PolishOrigins Forum

 FAQFAQ    SearchSearch    MemberlistMemberlist    ProfileProfile    Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages    Log inLog in    RegisterRegister 
Author
Message
looking for clues
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 04 Apr 2015
Replies: 122

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:16 pm      Post subject: Use of modern or historical place names?
Reply with quote

I am rethinking how I enter location names into my genealogy software (The Master Genealogist.) I currently use place names as they were known at the time of the event including existing voivodeships, with a field noting the modern name and location info. Before my discovery of online Polish records databases, this worked well because most “old” records only went back to the late 1800’s and with limited records I was able to figure out the old województwo or voivodeship for that time period. Now as I have been fortunate to find more records covering a larger time frame it is becoming more complicated to accurately record the information. The many past administrative divisions of Poland makes this pretty complicated.

In my mind there are valid arguments for doing it both ways. A historical name records things as our ancestors knew them. A contemporary name may be easier to share information in a uniform way.

Do you use the contemporary name or the name at the time of the event?
Is there an accepted standard for recording the data?

Please share your thoughts and methods. I am trying to think things through before making a major entry change.

Diane
View user's profile
Send private message
rsowa
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USA

Back to top
Post Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:08 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

One caution about using contemporary names is just what you have found. Just as historical names and jurisdictions changed, the new contemporary ones could change as well. The only thing that will NEVER change is the original place names, as recorded in the historical records.

In my view, the nuisance of researching how boundaries and jurisdictions changed is just one of things that has to be done. United States records are no different. In the early years of the country, state and county boundaries changed a lot. Someone could have been born in one county and died in another state and county, even though both events happened in the exact same house.
View user's profile
Send private message
looking for clues
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 04 Apr 2015
Replies: 122

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:24 am      Post subject: Use of modern or historical place names?
Reply with quote

rsowa, thanks for your thoughts on this. For me figuring out the jurisdictions for Poland has been harder because of the language difference.
View user's profile
Send private message
Elzbieta Porteneuve
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Replies: 3098
Location: Paris, France

Back to top
Post Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:44 am      Post subject: Use of modern or historical place names?
Reply with quote

Hi Diane,

I am very much in line with RSowa.

The historical names are of utmost importance, it is our inheritance, the modern names may go with the wind.

Imagine you had "modern names" in the former Czechoslovakia (I do, I have record from Bohemia in 1915), it's gone with the wind of 1992 change and split of the country in two parts, and it is not the end! Now my “modern name” is in Czechia - the brand new short name of this country since 2016, after 20+ years it was named Czech Republic, not easy to use as a short name.

I think it is important also to put the old villages on the modern map, and see with our eyes where it is now - it is speaking much more to us and our children, and when the maps give you the geographic coordinates (the ones of GPS), you get even more certainty.

Best,
Elzbieta
View user's profile
Send private message
looking for clues
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 04 Apr 2015
Replies: 122

Back to top
Post Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:58 pm      Post subject: Use of modern or historical place names?
Reply with quote

Thank you Elzbieta for another confirmation that I have been on the right track with trying to use historical names. I have been studying maps, old and new and learning about the border and jurisdiction changes of the land my ancestors called Poland, even though Poland didn't really exist at the time.

I initially entered the "country" as "Poland (under Russian rule)" for many of my ancestors at the time of their immigration in the the early 20th century. I am now trying to be more specific. Do you use names of locations for where Polish ancestors lived like Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Duchy of Warsaw, Congress Poland?

Diane
View user's profile
Send private message
rsowa
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USA

Back to top
Post Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:15 pm      Post subject: Re: Use of modern or historical place names?
Reply with quote

looking for clues wrote:
Do you use names of locations for where Polish ancestors lived like Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Duchy of Warsaw, Congress Poland?
Diane


I hate to say it, but in my experience, attempting to come up with a location name like you suggest has not been very useful. Most search engines aren't smart enough to even know that Kraków is in Małopolska Voivodeship. Don't forget that the search terms you use are matched up with those that somebody transcribed for a particular record.
View user's profile
Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    PolishOrigins Forum Index -> Research Resources, Tools & Tips All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB ©

© 2009-2024 COPYRIGHTS BY THE OWNER OF POLISHORIGINS.COM