Reviewing the underpinnings, with some comments.
Dates: DAY(1,2,3 etc.) MONTH (Jan., Feb., Mar. etc.) YEAR (4, repeat 4 digits)
Why? My cousin got a birthday card from a friend in Belgium on June 6. My cousin's birthday is June 1. That's why. 6/10 is ambiguous. 10 May points to one specific day in the year. Why 4 digits for the year? When research stretches into 3 centuries, though you know you will remember that a certain snip is from 1820 and not 1920, I guarantee you won't.
Also interesting, and good to know, between 1582 & 1752 both Julian and Gregorian calendar were in use, depending on where. Genealogists get to juggle double dates, which is particularly interesting when calculating ages. More info here. [1]
Names: Record as you would introduce - Maggie Thompson, Roger Anderson, Douglas Scott. Why? With this convention, one does not wonder whether Douglas Scott is Mr. Scott or Mr. Douglas.
Places: Small to large or large to small. Ancestry offers small to large in their drop-downs; Family Search prefers Large to small when you fill in the catalog box. For your own work, choose one (either) and stay there. (Please include the county, sometimes it makes a difference when trying to work out a puzzle.) Why? Lots of cities share names with counties, and counties with states, and lots of city names are in more than one state. Hence, Hartford, Washington Co., New York.
Living People & Privacy: Genealogical databases blank out vital statistics on living people. This action, unfortunately, hardly needs a why. Stolen identities and hacked everything require diligence, for ourselves, our families and those whose information we tend, both online and on paper.
Dead People Have No Rights: Unfortunately true. Small rant here. My mother died in April. I have a tree on Ancestry, but the youngest person included, and long dead, is my grandmother. Three days after my mother died, Ancestry planted a snapshot of her on my home page. I do not know where the person ID'd as the contributor got this snapshot and he has not replied to any post through Ancestry. Annoyed hardly starts to cover it.
However, dead people do continue to hold copyright. Current copyright law gives ownership of writings (and other creations) made on or after January 1, 1978 to the creator for their life plus 70 years. Interestingly enough, a letter's content still belongs to the writer, while the physical item belongs to the recepient, who may give away, sell or display the letter, but not publish. [2]
Who would have thunk that?
TA...
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1. An interesting article is posted on the Connecticut Library Site. Google: Connecticut State
Library > History & Genealogy > Colonial Records & Topics > 1752 Calendar Change.
2. Roam around Copyright Alliance: https://copyrightalliance.org/about/
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since last posting: the tree is up and the larder is being stocked with celebratory food for Christmas and NY eve -- smoked salmon, herring in wine, "smelly" cheese. You'd think we were Scandanavian (not!). Education continues. With more than 3/4 of my lines leaping to Germany and the encouragement of a colleague, I have started DuoLingo.German, learning what I could have absorbed as a youngster. My grandmother spoke German but wouldn't speak it/teach it to her daughter (my mother). Grandma often said, "We are in America. We are Americans. We speak English." So I know the sounds, from songs and food names, but the language is being found again.