Accurate Documentation

To all the intrepid researchers at Nuestros Ranchos:

In searching through microfilm records, as I copy down the entries I find on
my ancestors and "might be related" persons, I strive to make these records
as accurate as possible. However, as has been discussed in this forum in
the past, spelling of names, illegible penmanship, phonetic spelling, etc.
can make accuracy sometimes a hit and miss guessing game. Which could
result in inaccurate documentation. It is so tempting to just figure, based
on other entries, that one person in one entry is the same as another person
in another entry. For example, sometimes they spell a surname "Vanda,"
sometimes "Banda." Should I record it the way they spell it in each of the
entries, or should I "correct" them by standardizing the name myself, by
documenting what I think they meant everytime?

I realize I could get myself into a sticky situation. One reason is, that
"Vanda" could be a name different from "Banda" and the persons in each
entry, therefore, different people, no matter how similar everyone else in
these entries appear. My mistake would be to assume Jose Vanda married to
Maria Sanchez and Jose Banda married to Maria Sanches are the same people.
Some people, even today, spell their surnames ending in "s" or "z", as in
Gonzalez and Chavez. In one entry a Gregorio Peres, married to a Maria
Chavez, then becomes Gregorio Perez and Maria Chaves in another entry!
Changing it in my documentation, to all end in "z" or "s", could mean
recording it incorrectly for how they might have spelled their own names!
As you can see, and I'm sure many of you have discovered, this is one of the
challenges of reading handwritten records.

Some names are so illegible, I write down the name the best I can and place
a question mark after it. For example, "Peisnlar?" In other entries, all
the names are the same as in this one, but the person's last name is very
clearly "Pinuelas." Should I change "Peisnlar" to "Pinuelas," because I
think that's probably what was written, however illegible? Or, should I not
take any chances by guessing what it probably says in the record? I look
over how the recordkeeper wrote their letters, to aid in my reading their
penmanship, but sometimes there is just one name that stumps me and I put a
question mark after it, to let myself know that I gave up.

What do you do to make your records as accurate as possible? How do you
pass this information on to others, even download databases of your records
onto forums, make your records available to family, etc., when there are
these questionable areas? I know how frustrating it is to try and find an
ancestor in a database, such as Ancestry.com, only to discover after long
searching hours and days, and weeks, and years, that the name was completely
massacred and nowhere resembles the true name of that person. When I look
for "Frias," I also look for "Freas," and "Frillas," etc. But, what if it
is entered as "Frian," or "Fias," or something like that? Will I ever find
it?

I guess we can only do what is humanly possible. No one is perfect and we
can not expect that. We can only be thankful and quite grateful that we
have information being shared in the first place and at such a huge volume,
all around the world. Which brings me to the reason for my dismay. I have
decided to download all my records onto rootsweb and find many of my
carefully kept records are dotted with question marks and notes in
parenthesis. I want to share this information, but I want to provide it as
accurately as I can.

Thank-you, all, for your help and words of wisdom!

Questions and thoughts from Santa Maria, California
>From Corrine Ardoin (I spell my first name inaccurately, because that was
how I was taught to spell it as a child, but I have since found from baptism
and birth records, my given name is "Corinne," which my father always
pointed out to me. But I never listened to him! So, to this day, I spell
even my own name incorrectly!)