[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Julian and Gregorian Dates in Lipno

[Gary Warner]

Earl,

It is an issue only issue before the data gets entered into a 
computer, as all computers provide a correct output on the 
dates.   The issue is interpreting the date before the computer user 
enters the date.    I have seen lots of records during a merge of the 
SGGEE data where two or more members have obviously been confused as 
to the meaning of the sequence of the numbers in the record they 
obtained the data from.

Gary

At 02:30 PM 8/17/2006, Earl.Schultz wrote:

>Gary & Others,
>
>You made an interesting comment with respect to writing dates as 12/06/1900
>and I'm surprised we haven't resolved this matter once and for all.  The
>International Standards Association (or whatever they are called) has
>accepted the format YYYY/MM/DD or 1900/06/12 (1900 June 12).  Years ago as a
>member of the Ontario Genealogical Society I participated in a survey that
>resulted in them deciding to write all dates as YYYY/MM/DD.  I believe that
>Salt Lake City has also accepted that format.  It does not lead to
>misunderstandings (or at least much less chance) and all other time is
>written from largest to smallest as in HH:MM:SS (hours/minutes/seconds).  It
>is about time all genealogists adopt this format for the sake of accuracy.
>
>Earl Schultz
>
>Message: 5
>Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:49:54 -0700
>From: Gary Warner <gary at warnerengineering.com>
>Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Julian and Gregorian Dates in Lipno
>         Records
>To: "LMPauling" <lmpauling at utech.net>,  "SGGEE Mailing List"
>         <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
>Message-ID: <6.2.5.6.2.20060817102647.07ffc3e8 at warnerengineering.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
>
>Linda,
>
>I am certainly no expert on the use of the two
>calendars, but I will take a stab at it.
>
>First, there is a nifty calendar converter at
>http://www.calendarhome.com/converter/
>
>For those of you not familiar with the two
>calendars, there are also written discussions on
>the two calendars at a number of places,
>including
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar
>The Russians continued to use the old calendar until after World War I.
>
>Second, my guess is that in the early 1800s in
>Poland that the date being used was the old
>Julian calendar, but I do not know for certain,
>since most of the rest of Europe had already
>changed to the modern Gregorian calendar by that
>time.    Do you have records where the same
>pastor suddenly changed from using both dates to
>only a single date?   If so, you may be able to
>determine which calendar he was using at that
>time if the next entry was less than two weeks later.
>
>Finally, why are you supposing that you need
>anyone's permission to record a date based on
>either calendar?    Yes, we would like to get all
>of the dates based on the same calendar, but I
>have no idea which calendar anyone is using when
>they give SGGEE data.    The only dates that I am
>pretty sure are correct are those where they
>provide both dates for the event.    Not all
>family history programs will do that,
>however.      I believe that most people are
>using the Gregorian date when submitting data,
>but that is only a guess until I see that date
>conflict with a date submitted by someone else.
>
>One last thing, and not directly related to your
>questions Linda.   I am seeing some date
>conflicts in the data submitted by members.    It
>is very apparent that some of you, who shall
>remain unnamed, are taking notes in short hand
>when copying dates from other records.    Those
>unnamed people are obviously making hand written
>notes that say something like 12/06/1900.   The
>problem is that this date can mean two different
>dates, depending on which part of the world you
>live in.    In some parts of the world, the above
>date is December 6, 1900, and in other places the
>date is June 12, 1900.    NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use
>such short hand notations.   If you do, your data
>entry will likely be incorrect.
>
>Gary Warner
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ger-Poland-Volhynia Mailing List hosted by
>Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe http://www.sggee.org
>Mailing list info at http://www.sggee.org/listserv