GRanDMA Data-Submission Guidelines |
Users are invited to contribute to the growth of the GRanDMA database, adding new individuals or new data
concerning individuals already entered.
We encourage use of the online GMOL form. Submissions using the form are archived, and starting in June, 2023,
they may be made available directly as sources unless you choose not to share the submission directly.
Here are some guidelines.
- Who to Add. Include individuals whose lineage includes
Russian/Prussian and Hutterite Mennonites. (Follow that link if you are not certain.)
Include spouses
of those individuals, even if they do not have Mennonite background; they will also be assigned GRanDMA numbers. If you include the names of the
parents of those spouses, their names will be added in the Notes.
- Preferred data. For each person in the database, we would like to have the following, if it applies:
- Parents: either individuals already in the database, or new entries.
- Name: Legal first name, middle name, and last name. If the person was or is commonly known by the middle
name, put that in All Caps. If commonly known by a nickname, put that in quotes.
- Baptism date and location. Include the church if it is not in the Source. If the person was baptized more than once, include it.
- Death date and location.
- Funeral or Memorial Service date and city. Where available, the name of the church is quite useful.
- Burial. If the FindAGrave memorial number is available, include that. Besides being a source of information, the link to FGr
is used to draw maps of that location.
If the FindAGrave.com memorial includes the coordinates of the actual gravesite, GMOL will map it to that point.
- Migration date with arrival location and date. If by ship, include the ship name. Only movements between
countries are included as migrations. For a given migration, Emigration records can be included if the Immigration record is unavailable.
- Census and Residence entries. Date and location. These can establish important locations when nothing else does.
- Divorce, adoption, naturalization, with date as available.
- Locations
- If possible, names of locations for new data should match existing locations. You can check yourself if a location
is already in the GRanDMA database with the
Place Search tool.
- For most locations, the name of the country at the time of the event is preferred. Exceptions include: "South Russia",
"Asiatic Russia", "Crimea", "Volhynia", and "Galicia" which were regions, not countries.
Sources. All data should have a source. These sources are very important but can be highly varied. Here are
some examples:
- A publication. Include date, and page number. This includes obituaries.
- A web publication. Websites are subject to change and updating, so if the data are found on the
web, include both the URL and the date that this URL was consulted.
GAMEO is a superb example and suggests formats.
- Government Records: birth certificate, census, marriage records, land records, naturalization records,
war registration,etc. As possible include
the information necessary for another to look it up (e.g., location).
- Church records. Include the repository (where they can be viewed).
- Family members: verbal with name and date; announcements, etc.
- If no other information is submitted, the source for the datum
will be the name of the person submitting the data, with date.
Data Files.
- If your data are found in a file, for example a GeDCom file or an Excel file for a family, that file may be attached.
- New, 2023.06: Images of historical documents are encouraged: obituaries, birth certificates, death notices, draft cards, etc.
They can be made available to other GMOL users if the submission is
made through the submission form in GMOL.
- What not to send.
- Please do not send pictures of people. However, you may share your photos using the photo-submission pages of GMOL.
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