Cleaning up the database

I was prompted by a post in the Legacy Users group to check my database for duplicate and inconsistent entries.

I have collected and collated individual contributions, downloaded GEDCOMs and pulled in family trees from a variety of sources. And they are all different! Or so it seems.

How many different ways are there to enter Arlington Cemetery? Or to spell Massachusetts? (I had to spell check it, so I hope it is right?)

However, the thing that surprised me most were the number of occasions where the Location box has been used for comments. This will be a massive task to place these in the right place, judging by the number I have found so far. Entries such as 'Drowned at sea' are sort of OK; 'Buried in same place as his brother' is pushing it a bit. But many contributors have used the Location box for their source. Humm.

Legacy does have a function to help merge locations, so Orange Co, can be merged into Orange County, and entries such as US, USA, U.S., U.S.A. can all be merged into United States, if that is thought the best solution. Somewhere there is a guide on how best to display place names - I must try to find it...