I have been working my way through the learning curve using RM10. Surprisingly, I like it overall. But I do have a question I would like an answer to
I notice that sometimes when I look at the source citations list for an individual, I will see a list of perhaps 15 or 20 citations. However, I notice that at the end of the citation there will be several semicolons.
For example, I might look like this:
… Blah bLah blah. Mexico; Date: July 1993; ;), LRGV CS110.L4 G37 1993 c.2., Part 2 Pg. 14. ; ; ; ; ;.
or like maybe this:
blah blah blah: Corpus Christi, Texas 78405; Date: October 1989; ;), Pg. 99. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;.
I am worried if something is wrong or if it might mean something I should be aware of.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Semi-colons are entered when fields are left blank.
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When you speak of your learning curve with RM10, I can’t tell if you are using RM for the first time or if your learning curve is in upgrading from RM7. Let me comment either way.
If your learning curve is from RM7, the citations in RM7 didn’t have names. Basically what you saw was the final footnote sentences. When you left fields blank, the footnote sentences typically did not have the series of semi-colons.
But in RM10, citations do have names. If you are using RM’s source templates, the initial citation names are created for you. There is a place in the citation name for every field, separated by semi-colons. Hence, if you leave fields blank, you will get the series of semi-colons in the citation names. It’s common to leave fields blank when the fields are not applicable to the current citation. A blank field doesn’t inherently mean that something is wrong. But the footnote sentences typically still do not have the series of semi-colons for fields that are left blank.
If instead your RM10 learning curve is from using RM for the first time, it’s like I have already described. The citation names typically have the series of semi-colons for fields that are left blank, and the actual footnote sentences typically do not.
The citation names are really just for your convenience in using RM. They don’t appear anywhere outside of RM, such as when you create reports. When you create reports, it is the footnote sentences that appear. And you are not stuck with the citation names that RM10 creates for you by default. You can type anything in there that you wish. It could be anything that makes sense to you. And again, anything you type in is just for your convenience in using RM. It’s only the footnote sentences that appear in places like printed reports and in Web pages created by RM.
As for me, I don’t keep the default citation names in RM. Instead, I copy and and paste the footnote sentence into the citation name. That’s what makes sense for me. I’m a sample size of 1 and your mileage may vary. What I actually wish is that there was an actual template I could set up for the citation name, just like there is a template for the footnote sentence. But that’s not the way RM10 works.
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