MacGenealogist Vivian, asked for suggestions on how to label folders when place-names change. In her case, she has relatives in pre-WWI Hungary. I recommend the following:
- create the folders for the modern-day locations first (eg. country, region, county, and city)
- create the folders for historical location next, except for the city
- create an alias of the modern-day city folder
- if the name of the city was different in the historical location, rename the aliased city folder
- move the aliased city folder to the appropriate place in the historical location folder structure
I recorded those steps in a video to make it clear. Collect the location information for an ancestor in a similar situation and follow along, replacing your location for the example I use.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good suggestion for using aliases to deal with alternate place names! I think that will solve the problem. Glad that you enjoyed my website. As you can probably tell, it’s a labor of love. I tried developing a website before but it wasn’t until I started using iWeb that it came to be. As a bonus, because of my website I was able to connect with a second cousin once removed in Hungary. He was looking for info about his family and was surprised when his great-grandfather’s name, which is included on my website, came up in a Google search. Perhaps you should do a series on using iWeb to create family websites.
Vivian, like your second cousin, I’ve discovered family and information through a site like yours. That sort of find is priceless. As you know, Apple makes it simple to create and maintain a personal website. I can help our fellow MacGenealogists to experience the joy of being on either end of family discovery by teaching this. Reciprocity is a wonderful part of the practice of genealogy. Thank you for the excellent idea!
I’ve added it to my list. Please leave comments or email me if you have other ideas. I’d really appreciate it.
—Ben
This is very useful stuff, Ben. Thank you. Is there a way to see a list of all the alias files/folders from the original? I am researching families that have migrated in groups and frequently have census or land records that refer to more than 10 individuals of interest. It would be helpful to see the alias files listed rather than opening and reading the file. Rather like like viewing all the source citations for a master source…
Susan, thank you very much for your question. I have created a screencast with your answer and posted it in a new article—part 5 of this series—in order not to have the answer buried here.
—Ben
{ 1 trackback }