PAF-5-USERS-L Archives

Archiver > PAF-5-USERS > 2003-09 > 1063724931


From: "Richard L. Halliday" <>
Subject: RE: [PAF-5] State Abbreviations and USA
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 08:09:03 -0700
In-Reply-To: <007f01c37ba9$33981440$9a3ab3d1@oemcomputer>


All;

I use PAF Pal often. We have it installed on all of the computers in
our Family History Center. I find it very helpful when a patron comes in
with a database in which the state names are abbreviated. In a matter of
seconds it expands those place names.

When installed PAF Pal is available from the Tools menu in PAF. I have
never had any trouble with the operation of this program. It is much safer
to use than the Global Search and Replace feature built into PAF. For
example the Global Search and Replace can change "California" into
"Californialifornia".

PAF Pal costs $18.00. It is available from:

Pal Software
1065 West 10210 South
South Jordan, UT 84095



-----Original Message-----
From: Jill A. Holmes [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 9:49 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [PAF-5] State Abbreviations and USA


You might want to purchase the program called PafPal. I am not sure
the price, I have since forgotten. But this program or utility works
with PAF and it has an option called Clear/Change and within that you
can Expand Place Abbreviations and that will fix that. I have used it
and had no problem. For info on how to purchase the program email at;

Jill in CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick Cazier" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 9:37 AM
Subject: Re: [PAF-5] State Abbreviations and USA


> I have been following this subject with great interest. I'm now
convinced
> that the use of two letter state abbreviation postal codes is a bad
idea.
> But, almost all of my states are coded that way. My database
contains over
> 30,000 individuals. All of my place entries are in the smaller to
larger
> place sequence (i.e. Decatur, Macon, IL as City, County and State).
I some
> cases I have added a township name between the city and county or
have
> entered only the township name (followed by the abbreviation of
Twp.) or if
> the city is not known but township is, by omitting the city. All
have comma
> separations, so if any of the info is not known, there is a blank
comma in
> that spot. There are exceptions for some burials. All of my recent
ones
> are listed as Xyz Cemetery, City, County, State, but some of my
older ones
> are entered as City, County, State, Xyz Cemetery or Cem period.
>
> I am concerned about using a global find and replace approach. I'm
> wondering first if it is case sensitive. And will it replace place
names
> that start with the same two letters with the state name. As an
example, I
> have a place entered as Illiopolis, Macon, IL. Will that come out
as
> Illinois, Macon, Illinois if I try to use a global replacement of
comma IL
> to comma Illinois? Or what will happen to a cemetery entry when
the
> cemetery name is at the end of the entry?
>
> Obviously, with the size of my database, it is an unsurmountable
task to
> review each entry after a conversion to make sure it came out the
way I
> wanted it to.
> Dick Cazier
> Lakewood, CO
> To: <>
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:19 AM
> Subject: RE: [PAF-5] State Abbreviations and USA
>
>
> > And Greetings to you Richard R;
> >
> > Your point is valid and well stated. Abbreviations are dangerous
things.
> >
> > In partial support of your stated case you may remember the time,
perhaps
> > forty years ago, when we were encourage to abbreviate place names.
The
> rule
> > was to delete all vowels and truncate the name if it exceeded a
specified
> > number of letters (about fourteen letters, I think). I suspect
that this
> > was done to accommodate the limited length of the fields in the
IBM cards
> > that were used at that time to record information. As a result
the
> section
> > of the IGI labeled World Miscellaneous is cluttered with those
entries
> > because the computer cannot decipher those abbreviations.
Further, I have
> > heard that a team is working on expanding those abbreviations and
moving
> > those entries to the correct categories.
> >
> > In addition I have heard the suggestion that "shire" should be
added to
> all
> > of the county names in England. While I do not support the use of
any of
> > those county names abbreviated (e.g., Notts [or whatever the
current
> > abbreviation is] for Nottinghamshire). Neither do I automatically
add
> > "shire" to all of the county names because not all counties in
England are
> > Shire counties. For example in Northern England York is a shire
county
> > (Yorkshire) Durham (which is always written as "County Durham" is
not.
> >
> > Personally I spent more than thirty years puzzling over the
occupation of
> > one of my great grandfathers. His occupation was shown as "FWK",
I found
> > this in censuses and other documents. It must have been widely
understood
> > at that time (the early to middle 1800s). It was not until I
visited the
> > Lace Museum in Nottingham, England that I discovered it meant
FrameWork
> > Knitter, a worker in the lace industry. Lace was then produced on
large
> > machines that were constructed on cast iron frames.
> >
> > Abbreviations can be deliberately misused. The most egregious
misuse of
> an
> > abbreviation that I can remember occurred prior to WWII. At that
time
> Japan
> > was well known for producing shoddy goods. Products coming into
the
> United
> > States were required to be labeled with the place of origin. The
Japanese
> > renamed an island Usa. They then transshipped products through
that place
> > and labeled them "MADE IN USA" to deliberately obscure the origin.
> >
> > Another problem with place names that occasionally confuses the
Family
> > History Department computers is using Europe or a similar
continental
> > appellation following place names in a continent (e.g., Paris,
France,
> > Europe) (and, yes, I do know that Paris sprawls over about seven
> counties).
> >
> > In spite of the potential problems, I will continue to append USA
to the
> > place names of all localities in the United States of America. I
will do
> > this for several reasons. A major problem with using "United
States of
> > America" is its length. Even though PAF will accommodate a name
of that
> > length this forces it to truncate or abbreviate other parts of the
place
> > name when they are displayed. It will make the pattern of the
place names
> > consistent (i.e., the entry following the last comma will be a
national
> > name). I was unaware, and it is true that I should have realized,
that
> the
> > abbreviation for the Union of South Africa is U. S. A. I have two
friends
> > who lived there and my recollection is that they used "South
Africa"
> rather
> > than the formal "Union of South Africa". Even so in my limited
traveling
> > (some in the Far East, Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North
> America)
> > I have not found any English speaking person (my knowledge of
other
> > languages is limited to a smattering of Spanish) who failed to
recognize
> USA
> > and being the United States of America. Actually, I wish that we
had
> > adopted the suggested name Columbia while it was still available.
Further
> I
> > am uncomfortable calling myself an American meaning a citizen of
the US
> when
> > everyone born in North or South America is an American.
> >
> > Richard Halliday
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Richard Rands [mailto:]
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 12:50 PM
> > To: Richard L. Halliday
> > Subject: Re: [PAF-5] State Abbreviations and USA
> >
> >
> > Hi Richard,
> > > When I am teaching beginner classes I tell the students to
never use
> > >place name abbreviations. I then ask them "What does the
abbreviation
> 'AL'
> > >stand for; Alaska, Alabama or Alberta, Canada?". Another
treacherous one
> > is
> > >'Aust.' Is it Austria or Australia? Next I tell them to always
follow
> > >state names with USA.
> >
> > I wasn't going to raise an issue, but in the end couldn't hold
back. I
> > whole heartily endorse your instructions to never use place name
> > abbreviations. So much so that I gulped when you advocate the use
of the
> > abbreviation USA following state names. I have already
encountered
> > confusion with USA between US of America and Union of South
Africa. I
> have
> > already seen that there is a United States of Africa on the
drawing board
> > that was a topic of discussion during Bush's recent visit to
Aftrica.
> >
> > In my mind, using the abbreviation USA does not improve the place
name
> > designation any more than it adds to potential confusion, as long
as the
> > remaining place names are not abbreviated either. The only
exception I am
> > aware of so far is Georgia.
> >
> > I served a mission for the Church many years ago in Brazil. When
we sent
> > mail home to the USA, we were instructed to append the address
with the
> > abbreviation EEUU. I was told that it was the Brazilian
abbreviation for
> > USA. Once I learned enough of the language to wonder what EEUU
stood for,
> > it didn't make sense because the translation for USA is Estados
Unidos
> > d'America. I would have thought that the correct abbreviation
should be
> > EUA. I discovered that a letter with the abbreviation EUA would
be sent
> to
> > the United Emirates of Arabia. But why the double E and the
double U?
> >
> > The explanation was not logical. Since the actual name for Brazil
is the
> > United States of Brazil, they refused to use the single letters EU
for the
> > US. So their postal service specified that EEUU would be for the
USA. I
> > have traveled extensively around the world, and have yet to
encounter
> > someone who did not immediately understand "the United States" as
being
> > the USA. Even in foreign countries, a reference in the local
language to
> > "the United States" is still automatically assumed to mean the
> > USA. (Estados Unidos, Etas Unis, etc.) But the abbreviation EU
is now
> > widely used to mean the European Union. So you can understand why
I am
> > reluctant to advocate the use of USA in place names.
> >
> > The problem is tricky. I still believe that adding USA to a place
name
> > that contains a state name is not going to contribute anything,
and will
> > potentially cause confusion. Only when it stands alone, should it
be
> used,
> > and then I recommend spelling it out.
> >
> > Just my opinion
> >
> > Richard Rands
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ====
> > FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service
> > http://www.familysearch.org/
> >
>
>
>
> ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ====
> PAF @ FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service
> http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/
>


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