<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18975"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Then you add an explanation, the same as you would have to do with the location names alone.  Plus you can then give the existing location's coordinates paired with the original ones.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To get the GPS coordinates you don't need to actually go wander the highway ramp!  I don't want to get anyone killed here!  Just kidding.  You can obtain them a few different ways just sitting at your computer, safe from speeding cars!  In the case you describe you'd not be able to be absolutely specific, but then you couldn't be specific even just using the old ways of place name and map.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Obviously, in various scenarios you have to play the usefulness of trying to approximate a location whether by text description and names, or by text, name, and approximate coordinates.  You might say that it was thought to be in this general area, and then give general coordinates.  I have the same problem with my grandfather's house in Montreal which now has 12 lane freeway where it once stood.  But I know it's location within a 4 or 5 city blocks, so I mark it with less specific coordinates, and an explanation (have the advantage of also having pictures of it)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Again I think there's a basic misunderstanding about how these could be used and the potential they hold.  Most of the arguments against using them seem to forget that the "traditional" names and explanations would also be used.  These things just extend the options to allow more interactive features with various programs including mapping</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But just as in the case of named locations, there are times when really you don't know enough to place it in a given location by any means!  So of course under that circumstance how could you find its coordinates?</DIV> <DIV>Larry</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=debfamhist@sbcglobal.net href="mailto:debfamhist@sbcglobal.net">Debra Mieszala</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">apgpubliclist Posting</A> ; <A title=apgmembersonlylist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgmembersonlylist@apgen.org">apgmembersonlylist@apgen.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 27, 2010 12:26 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [APG Public List] [APG Members] place names</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top>Some places and things move. Some move geologically, such as after a powerful earthquake. Others pick up and physically and politically move to an entirely new location, such as after a natural disaster, because of the construction of a dam or railroad line, removal of an entire cemetery (or was it simply the stones that were moved?), etc.<BR><BR>I lived in a house that was moved due to construction of a highway ramp. It was planted miles away, near the site of an early settler's long-gone home, but the house had nothing to do with him. Descendants of the family that did live in the house before it moved could be erroneously led to think it was always in its present location, if anybody knew the house by sight alone and jotted down GPS coordinates for it's current place on the globe. Certainly the building is there, but to obtain GPS coordinates of the place where it was when the people who built it lived in it would require wandering in a highway ramp with a very old codger who might recall where it once stood. What matters is where somebody or something was when. Unless the present location is relevant, what is needed is the actual (old) location, and that is where I feel accuracy can be an issue. Like any other piece of information, how certain are you about what you record? Certainty does not equate accuracy.<BR><BR>GPS technology is fun and amazing. Using it in a personal work is a nice addition, depending on the circumstances of the use. But should people who may not understand the technology and any possible limitations (an example is the intricacy of how to denote a larger location like a township) use it as a resource for others? Especially beyond giving something simple like the GPS coordinates of a gravestone?<BR><BR>Debbie Mieszala, CG(sm)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>