Understanding activating/deactivating sources

[Keith Wilson]

Originally posted by john1033

I need a little primer using activate/deactivate sources. I'm not sure how to go about using this part of the program. Here's an example:
Montgomery Bell b.1787 is referenced in the book Living on the Unicoi Road.
He is also referenced in Sir Robert Bell and his early Virginia Colony Descendants. What does it mean to activate or deactivate these two books? When I added a new ancestor, suddenly this ancestor was linked to one of the books.

Another resource I have is Bells in the USA and allied families. Montgomery Bell is in this one too. So now I have three sources for one ancestor. Which source is activated? Thanks for any clarification in using this feature. John Bell PS Great program, glad to be here.

[Keith Wilson]

I need a little primer using activate/deactivate sources. I'm not sure how to go about using this part of the program. Here's an example: Montgomery Bell b.1787 is referenced in the book Living on the Unicoi Road. He is also referenced in Sir Robert Bell and his early Virginia Colony Descendants. What does it mean to activate or deactivate these two books? When I added a new ancestor, suddenly this ancestor was linked to one of the books.

Another resource I have is Bells in the USA and allied families. Montgomery Bell is in this one too. So now I have three sources for one ancestor. Which source is activated? Thanks for any clarification in using this feature. John Bell PS Great program, glad to be here.

You can make any Source the current " Active Source" .

Then, whenever you add a new Person, iFamily assumes that you are still working on data extracted from the current Active Source - so it will automatically prompt you to make a Reference (or Citation) to the current Active Source. In the Source Reference dialog you can add a Page Number, a Topic and some Notes for the Source Reference. These three fields are attached to the Source Reference object which connects the Person to the Source.

The same applies when you add a new Event.

Whilst there is an Active Source you can Right Click on a Person or an Event and select " Add Reference to Active Source" from the pop-up menu.

To change (or turn off) the Active Source use the A/S button on the Toolbar.

The " work flow" for entering data using an Active Source is:

• Find a new Source Document
• Enter a new Source using Sources - Add/Edit
• Select the new Source to be the Active Source
• Enter the relevant People and Events from that Source - adding Page Nos, Topics and Notes as Source References as you go.
• Find another Source Document and repeat the same steps.

Keith

[Keith Wilson]

Originally posted by john1033

Thanks, that really helps. I was stuck thinking person to sources rather than source to all people in that source related to me. John