Is there any way to determine the "FocusedId" for a place when entering a standard place name in the
The FocusedId is the ID found at https://www.familysearch.org/research/places
I find that there are many duplicate names in the list of standard places presented in FamilyTree. Not only are names the same, but so are the short descriptions. ( Major city, community, etc.)
How can I tell them apart?
Are they merged by perion ID's with tracking of no longer used FocusedIds ?
Answers
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You can tell them apart when you look back in the timeline for the person and see where it is located. I've found that sometimes there are "duplicates" because the places have not been fully updated. For example, they might both be shown as towns when one is actually a municipality and the other is a town, but they are pretty much in the same location.
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@Richard Otter
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Richard
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I know where you are coming from ...
That is why 'FamilySearch' is trying to address/fix 'Place Names in the database; as, a matter of course; but, ... BIG job/task ...
Most of the time I go with what is the 'closest' ( ie. 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe' ).
Sometimes, I check the 'Place' Names database; but, as you imply, it is often quite ambiguous ...
Especially, when there is more than one of the same ...
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Brett
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I would like a statement from FamilySearch on this - possibly the search engineers? Specifically I am not sure that it matters if you choose "X, Y, Z" (town) id = 1234 or "X, Y, Z" (town) id = 5678.
I suspect it doesn't matter if you choose "X, Y, Z" (town) id = 1234 or "X, Y, Z" (parish) id = 9876 (a different type).
The only possible difference that springs to my mind might be, as Jordi suggests, if you look at the map on the timeline for the person's profile and 1234 and 5678 have different geographical coordinates. Otherwise - would searching for the profile gives different results? Would searching Historical Records from the profile gives different results? Not sure...
There is certainly an issue with seeing "Baltimore, Maryland, United States" on a profile where you can't tell whether that's the county or the independent city, both of which have the same fully qualified name and are both subordinate to the state. You can start to trigger an update and the drop down list will tell you the type - but is that the type of what's on the file, or is it starting all over again with a new suggestion?
But even then, I wonder if there's a difference in search results either looking for such a profile or from a profile looking for historical records?
(NB - would this be better raised in GetSatisfaction because I suspect the places people are not going to be best equipped to answer?)
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I agree with you Jordi about referring back to the time of the event and place. Sometimes the place does not exist anymore, then you can refer to the options (that hasn't got the names given) after it has changed. For instance Transvaal / Gauteng;
East Transvaal /Mpumalanga etc. There is a time difference between the old and new.
Hope this will help
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My places are all in Germany.
The duplicates I am referring to have exactly the same lat/long coordinates.
Does the group working on places need help?
Do they have a mission statement written down?
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Richard Otter,
Thank you for writing in with your questions and explaining the issues you are seeing with Standardized place descriptions within Germany.
Germany, in particular, is subject to some interesting challenges in FamilySearch Places - mostly due to some decisions made two decades ago to attempt to describe all municipalities (Gemeinden) with their relationships to Lutheran and Catholic Parishes, civil registries and, in some cases, judicial districts. The result is that many municipalities are, confusingly, described several more times than necessary.
We (FamilySearch's Authorities Team) are working to clean this up with help from a team of volunteers in Germany. It will likely be some time, before we complete this work.
In the meantime, rest assured that by selecting the place description that appears most correct (even if it is very similar to one or more other standardized places), you are doing the right thing. Any time that a place description is "removed" from FamilySearch Places its "FocusedId" is pointed forward to another existing place in the database. This means that these unique identifiers do not simply go away. Instead they are replaced by a "more correct" id. The data in FS Family Tree remains "standardized."
If you are interested in helping with these efforts to improve FamilySearch Places in Germany, feel free to write an email to placefeedback@familysearch.org and let us know.
...as for the problem of Baltimore, Maryland, US or St. Louis, Missouri, US (where city and county are indistinguishable based on text alone), we are encouraging FS Family Tree to always display the place type and span of valid years in the list of available place descriptions to aid us in our decision making.
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Im glad to hear that as long as I choose a place with the correct lat.lon. coordinates, I'm doing the right thing.
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Re attempts to "describe all municipalities (Gemeinden) with their relationships to Lutheran and Catholic Parishes, civil registries and, in some cases, judicial districts"
Oh! Thanks for that Dan, it explains a lot. I guess that it seemed like a good idea at the time. 😕
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Re "the problem of Baltimore, Maryland, US or St. Louis, Missouri, US (where city and county are indistinguishable based on text alone)". Certainly FSFT have listened to you and now they "display the place type and span of valid years in the list of available place descriptions" in the drop-down list when we're updating the place-name on a profile. (Thanks for encouraging them to do that).
The issue now is after the update when I can't tell by looking at the event whether I've chosen St. Louis the independent city or St. Louis the county. Though as I said - I've no idea whether it actually matters....
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