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Instructions on Submitting GEDCOM Files
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Introduction
Since AHSGR was founded, we have actively solicited members to submit their genealogy information. This has been done to create a repository of genealogy information that patrons may use in their research, and also to enable AHSGR members to share information with each other. Initially, this member-submitted information was extracted from the genealogy forms (Ancestral Chart and Family Group Chart) and placed onto Family Group Cards. In the early 1990s, a database was developed to store and enable research of member-submitted genealogy data. This database has evolved to contain the paper form and GEDCOM information. There is no need for you to generate paper copies of genealogy forms if you are submitting a GEDCOM. If you chose not to submit a GEDCOM, AHSGR will then need the paper copies of the charts to enter your genealogical data in the genealogy database.
Updates
When you have acquired additional genealogical information and would like to update your information, you must submit a new GEDCOM that contains all of the previous information plus your new information. The old GEDCOM will be deleted and the new GEDCOM which contains your updates will be added in its place. This will eliminate duplication of previously submitted material by you and at the same time list the new information. You may only update material which you have submitted. If you identify information in the database which you know is incorrect, you must contact the original submitter and ask that they submit a change to their data.
Guidelines
In order to ensure uniformity of style and spelling, AHSGR has drawn up the following guidelines for entering data. Please follow these guidelines whenever possible when submitting data to AHSGR on a diskette in GEDCOM format (refer to your genealogy software manual for instructions on creating a GEDCOM file). The system presented here will serve AHSGR's needs best, but we are aware these requirements for completing the various fields may not agree with the system you have developed. Each person should use the system that he/she finds suits his/her needs best.
General
Do
not
use
parentheses
(
)
or
quotation
marks
"
"
in
any
field.
They
will
all
have
to
be
removed
before
we
can
add
the
data
to
our
database.
If
data
is
unknown,
leave
that
field
blank.
Do
not
enter
"unknown"
or
"unk."
Umlauts
and
Symbols
While
some
genealogy
programs
will
accept
and
properly
use
diacritic
markings,
this
is
not
universal.
Please
spell
out
all
umlauts:
ä
=
ae,
ö
=
oe,
ü
=
ue.
Spell
out
the
German
ß
as
"ss."
Dates
If
you
do
not
know
a
specific
date,
please
do
not
use
"before,"
"after,"
"circa,"
"ca,"
or
"about."
Instead,
use
the
abbreviation
ABT
followed
by
a
year.
The
software
used
by
AHSGR
will
put
the
ABT
into
the
month
field
and
the
year
into
the
year
field.
Do
not
try
to
expedite
this
by
putting
the
ABT
into
the
month
field.
Type
ABT
where
you
would
ordinarily
type
the
day
field.
For
example,
type
"abt
1896."
It
does
not
matter
if
you
use
lower-
or
uppercase
for
ABT.
The
software
will
convert
it
to
upper
case.
Names
Capitalize
the
first
letter
only
of
each
name.
In
the
Full
Name
fields
names
should
be
entered
last,
first,
middle.
When
typing
in
a
name
put
your
SEN
following.
Example:
Smith,
John
Jacob
S541.
A
screen
comes
up
that
will
tell
you
that
numbers
are
not
usually
part
of
an
alpha
field,
just
click
OK
to
proceed.
If
you
wish
to
put
in
a
religious
affiliation
this
is
where
to
do
it.
Type
a
dash
then
use
the
first
letter:
C
(Catholic),
M
(Mennonite),
P
(Protestant)
followed
by
a
dash
and
then
the
SEN.
Example:
Smith,
John
Jacob
-P-S541.
There
are
no
other
fields
to
enter
religious
data
in.
Nicknames
Put
any
nickname
in
the
nickname
field
provided
by
your
program.
If
your
program
does
not
have
such
a
field,
then
use
"Field
3"
of
the
name
field.
Do
not
use
quotation
marks!
Title
Do
not
put
a
title
such
as
"Dr.,"
"Prof.,"
"Miss,"
etc.
in
the
title
field
of
files
to
be
sent
to
AHSGR.
There
is
no
title
field
in
PAF
5.0
and
titles
are
not
used
in
the
AHSGR
database.
Place
There
are
generally
four
sub-fields
for
indicating
the
place
of
an
event
such
as
birth,
marriage
and
death.
Some
programs
do
not
clearly
separate
the
sub-fields.
In
PAF
5
below
the
Personal
field
there
is
Events.
Here
there
are
spaces
for
Birth:
date,
and
below
the
place.
This
is
the
same
for
Christening,
Death,
and
Burial.
When
entering
places
use
the
following
format:
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| United
States |
Germany |
Russia |
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City,
Town
County
State
United
States
|
Village,
City
County
(e.g.
Isenberg)
Province
(e.g.
Hesse)
Germany
|
Village,
City
Sub-region
(e.g.
Saratov,
Odessa)
Province
(e.g.
Volga,
Black
Sea)
Russia,
South
Russia
or
U.S.S.R.
(for
1917-1991
only)
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A
completed
field
will
look
like
this:
Lincoln,
Lancaster,
Nebraska,
United
States
or
Norka,
Saratov,
Volga,
Russia
If
any
event
places
are
not
known,
just
leave
the
field
(or
space)
blank.
For
events
that
took
place
in
Canada
or
the
United
States,
you
should
not
have
problems
with
these
fields.
Remember
to
capitalize
the
first
letter
of
the
name.
When
filling
in
the
"county"
field,
do
not
use
the
abbreviation
"Co"
or
"co"
after
the
name
of
the
county.
Use
the
name
only.
(You
may
use
the
abbreviations
"twp"
for
a
township.)
If
you
do
not
know
the
county
name,
leave
this
field
blank.
(You
can
find
the
county
name
in
the
zip
code
book
at
your
post
office.)
This
field
should
be
left
blank
for
events
in
Canada.
Under
the
state
or
province
field,
do
not
use
the
standard,
postal
code
two-letter
abbreviation.
Instead
spell
out
the
name
of
the
state
or
province
completely.
For
someone
born
in
the
U.S.A.,
you
may
use
U.S.A.
in
"Field
4."
This
is
the
only
abbreviation
you
should
use
in
any
place
field.
Otherwise
spell
out
every
place
to
the
best
of
your
ability.
In
seeking
to
maintain
uniformity
and
to
facilitate
future
research,
we
are
taking
some
liberties
in
place
name
designations,
especially
with
the
county
field.
Village
If
the
village
has
both
a
German
and
a
Russian
name,
use
the
English
transliteration
of
the
German
name
only.
Do
not
use
the
dialect
spelling
of
a
name
(Denhof,
Gliksthal)
but
rather
the
standard
spelling
of
the
name
(Doenhof,
Glueckstal).
If
the
village
has
only
a
Russian
name,
use
the
English
transliteration
of
the
Cyrillic
name,
not
the
German
transliteration
as
found
on
the
Stumpp
maps.
For
example:
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Stumpp-German
Tschscherbakowka
Orlowskaya
Nikolajew
|
English
Shcherbakovka
Orlovskoye
Nikolayev
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There
are
various
systems
for
transliterating
from
Cyrillic
to
Roman
letters.
AHSGR
uses
the
system
adopted
by
the
U.S.
Board
of
Standard
Names.
On
file
at
AHSGR
we
have
the
seven-volume
gazetteer
published
by
the
U.S.
Board
of
Standard
Names
showing
the
transliterated
spellings.
This
gazetteer
has
been
extremely
useful
in
determining
the
names
(as
of
1970)
of
the
former
German
villages
still
in
existence.
If
you
are
in
doubt
about
the
spelling
of
your
ancestral
village,
contact
AHSGR
and
we
will
give
you
our
preferred
spelling
and
the
preferred
place
field
designations.
County
It
is
in
this
area
particularly
that
we
are
taking
a
number
of
liberties.
These
will,
however,
make
researching
on
the
database
much
easier.
For
example,
the
"county"
for
villages
on
the
Bergseite
or
west
side
of
the
Volga
River
should
be
listed
as
"Saratov;"
those
on
the
Wiesenseite
or
east
side
should
be
listed
as
"Samara."
Technically
speaking,
"Saratov"
and
"Samara"
were
the
provinces.
For
villages
in
Bessarabia,
list
the
county
or
Kreis
(Cahul,
Akkerman,
etc).
For
South
Russia,
if
the
village
belonged
to
a
specific
group
of
colonies,
i.e.
Glueckstal,
Grossliebental,
Molochna
(not
Molotschna),
Khortitsa
(not
Chortitza),
Berezan
(not
Beresan),
etc.,
use
the
colony
group
name.
To
find
the
county
designation
for
your
village,
contact
AHSGR.
Remember
that
you
can
always
leave
this
field
blank.
State
/
Province
Again,
this
is
a
field
with
some
variations.
We
have
decided
to
use
the
names
of
the
Stumpp
maps
(English
transliteration
where
applicable),
such
as
Bessarabia,
Odessa,
Zaporozhye,
Dnepropetrovsk,
Nikolaev,
Caucasus,
Crimea,
Volga,
Volhynia
U
(Ukraine
Volhynia)
or
Volhynia
P
(Polish
Volhynia),
etc.
Do
not
give
any
of
these
provinces
the
title
"Ukraine"
unless
the
event
took
place
after
1991.
Because
this
field
will
be
one
of
the
main
criteria
for
searches,
it
is
necessary
that
this
field
always
be
completed.
Country
These
variations
are
in
keeping
with
historical
designations,
but
have
been
adapted
to
meet
AHSGR’s
needs.
South
Russia:
Use
for
those
areas
bordering
the
Black
Sea,
which
we
consider
to
be
in
South
Russia.
This
includes
Bessarabia
except
for
the
periods
1918-1940
when
it
was
part
of
Romania.
Russia:
Use
for
the
rest
of
Russia.
U.S.S.R.:
Do
not
use
unless
the
event
occurred
between
1917-1991.
Ukraine:
Do
not
use
unless
the
event
occurred
there
after
1991.
Russia
or
Poland:
Use
for
Volhynia,
if
you
know
for
certain
where
the
location
was
situated
at
that
date.
Otherwise
leave
it
blank.
If
at
any
time
you
have
a
question
about
spelling
or
how
to
fill
out
these
four
fields,
please
ask.
You
may
telephone,
e-mail,
or
send
a
self-addressed,
stamped
postcard
or
envelope
for
your
answer.
We
do
ask
that
you
spell
out
all
place
fields
completely
to
the
best
of
your
ability
and
do
not
use
abbreviations
(with
the
exception
of
U.S.A.).
Submitter
Put
your
name
and
address
in
this
frame
so
the
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American
Historical Society of Germans From Russia