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Archiver > APG > 2005-01 > 1105052284


From: "Tom Morris" <>
Subject: RE: [APG] Biographical writing style
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 17:58:13 -0500
In-Reply-To: <200501062054.j06Ksu7Z018471@mail.rootsweb.com>


I've seen this claim a few times now :

> Rondina, there is no such guide to any such critter as
> "modified register style" because there really is no such
> critter! The term persists only because it is perpetuated by
> some computer software that has not stayed abreast of what's
> going on in the world of genealogical writing and scholarship.

While I think we can all agree that the programmers of
computer genealogy software are not only ill-informed, but
also inherently evil, there's plenty of evidence that
this phrase is in active use today in a wider
community.

Want to buy a book published using the "modified register
style?" Amazon has one which was published in 1999 -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0965234614/103-9150836-4528600
?v=glance

Want to write your own compiled genealogy?
Dr. Ralph J. Crandall suggests that you use the
"Register or modified Register format"
in his April, 2000 column from Ancestry Magazine
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=2507

Need help with your writing? Here's an "experienced editor"
who'll edit your work to conform to "modified Register style."
http://www.yourgenealogist.com/editing.htm

While NGS partisans may wish it weren't so, plenty of people
are talking about "modified Register style" in contexts
separate from genealogy software.

Clearly the folks at NEHGS have a vested interested in
the world believing that they are the source for all
innovation in American genealogy, so if one were into
conspiracy theories, one might think they were continuing
to promote the phrase on purpose. :-)

Tom



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