Thursday, April 2, 2009

Citing Sources - Quick Reference Card

As any genealogist who has been working on their family history for a while will tell you, citing your sources is of utmost importance.  I have experience first-hand the problems created when others did not.  One example is the 5-generation chart I inherited from my grandfather.  It has names, some dates and general places for up to 3 generations of his ancestors, as well as his children's names, spouses and his first two grandchildren (only my cousin and I were born prior to his death).

It is a treasure to have this information and most of it is proving true, however it is not sourced.  Therefore, I have to go through a lot of searching to find information he had gotten first hand from relatives.

Please do not make your descents redo the research you have done.  Properly cite your sources on all forms you have.  If you need information on citing, Thomas MacEntree at GeneaBloggers has created a quick reference card.  Also, pick up either of Elizabeth Shown Mills source citation books and you can use a source writer, such as the one available on Legacy.
Posted by Amanda E. Perrine at 12:13 PM
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3 comments:

  1. geneabloggersApril 2, 2009 at 4:57 PM

    Thanks for the shout out on the Citation quick reference card!!!

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  2. ClaudiaApril 4, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    Maybe he just did it from memory. If this was something that was an oral history he would probably not have realized that documentation was inportant to the future descendants.

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  3. Amanda E. PerrineApril 8, 2009 at 1:45 PM

    I think he got a lot of the info from one of his aunt's and some of it by memory, which I understand. He also died in 1983, when sources weren't such a big thing. I'm sure he never imagined his first grandchild would be fascinated by it her whole life and then use it and add to it almost 25 years later:-)

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