Source Detail Certainty

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Barbara Krecklow on October 18, 2009 at 5:56pm

If the obituary agrees with your firsthand knowledge and you agree it is accurate, I would be comfortable with a surety level of 3. On the other hand if the obituary is the only knowledge you have, I would rate it lower. My mother's, father's, and brother's obituaries published in our small town newspaper were full of inaccuracies. Since I had first hand knowledge (I was there), those obituaries will have low surety levels if I use them at all. In all three of those cases I supplied information to the Funeral Director who sent it to the paper. Somewhere things went wrong. Barb

Permalink Reply by Donald DeZarn on October 18, 2009 at 6:22pm

I agree with Barbara's assessment. I've added hundreds of obits to my Legacy database and have noticed numerous inaccuracies in many of them. However, first-hand knowledge allows me in most cases to sort out the good from the bad. The same can be said for information on death certificates. Often the informant's information is inaccurate when compared with first-hand knowledge.

Permalink Reply by Keith McKain on October 18, 2009 at 6:23pm

First hand knowledge ( you were there at the funeral) - I would say 100% - you know it is a fact! Just my opinion - ut I know of nothing that could be more sure.

Keith

Permalink Reply by Cindy Abrams on October 18, 2009 at 6:54pm

Seems to me if you have first hand knowledge of the event, there's really not anything that is much better. I think you are right. I agree with the others.

Permalink Reply by Jude Burns on October 19, 2009 at 4:39pm

So, is the surety level about the accuracy of all information in the source or is it whether it relates to the relative?

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Fox Allen on October 19, 2009 at 9:27pm

In the described situation, I would assign two sources to the event (death):

1. "Personal Knowledge of [me]" with a surety level appropriate to the level of confidence that I have in my first-hand knowledge of that event (probably a 4);

2. the obit, with a surety level based on how accurate the obituary is (of course, my assessment of that accuracy would be based on my knowledge, so I suppose that's circular logic, but it works for me.)