [Resolved].

Robert…

[KGarrad]

My guess is that the various software packages have used the GEDCOM standards as their starting point; after all they need to be able to export and import data as GEDCOM in order to exchange information.

Well done Graham, you have found exactly what I was looking for and this outlines things very clearly. There is definitely a standard to abide by, what has surprised me with some of the responses here, is statements like, "Do whatever suits you" or words similar to that effect, this can only amount to "Genealogical anarchy".

I have to disagree!
It's my database; my family.
I shall use whatever system I like!

If I was sharing the data with others, then I might agree with you!