Cleaning Up My Database : Multiple Facts

One of my projects I'm working on right now is cleaning up my database, particularly the multiple facts.  This is an issue of my own creation, as what I was doing was creating a separate fact for each incident I discovered of a particular fact.

For instance, if I had a date of birth from a tombstone or family group sheet, I would enter that date "12 Oct 1818" in my database as a fact.  Then, when I found a census record that stated based on age that they were born "circa 1819", I would also enter that a separate fact.  

What this has done is created a real cluster of information in my database, and when I print out family narrative reports it really looks sloppy to state that someone was born multiple times.  Since I have done this for some time, there are plenty of items I need to correct.

In RootsMagic, you can find multiple fact reports by choosing the Lists>Fact List and then when you go to create the report, choose Create a list of people with more than one of this fact type.

What I am doing is updating the database to show the one "birth fact" and tying the multiple sources to the main fact.  Some of these facts might disagree with each other or compliment each other, but i will use the Research Notes and Comments section in RootsMagic to note discrepancies or why I think one place is better than another.  For instance, one fact might state someone was born in Indiana, the other might give the county such as Madison County, Indiana.  I will blend these together as the main birth fact and notate in each notated fact which fact gave which location.

This will be a slow, tedious project, as when I ran the report out of my RootsMagic database I ended up with over 100 pages of information on individuals who have duplicate birth facts.  I have even begun to look into those who might have duplicate death facts as well.