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We sometimes say that we cite sources in genealogy for others. To an extent that is true, but I think that for me, citing sources is not about others–it is about me.<\/p>\n
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Citing a source is indicating where the material was originally created, what form it was accessed in and how it was accessed. This usually includes publication information, page number, location on a website, and more. I won’t get into the details of citation here. I will admit that my personal citations in my own notes and sources are sloppy. They contain all the essentials, but they don’t fit any “correct form.” Guess what? I don’t care. What I care about are that all the essential information is there-the record, the form in which it was accessed, when and where it was accessed, etc.<\/p>\n
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At the most crude, citing sources allows me to go back and “doublecheck” what I saw. A citation allows me to as easily as possible find the same source and review it again, making certain I didn’t leave anything out.<\/p>\n
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Knowing the form in which the information was accessed allows me to compare a “new” version of that record or source. Did I access the microfilm the first time? Have better digital copies been taken? Do I need to see the original at the courthouse? Was all that I accessed the first time a transcription made from a bad photocopy of the original record? All that makes a difference, especially when there may be other “forms” of the same record out there.<\/p>\n
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Do most genealogists publish? No. However, I will say that in the process of cleaning up my citations I virtually always discover something I “overlooked” while preparing every issue. Every time. I’m always adding to my “to-do” list while reviewing my citations.<\/p>\n
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The reviewing I’m talking about is not the decision of where to place commas, semi-colons, etc. I’m talkin g about gathering all the elements for the citation as some (most) of my older material lacks all the necessary details. It is often when I’m gathering that information that I locate something else that needs followup, or that I notice an error in a transcription I made years ago, etc. Seemingly always something comes up when I clean up the citations.<\/p>\n
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And that is about me, because it helps my research. I see brick walls I made for myself and information and clues I overlooked.<\/p>\n
Citation is essentially about me–making my research better and allowing me to discover more connections, conclusions, etc.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even if I only did it “for me,” the citation and analysis of my sources would still be necessary.<\/p>\n
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Most successful genealogists, those who “find lots of stuff” cite their sources. They may not have the commas and semi-colons in the right places. They might not even have the commas and semi-colons, but they have all the essential parts to create a citation somewhere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thinking about where they got something and how they got it helps them analyze and find more.<\/p>\n
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Personally if they tell you they “never think about that stuff” they are either lying or have errors in their conclusions just waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
———–<\/p>\n
Evidence<\/a>\u00a0Explained<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>will provide you with all the details you need to know on citation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We sometimes say that we cite sources in genealogy for others. To an extent that is true, but I think that for me, citing sources is not about others–it is about me. Citing a source is indicating where the material was originally created, what form it was accessed in and how it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}