Resources: NZ cemetery online database links
This is a good one links most of the NZ online cemteries
http://www.pycroft.co.nz/services/NZ_Government_On-Line_Data.html
Kiwicelts is another good one links lots of cemeteries
http://fhr.kiwicelts.com/Cemeteries/NZ_Cem.html
Websites of New Zealand Cemeteries hosted by Rootsweb
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shipstonz/cemeteries.html
Christchurch City Libraries has a good one too.
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Resources/NewZealand/History/FamilyHistory/Cemeteries/
Transcriptions at Interment.net
http://www.interment.net/nz/index.htm
Monday, February 16, 2009
Cemetery Genealogy
Every serious genealogist eventually ends up in the cemetery, looking for clues and tombstones of their ancestors. A wealth of information can be found in graveyards. To make your trip to the final resting place of your loved ones a fruitful one, you will need to be properly equipped and prepared.
If you are trying to locate a cemetery, you should contact the local public library, local genealogical society, or the city or county engineer to get a map of the local cemeteries. Funeral directors are also a big help in locating cemeteries.
Once in the cemetery, be respectful of the property. Vandalism and aging have led to many cemeteries being in disrepair. Make sure that you are environmentally responsible while doing your research.
It will save a lot of time and trouble if you take a handheld video camera or a digital 35 mm camera with you. A disposable camera works well, too. Take pictures of individual stones. It's a good idea in a small family cemetery to take pictures of all headstones or at least those close by your known ancestors. As your research progresses, you may find that some or all of those nearby are in your direct or indirect line and find the information very helpful.
A word of caution: . Be sure and back up your photos with notes. Number the pictures on a piece of paper so that you can match up the pictures to the information in case you can't read the headstone in the photograph.
A variety of products and techniques can be used to enhance the legibility of difficult-to-read stones. Be sure and take into account what the stones are made of. Some are made of marble, some native rock, slate, stone slabs, and a variety of other materials. You can use white flour, cornstarch or baby powder. Rub into the stone or paint with a paintbrush. You might prefer blue carpenters chalk or shaving cream. Be sure and bring water to wash the stones afterwards. Clorox in a garden sprayer can be used on old white marble stones to bleach out the dirt; wash and rinse thoroughly after cleaning. Bring a nylon brush or whisk broom for wiping the lettering. You can use a mirror to cast a shadow on a stone in order to read in bright sunlight. Chalk used sideways will not color in the letters and will wash off easily. You can also use thin paper placed on the stone and rubbed with coloured chalk to make a rubbing of the stone. In a pinch, wipe dirt or grass on the stones to see if they are more legible.
Remember to verify the information that you find on the headstones. Just because it's "engraved in stone" doesn't mean that it is accurate or true. Some dates are written wrong and names are misspelled. Some people are even buried in the wrong grave! Verify, verify, verify. Enjoy your time in the cemetery, gather your ancestors information, and be sure and leave the headstones in as good as or better than the condition that you found them.
If you are trying to locate a cemetery, you should contact the local public library, local genealogical society, or the city or county engineer to get a map of the local cemeteries. Funeral directors are also a big help in locating cemeteries.
Once in the cemetery, be respectful of the property. Vandalism and aging have led to many cemeteries being in disrepair. Make sure that you are environmentally responsible while doing your research.
It will save a lot of time and trouble if you take a handheld video camera or a digital 35 mm camera with you. A disposable camera works well, too. Take pictures of individual stones. It's a good idea in a small family cemetery to take pictures of all headstones or at least those close by your known ancestors. As your research progresses, you may find that some or all of those nearby are in your direct or indirect line and find the information very helpful.
A word of caution: . Be sure and back up your photos with notes. Number the pictures on a piece of paper so that you can match up the pictures to the information in case you can't read the headstone in the photograph.
A variety of products and techniques can be used to enhance the legibility of difficult-to-read stones. Be sure and take into account what the stones are made of. Some are made of marble, some native rock, slate, stone slabs, and a variety of other materials. You can use white flour, cornstarch or baby powder. Rub into the stone or paint with a paintbrush. You might prefer blue carpenters chalk or shaving cream. Be sure and bring water to wash the stones afterwards. Clorox in a garden sprayer can be used on old white marble stones to bleach out the dirt; wash and rinse thoroughly after cleaning. Bring a nylon brush or whisk broom for wiping the lettering. You can use a mirror to cast a shadow on a stone in order to read in bright sunlight. Chalk used sideways will not color in the letters and will wash off easily. You can also use thin paper placed on the stone and rubbed with coloured chalk to make a rubbing of the stone. In a pinch, wipe dirt or grass on the stones to see if they are more legible.
Remember to verify the information that you find on the headstones. Just because it's "engraved in stone" doesn't mean that it is accurate or true. Some dates are written wrong and names are misspelled. Some people are even buried in the wrong grave! Verify, verify, verify. Enjoy your time in the cemetery, gather your ancestors information, and be sure and leave the headstones in as good as or better than the condition that you found them.
Sharing Family Photos in Genealogy
You will work with many family photos in your genealogy research and eventually want to share them, perhaps at a family reunion. It used to be that if you wanted to share family photos you had to make extra prints to give out. Today, you can share your family history photos the old-fashioned way, or you can share digital prints in many different ways. If you have a computer and a digital camera, you can share your family photos with anyone else you know that also has a computer without spending a dime on processing costs. You can even share your photos via your cell phone if it works with photos. Though not all phones can do this, most of the newer model phones can handle not only photos, but videos as well.
The problem I have had with sharing family photos is that some of my family is not online. Though most of my relatives used to have a computer, some no longer do. Many have had computers that died long ago, and they have yet to replace them. Others have computers but no internet access. I can however, share my family photos with my parents, my sisters, my brother, and several other family members via the Internet. This makes sharing photos so much easier; it also saves me a lot of money. Though my digital camera was expensive, in the end I save money by not having to make so many prints. For old family photos I have scanned I can email them instead of printing them out.
When sharing family photos online, there are a few things you should remember. When you post pictures of your children on the Internet, you cannot control who sees them, not unless it is a controlled account which you can choose access. If you e-mail them to your family they are likely to remain private. However, if you put them in a public website anyone with access to a computer may view your family photos. Though not everyone is concerned with privacy, many people are. Consider the subject matter and content of your family photos before you post them where anyone can see them. As well you may want to consider posting family photos on the internet but not labeling them. This will keep the subjects names from being seen at least.
There is an even better way to share old or new family photos with those who may not have access to a computer and/or the internet. You don’t have to make prints, but you may have to spend a little money. You can put your old family photos and new ones on CD’s and pass them out at your genealogy reunions. CD’s are only about 50 cents apiece when bought in bulk. Just recently, I saw a new product in the store that I thought was pretty amazing. It was one of those things that made me think I wish I had thought of it first. What I found was a digital photo album that not only stores family photos, but can store videos as well. All you have to do is upload your photos into the frame, and you can give it to anyone you wish. Simply follow the instructions that come with the product and you will have a unique genealogy gift.
The problem I have had with sharing family photos is that some of my family is not online. Though most of my relatives used to have a computer, some no longer do. Many have had computers that died long ago, and they have yet to replace them. Others have computers but no internet access. I can however, share my family photos with my parents, my sisters, my brother, and several other family members via the Internet. This makes sharing photos so much easier; it also saves me a lot of money. Though my digital camera was expensive, in the end I save money by not having to make so many prints. For old family photos I have scanned I can email them instead of printing them out.
When sharing family photos online, there are a few things you should remember. When you post pictures of your children on the Internet, you cannot control who sees them, not unless it is a controlled account which you can choose access. If you e-mail them to your family they are likely to remain private. However, if you put them in a public website anyone with access to a computer may view your family photos. Though not everyone is concerned with privacy, many people are. Consider the subject matter and content of your family photos before you post them where anyone can see them. As well you may want to consider posting family photos on the internet but not labeling them. This will keep the subjects names from being seen at least.
There is an even better way to share old or new family photos with those who may not have access to a computer and/or the internet. You don’t have to make prints, but you may have to spend a little money. You can put your old family photos and new ones on CD’s and pass them out at your genealogy reunions. CD’s are only about 50 cents apiece when bought in bulk. Just recently, I saw a new product in the store that I thought was pretty amazing. It was one of those things that made me think I wish I had thought of it first. What I found was a digital photo album that not only stores family photos, but can store videos as well. All you have to do is upload your photos into the frame, and you can give it to anyone you wish. Simply follow the instructions that come with the product and you will have a unique genealogy gift.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Bible
"The Bible"
I hold in my hands a treasure so rare,I close my eyes and imagine I'm there,When she wrote each name with care,Not knowing with me some day she'd share.
Could she have known what a jewel it would be?That it would be something I waited to see?That one hundred years later the Bible I'd hold,That in it's pages more that God's story is told.
I imagine she was proud of her family,For what greater gift could there be,Did she imagine the family to come?That I would be from the family of her son?
This family heirloom I will handle with care,So that in another hundred years it will be there,For my great-great-grandchildren may it be,A gift they are searching for to add to the family tree.
~ Author unknown ~
With kind permission from:
http://www.pennyparker2.com/bible.html
I hold in my hands a treasure so rare,I close my eyes and imagine I'm there,When she wrote each name with care,Not knowing with me some day she'd share.
Could she have known what a jewel it would be?That it would be something I waited to see?That one hundred years later the Bible I'd hold,That in it's pages more that God's story is told.
I imagine she was proud of her family,For what greater gift could there be,Did she imagine the family to come?That I would be from the family of her son?
This family heirloom I will handle with care,So that in another hundred years it will be there,For my great-great-grandchildren may it be,A gift they are searching for to add to the family tree.
~ Author unknown ~
With kind permission from:
http://www.pennyparker2.com/bible.html
Your Name
"Your Name "
It came from your father,It was all he had to give;
So it's yours to use and cherish,As long as you may live.
If you lose the watch he gave you,It can always be replaced;
But a black mark on your name,Can never be erased.
It was clean the day you took it,And a worthy name to bear;
When I got it from my father,There was no dishonor there.
So make sure you guard it wisely,After all is said and done,
You'll be glad the name is spotless,When you give it to your son.
~ Edgar A. Guest ~
With permision from:
http://www.pennyparker2.com/poems.html
It came from your father,It was all he had to give;
So it's yours to use and cherish,As long as you may live.
If you lose the watch he gave you,It can always be replaced;
But a black mark on your name,Can never be erased.
It was clean the day you took it,And a worthy name to bear;
When I got it from my father,There was no dishonor there.
So make sure you guard it wisely,After all is said and done,
You'll be glad the name is spotless,When you give it to your son.
~ Edgar A. Guest ~
With permision from:
http://www.pennyparker2.com/poems.html
A prayer for Genealogists
"A Prayer For Genealogists"
Lord, help me dig into the past,
And sift the sands of time;
That I might find the roots that made
This family tree of mine.
Lord, help me trace the ancient roads,
On which my fathers trod;
And led them through so many lands,
To find our present sod.
Lord, help me find an ancient book
Or dust manuscript,
That's safely hidden now away
In some forgotten crypt.
Lord, let it bridge the gaps
that haunts My soul when I can't find,
The missing link between some name
That ends the same as mine.
Lord, help me dig into the past,
And sift the sands of time;
That I might find the roots that made
This family tree of mine.
Lord, help me trace the ancient roads,
On which my fathers trod;
And led them through so many lands,
To find our present sod.
Lord, help me find an ancient book
Or dust manuscript,
That's safely hidden now away
In some forgotten crypt.
Lord, let it bridge the gaps
that haunts My soul when I can't find,
The missing link between some name
That ends the same as mine.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cite for sore eyes
A Cite For Sore Eyes -Quality Citations for Electronic Genealogy Sources
A version of this article first appeared in the May/June 1998 issue of Ancestry Magazine
By Mark Howells
Why We CiteAs the detectives of our family histories, we have accepted a responsibility in our research which goes beyond merely finding our ancestors. Besides the finding, there is the recording of what we have found out about our forefathers. It is within the recording portion of our efforts that we have a serious responsibility. That is to provide quality citations for the sources in which we find information about our ancestors.
As family historians, we accept this responsibility for two main reasons. The first is purely for our own benefit. A properly written source citation for a piece of genealogical information helps us remember where we originally found it. This can save us from performing redundant research in a source which we've already consulted. Source citations can also assist us in considering additional avenues of research when we've turned up something new.
We don't just cite our sources for ourselves. The second reason for citing our sources properly is for the benefit of others. The family history which we create should include source citations so that others interested in our genealogical information can judge the accuracy of our research for themselves. The future researchers of our genealogy - that one grandchild, niece, or 4th cousin once remove who shares our passion for the hobby - will need to know "how you know" that Aunt Edith was really born during the 1932 World's Series. Besides our posterity, contemporary researchers with whom we share our information have the same need to verify the facts which we have gathered and organized. If we share the results of our research, others must be able to judge the craftsmanship of our efforts by the quality of our source citations.
Citing Electronic Sources in GenealogyOne problem which we face in getting our source citations right is the new cornucopia of electronic sources from which we can obtain information. World Wide Web sites, Internet mailing lists, databases on CD-ROMs, and electronic mail (e-mail) messages are a few of the more common sources of electronic genealogical information from which we now research. With these new sources comes the dilemma of how to correctly write a citation for each type. Many of us learned how to write citations for sources long before the advent of CD-ROMs or the Internet and have struggled with what to do about citing the new media. Fortunately, help has arrived.
Elizabeth Shown Mills, long time editor of the National Genealogical Society's NGS Quarterly, has authored a book titled Evidence! - Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian (reviewed in the January/February '98 issue of Ancestry, page 11). This book was a much needed addition to the literature of proper genealogical documentation. It includes a very readable discussion of the fundamentals of both citation and analysis of genealogical source material. The book concludes with extensive examples of source citations for genealogical source materials of all types and media.
While noting that agreement on the "proper" method for citing the new electronic sources has not yet solidified, Mills recognizes the need we have as active family historians to make quality source citations now even in the face of uncertainty regarding their correct format. She has come to our rescue in providing citation examples for the new electronic sources including electronic mail, web pages, CD-ROMs, and mailing lists. The remainder of this article will discuss the formats for these four common types of sources. The examples given come directly from Evidence! They are Mills' examples of primary citations for endnotes or footnotes. The book also provides formats for subsequent citations and for bibliographic entries for the same sources which are not reproduced here.
Web PagesWeb page publishing has been a great boon to the family historian. Information is now quickly and easily obtainable from thousands of miles away at the touch of a button. However, information from web pages provide two challenges. First, the location of the web site, its URL or address, must be specified for the citation to be of value. Without this information, anyone reading your citation would be severely challenged to find the exact resource on the Internet which you used. A problem arises in how to format a web page address within a citation. Throughout Evidence!, Web page addresses are shown surrounded by angle brackets ( <> ). These brackets are not part of the web page addresses themselves. This usage may be confusing to those who do not know to omit the angle brackets when entering the address into a web browser.
The second challenge stems from the impermanence of web pages. Changes to a web page can be uploaded in a matter of minutes so what you viewed on a particular web page today may be changed by tomorrow. Because of this, it is critical to note the date on which you viewed the web page to obtain the information cited. Mills suggests including this date at the end of the citation. The "Minshew data" referred to in the below example is the surname which was searched for on the Texas State Library's online index to Confederate Pension Records.
Index to Texas Confederate Pension Records, Archives Division, Texas State Library, online
(Note that the URL quoted above has since been changed to http://link.tsl.state.tx.us/c/compt/index.html).
Electronic MailE-mail has extended the reach of every genealogist who uses the Internet. As fellow online researchers whom we will never meet provide us with useful genealogical information, we are obliged to cite their messages as source material. This is particularly true of the interesting tidbits of family history such as stories and reminiscences shared by other family members. Since people frequently change e-mail addresses, Elizabeth Shown Mills warns us to obtain and include a postal address with the citation to ensure that the contact can be repeatable in the event of an e-mail address change. Again, the angle brackets used by Mills to surround the e-mail address are not part of the actual e-mail address and may cause confusion.
Christopher Nordmann, "Rochon Baptisms of Mobile: Translated Abstracts," email message from <104274.1313@compuserve.com> (2767A Mary Avenue; St. Louis, MO 63144-2725) to author, 12 January 1997.
Mailing ListsMailing lists are the electronic mail equivalent of radio broadcasting. A single message sent to an electronic mailing list is "re-broadcast" out to all of the individuals who are subscribed to that mailing list. There are now thousands of free genealogy-related mailing lists available. Mailing lists are often generically referred to as "listserves" after the LISTSERV(r) mailing list software from L-Soft International. This is similar to referring to a photocopier by the brand name Xerox(r). Evidence! reminds us that it is important to cite both the e-mail address of the person who posted the message being cited and the e-mail address of the mailing list itself.
In the example below, Mills includes the date on which the message cited was printed out. This printout date is not really necessary. Once a message is sent to a mailing list, the author of the message does not have the ability to change the message copies which were sent to other mailing list subscribers. Therefore the date required for the citation of a mailing list message is the date which it was sent to the mailing list by its author - its creation date.
Daphne Gentry (Library of Virginia, Richmond), unidentified "report" quoted at length by Jon Kukla, in "Virginia Personal Property Tax Records as a Research Source," , listserve message to IEAHCNET list , 18 November 1996. Printout dated 22 November 1996.
CD-ROMsEvidence! notes that there are really two types of CD-ROMs used by family historians. The first type are those produced from original records. The second type are those produced from prior publications. The majority of CD-ROM databases available in the market today are of the second type, so CD-ROMs produced from prior publications will be considered here. Observe the detail required in the citation below to correctly identify the source of the original information which is actually several times removed from the CD-ROM being cited.
Nicholas Shown entry, FamilyFinder database, Family Tree Maker, CD-ROM (Fremont, California: Banner Blue Software, 1994), citing Archive CD-153 (Orem, Utah: Automated Archives, no date). This data set is based on the census-index series complied by Ronald V. Jackson et al. (Salt Lake City [and elsewhere]; Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1970s-1980s).
Citations in the Electronic Age While the media from which we cite our sources is evolving, the reasons why we cite them for our genealogical research are unchanged. Citations act as a reminder to the researcher of what we've researched and how to find it again as well as providing other researchers with the ability to evaluate the accuracy of our research. Citations still perform the function of identifying the author of a piece of source information, the source type, the date of the source's "publication", and the additional information required to locate that source. Evidence! reminds us that the sources may have changed but the purpose and content required of quality citations remain constant.
For Further ReadingA copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills Evidence! should grace the bookshelf of every serious family historian. In one compact book, the author has brought together both the principles and examples of correct genealogical source citations. Evidence! may be obtained through online ordering from Amazon.com, by mail from the publisher - Genealogical Publishing Company, or by telephone at 1-800-296-6687.
This article has only considered four electronic examples out of the dozens and dozens of traditional and electronic source citation formats provided by Mills. Other citation formats for electronic sources such as the Ancestral File(tm) on CD-ROM are also provided in Evidence! but are not reproduced here.
In the book's bibliography, several World Wide Web sites for citation guidance are provided for our increasingly electronic world. The web sites provided in the book's bibliography and additional web sites on electronic citations may be found by visiting Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Citing Sources.
About the Author
Information published with permission from the Author Mark Howells http://www.oz.net/~markhow/writing/cite.htm
A version of this article first appeared in the May/June 1998 issue of Ancestry Magazine
By Mark Howells
Why We CiteAs the detectives of our family histories, we have accepted a responsibility in our research which goes beyond merely finding our ancestors. Besides the finding, there is the recording of what we have found out about our forefathers. It is within the recording portion of our efforts that we have a serious responsibility. That is to provide quality citations for the sources in which we find information about our ancestors.
As family historians, we accept this responsibility for two main reasons. The first is purely for our own benefit. A properly written source citation for a piece of genealogical information helps us remember where we originally found it. This can save us from performing redundant research in a source which we've already consulted. Source citations can also assist us in considering additional avenues of research when we've turned up something new.
We don't just cite our sources for ourselves. The second reason for citing our sources properly is for the benefit of others. The family history which we create should include source citations so that others interested in our genealogical information can judge the accuracy of our research for themselves. The future researchers of our genealogy - that one grandchild, niece, or 4th cousin once remove who shares our passion for the hobby - will need to know "how you know" that Aunt Edith was really born during the 1932 World's Series. Besides our posterity, contemporary researchers with whom we share our information have the same need to verify the facts which we have gathered and organized. If we share the results of our research, others must be able to judge the craftsmanship of our efforts by the quality of our source citations.
Citing Electronic Sources in GenealogyOne problem which we face in getting our source citations right is the new cornucopia of electronic sources from which we can obtain information. World Wide Web sites, Internet mailing lists, databases on CD-ROMs, and electronic mail (e-mail) messages are a few of the more common sources of electronic genealogical information from which we now research. With these new sources comes the dilemma of how to correctly write a citation for each type. Many of us learned how to write citations for sources long before the advent of CD-ROMs or the Internet and have struggled with what to do about citing the new media. Fortunately, help has arrived.
Elizabeth Shown Mills, long time editor of the National Genealogical Society's NGS Quarterly, has authored a book titled Evidence! - Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian (reviewed in the January/February '98 issue of Ancestry, page 11). This book was a much needed addition to the literature of proper genealogical documentation. It includes a very readable discussion of the fundamentals of both citation and analysis of genealogical source material. The book concludes with extensive examples of source citations for genealogical source materials of all types and media.
While noting that agreement on the "proper" method for citing the new electronic sources has not yet solidified, Mills recognizes the need we have as active family historians to make quality source citations now even in the face of uncertainty regarding their correct format. She has come to our rescue in providing citation examples for the new electronic sources including electronic mail, web pages, CD-ROMs, and mailing lists. The remainder of this article will discuss the formats for these four common types of sources. The examples given come directly from Evidence! They are Mills' examples of primary citations for endnotes or footnotes. The book also provides formats for subsequent citations and for bibliographic entries for the same sources which are not reproduced here.
Web PagesWeb page publishing has been a great boon to the family historian. Information is now quickly and easily obtainable from thousands of miles away at the touch of a button. However, information from web pages provide two challenges. First, the location of the web site, its URL or address, must be specified for the citation to be of value. Without this information, anyone reading your citation would be severely challenged to find the exact resource on the Internet which you used. A problem arises in how to format a web page address within a citation. Throughout Evidence!, Web page addresses are shown surrounded by angle brackets ( <> ). These brackets are not part of the web page addresses themselves. This usage may be confusing to those who do not know to omit the angle brackets when entering the address into a web browser.
The second challenge stems from the impermanence of web pages. Changes to a web page can be uploaded in a matter of minutes so what you viewed on a particular web page today may be changed by tomorrow. Because of this, it is critical to note the date on which you viewed the web page to obtain the information cited. Mills suggests including this date at the end of the citation. The "Minshew data" referred to in the below example is the surname which was searched for on the Texas State Library's online index to Confederate Pension Records.
Index to Texas Confederate Pension Records, Archives Division, Texas State Library, online
(Note that the URL quoted above has since been changed to http://link.tsl.state.tx.us/c/compt/index.html).
Electronic MailE-mail has extended the reach of every genealogist who uses the Internet. As fellow online researchers whom we will never meet provide us with useful genealogical information, we are obliged to cite their messages as source material. This is particularly true of the interesting tidbits of family history such as stories and reminiscences shared by other family members. Since people frequently change e-mail addresses, Elizabeth Shown Mills warns us to obtain and include a postal address with the citation to ensure that the contact can be repeatable in the event of an e-mail address change. Again, the angle brackets used by Mills to surround the e-mail address are not part of the actual e-mail address and may cause confusion.
Christopher Nordmann, "Rochon Baptisms of Mobile: Translated Abstracts," email message from <104274.1313@compuserve.com> (2767A Mary Avenue; St. Louis, MO 63144-2725) to author, 12 January 1997.
Mailing ListsMailing lists are the electronic mail equivalent of radio broadcasting. A single message sent to an electronic mailing list is "re-broadcast" out to all of the individuals who are subscribed to that mailing list. There are now thousands of free genealogy-related mailing lists available. Mailing lists are often generically referred to as "listserves" after the LISTSERV(r) mailing list software from L-Soft International. This is similar to referring to a photocopier by the brand name Xerox(r). Evidence! reminds us that it is important to cite both the e-mail address of the person who posted the message being cited and the e-mail address of the mailing list itself.
In the example below, Mills includes the date on which the message cited was printed out. This printout date is not really necessary. Once a message is sent to a mailing list, the author of the message does not have the ability to change the message copies which were sent to other mailing list subscribers. Therefore the date required for the citation of a mailing list message is the date which it was sent to the mailing list by its author - its creation date.
Daphne Gentry (Library of Virginia, Richmond), unidentified "report" quoted at length by Jon Kukla, in "Virginia Personal Property Tax Records as a Research Source," , listserve message to IEAHCNET list , 18 November 1996. Printout dated 22 November 1996.
CD-ROMsEvidence! notes that there are really two types of CD-ROMs used by family historians. The first type are those produced from original records. The second type are those produced from prior publications. The majority of CD-ROM databases available in the market today are of the second type, so CD-ROMs produced from prior publications will be considered here. Observe the detail required in the citation below to correctly identify the source of the original information which is actually several times removed from the CD-ROM being cited.
Nicholas Shown entry, FamilyFinder database, Family Tree Maker, CD-ROM (Fremont, California: Banner Blue Software, 1994), citing Archive CD-153 (Orem, Utah: Automated Archives, no date). This data set is based on the census-index series complied by Ronald V. Jackson et al. (Salt Lake City [and elsewhere]; Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1970s-1980s).
Citations in the Electronic Age While the media from which we cite our sources is evolving, the reasons why we cite them for our genealogical research are unchanged. Citations act as a reminder to the researcher of what we've researched and how to find it again as well as providing other researchers with the ability to evaluate the accuracy of our research. Citations still perform the function of identifying the author of a piece of source information, the source type, the date of the source's "publication", and the additional information required to locate that source. Evidence! reminds us that the sources may have changed but the purpose and content required of quality citations remain constant.
For Further ReadingA copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills Evidence! should grace the bookshelf of every serious family historian. In one compact book, the author has brought together both the principles and examples of correct genealogical source citations. Evidence! may be obtained through online ordering from Amazon.com, by mail from the publisher - Genealogical Publishing Company, or by telephone at 1-800-296-6687.
This article has only considered four electronic examples out of the dozens and dozens of traditional and electronic source citation formats provided by Mills. Other citation formats for electronic sources such as the Ancestral File(tm) on CD-ROM are also provided in Evidence! but are not reproduced here.
In the book's bibliography, several World Wide Web sites for citation guidance are provided for our increasingly electronic world. The web sites provided in the book's bibliography and additional web sites on electronic citations may be found by visiting Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Citing Sources.
About the Author
Information published with permission from the Author Mark Howells http://www.oz.net/~markhow/writing/cite.htm
Citing Sources
When researching your family it is very important that you keep track of every piece of information. This is important both as a means of verifying or "proving" your data and also as a way for you or other researchers to go back to that source when future research leads to information which conflicts with your original assumption. In genealogy research, any statement of fact, whether it is a birth date or an ancestor's surname, must carry its own individual source.
Source citations in genealogy serve to:
let others know on which records you based your facts (did the birth date you have for your great-grandmother come from a published family history, a tombstone or a birth certificate?)
assist others in evaluating your research (if you were lucky enough to find a complete family tree for your grandfather on the Internet, wouldn't you want to know where the information came from?)
provide a reference in cases where a newly found fact appears to conflict with previous assumptions
help you to go easily go back to a previously used source when you realize you may have missed information or you have found new details which may lead to more information from that source
In other words, properly citing your sources leaves a big audit trail for others to follow, letting them know what documents you looked at, so they can judge your family tree connections and assumptions for themselves. In conjunction with research logs, proper source documentation also makes it much easier to pick up where you left off with your genealogy research after time spent focusing on other things.
Types of Genealogy Sources When evaluating and documenting the sources used to establish your family tree connections, it is important to understand the different types of sources.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources Referring to the quality of the record, primary sources are records created at or near the time of an event by a person who had reasonably close knowledge of the event. Secondary sources, by contrast, are records created a significant amount of time after an event occurred or by a person who was not present at the event. While both types of sources are important in genealogy research, primary evidence usually carries more weight than secondary evidence.
Original vs. Derivative Sources Referring to the provenance of the record, original sources are records that contribute written, oral, or visual information not derived - copied, abstracted, transcribed, or summarized - from another written or oral record. Derivative sources are, by their definition, records which have been derived - copied, abstracted, transcribed, or summarized - from previously existing sources. Original evidence usually carries more weight than derivative evidence.
Two Rules for Great Source Citations
Rule One - Follow the Formula - While there is no scientific formula for citing every type of source, a good rule of thumb is to work from general to specific:
Author - the one who authored the book, provided the interview, or wrote the letter
Title - if it is an article, then the title of the article, followed by the title of the periodical
Publication Details, place of publication, name of publisher and date of publication, written in parentheses (Place: Publisher, Date) volume, issue and page numbers for periodicals
series and roll or item number for microfilm, Where You Found It - repository name and location, Web site name and URL, cemetery name and location, etc.
Specific Details - page number, entry number and date, date you viewed a Web site, etc.
Rule Two: Cite What You See - Whenever in your genealogical research you use a derivative source instead of the real thing, you must take care to cite the index, database or book that you used, and NOT the actual source from which the derivative source was created. This is because derivative sources are several steps removed from the original, opening up the door for errors, including:
handwriting interpretation errors
microfilm viewing errors (out of focus, back side bleeding through, etc.)
transcription errors (skipping lines, transposing numbers, etc.)
typing errors, etc.Even if a fellow researcher tells you that they found such and such a date in a marriage record, you should cite the researcher as the source of information (noting as well where they found the information). You can only accurately cite the marriage record if you have viewed it for yourself.
Examples
Article (Journal or Periodical) Citations for periodicals should include the month/year or season, rather than issue number where possible.
Willis H. White, "Using Uncommon Sources to Illuminate Family History: a Long Island Tuthill Example." National Genealogical Society Quarterly 91 (March 2003), 15-18.
Bible Record Citations for information found in a family bible should always include the information on publication and its provenance (names and dates for people who have owned the bible)
1. Family data, Dempsey Owens Family Bible, The Holy Bible (American Bible Society, New York 1853); original owned in 2001 by William L. Owens (put mailing address here). The Dempsey Owens Family Bible passed from Dempsey to his son James Turner Owens, to his son Dempsey Raymond Owens, to his son William L. Owens.
Birth & Death Certificates When citing a birth or death record, record 1) type of record and name(s) of the individual(s), 2) the file or certificate number (or book and page) and 3) name and location of the office in which it is filed (or the repository in which the copy was found - e.g. archives).
1. Certified transcription of birth certificate for Ernest Rene Ollivon, Act no. 7145 (1989), Maison Maire, Crespières, Yvelines, France.
2. Henrietta Crisp, birth certificate [long form] no. 124-83-001153 (1983), North Carolina Division of Health Services - Vital Records Branch, Raleigh.
3. Elmer Koth entry, Gladwin County Deaths, Liber 2: 312, no 96, County Clerk's Office, Gladwin, Michigan.
From an online index: 4. Ohio Death Certificate Index 1913-1937, The Ohio Historical Society, online, Death certificate entry for Eveline Powell downloaded 12 March 2001.
From a FHL microfilm: 5. Yvonne Lemarie entry, Crespières naissances, mariages, déecs 1893-1899, microfilm no. 2067622 Item 6, frame 58, Family History Library [FHL], Salt Lake City, Utah.
Book Published sources, including books, should list author (or compiler or editor) first, followed by the title, publisher, publication place and date, and page numbers. List multiple authors in the same order as shown on the title page unless there are more than three authors, in which case, include only the first author followed by et al. Citations for one volume of a multivolume work should include the number of the volume used.
Margaret M. Hoffman, compiler, The Granville District of North Carolina, 1748-1763, 5 volumes (Weldon, North Carolina: Roanoke News Company, 1986), 1:25, no.238.
*The number in this example, indicates a specific numbered entry on the page.
Census Record While it is tempting to abbreviate many items in a census citation, especially state name and county designations, it is best to spell out all words in the first citation to a particular census. Abbreviations which seem standard to you (e.g. Co. for county), may not be recognized by all researchers.
1920 U.S. census, population schedule, Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Enumeration District [ED] 174, sheet 8, dwelling 110, family 172, Frederick A. Kerry household; National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 721; digital image, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com (accessed 28 July 2004).
Family Group Sheet When you use data which has been received from others, you should always document the data as you receive it and not use the original sources cited by the other researcher. You haven't personally checked these resources, therefore they are not your source.
1. Jane Doe, "William M. Crisp - Lucy Cherry family group sheet," supplied 2 February 2001 by Doe (put mailing address here).
Interview Be sure to document who you interviewed and when, as well as who is in possession of the interview records (transcripts, tape recordings, etc.)
1. Interview with Charles Bishop Koth (interviewees address here), by Kimberly Thomas Powell, 7 August 1999. Transcript held in 2001 by Powell (put mailing address here). [You can include an annotation or personal comment here.]
Letter It is much more accurate to quote a specific letter as a source, rather than just citing the individual who wrote the letter as your source.
1. Letter from Patrick Owens (put mailing address here) to Kimberly Thomas Powell, 9 January 1998; held in 2001 by Powell (put mailing address here). [You can include an annotation or personal comment here.]
Marriage License or Certificate Marriage records follow the same general format as birth and death records.
1. Marriage license and certificate for Dempsey Owens and Lydia Ann Everett, Edgecombe County Marriage Book 2:36, County Clerk's Office, Tarboro, North Carolina.
2. George Frederick Powell and Rosina Jane Powell, Bristol Marriage Register 1:157, Bristol Register Office, Bristol, Glouchestershire, England.
Newspaper Clipping (Marriage Announcement, Obituary, etc.) Be sure to include the name of the newspaper, the place and date of publication, the page and column number.
1. Henry Charles Koth - Mary Elizabeth Ihly marriage announcement, Southern Baptist newspaper, Charleston, South Carolina, 16 June, 1860, page 8, column 1.
Web Site This general citation format applies to information received from Internet databases as well as online transcriptions and indexes (i.e. if you find a cemetery transcription on the Internet, you would enter it as a Web site source. You would not include the cemetery as your source unless you had visited personally).
1. Wuerttemberg Emigration Index, Ancestry.com, online.
Information obtained with permission from:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/citing/a/sources_3.htm
Source citations in genealogy serve to:
let others know on which records you based your facts (did the birth date you have for your great-grandmother come from a published family history, a tombstone or a birth certificate?)
assist others in evaluating your research (if you were lucky enough to find a complete family tree for your grandfather on the Internet, wouldn't you want to know where the information came from?)
provide a reference in cases where a newly found fact appears to conflict with previous assumptions
help you to go easily go back to a previously used source when you realize you may have missed information or you have found new details which may lead to more information from that source
In other words, properly citing your sources leaves a big audit trail for others to follow, letting them know what documents you looked at, so they can judge your family tree connections and assumptions for themselves. In conjunction with research logs, proper source documentation also makes it much easier to pick up where you left off with your genealogy research after time spent focusing on other things.
Types of Genealogy Sources When evaluating and documenting the sources used to establish your family tree connections, it is important to understand the different types of sources.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources Referring to the quality of the record, primary sources are records created at or near the time of an event by a person who had reasonably close knowledge of the event. Secondary sources, by contrast, are records created a significant amount of time after an event occurred or by a person who was not present at the event. While both types of sources are important in genealogy research, primary evidence usually carries more weight than secondary evidence.
Original vs. Derivative Sources Referring to the provenance of the record, original sources are records that contribute written, oral, or visual information not derived - copied, abstracted, transcribed, or summarized - from another written or oral record. Derivative sources are, by their definition, records which have been derived - copied, abstracted, transcribed, or summarized - from previously existing sources. Original evidence usually carries more weight than derivative evidence.
Two Rules for Great Source Citations
Rule One - Follow the Formula - While there is no scientific formula for citing every type of source, a good rule of thumb is to work from general to specific:
Author - the one who authored the book, provided the interview, or wrote the letter
Title - if it is an article, then the title of the article, followed by the title of the periodical
Publication Details, place of publication, name of publisher and date of publication, written in parentheses (Place: Publisher, Date) volume, issue and page numbers for periodicals
series and roll or item number for microfilm, Where You Found It - repository name and location, Web site name and URL, cemetery name and location, etc.
Specific Details - page number, entry number and date, date you viewed a Web site, etc.
Rule Two: Cite What You See - Whenever in your genealogical research you use a derivative source instead of the real thing, you must take care to cite the index, database or book that you used, and NOT the actual source from which the derivative source was created. This is because derivative sources are several steps removed from the original, opening up the door for errors, including:
handwriting interpretation errors
microfilm viewing errors (out of focus, back side bleeding through, etc.)
transcription errors (skipping lines, transposing numbers, etc.)
typing errors, etc.Even if a fellow researcher tells you that they found such and such a date in a marriage record, you should cite the researcher as the source of information (noting as well where they found the information). You can only accurately cite the marriage record if you have viewed it for yourself.
Examples
Article (Journal or Periodical) Citations for periodicals should include the month/year or season, rather than issue number where possible.
Willis H. White, "Using Uncommon Sources to Illuminate Family History: a Long Island Tuthill Example." National Genealogical Society Quarterly 91 (March 2003), 15-18.
Bible Record Citations for information found in a family bible should always include the information on publication and its provenance (names and dates for people who have owned the bible)
1. Family data, Dempsey Owens Family Bible, The Holy Bible (American Bible Society, New York 1853); original owned in 2001 by William L. Owens (put mailing address here). The Dempsey Owens Family Bible passed from Dempsey to his son James Turner Owens, to his son Dempsey Raymond Owens, to his son William L. Owens.
Birth & Death Certificates When citing a birth or death record, record 1) type of record and name(s) of the individual(s), 2) the file or certificate number (or book and page) and 3) name and location of the office in which it is filed (or the repository in which the copy was found - e.g. archives).
1. Certified transcription of birth certificate for Ernest Rene Ollivon, Act no. 7145 (1989), Maison Maire, Crespières, Yvelines, France.
2. Henrietta Crisp, birth certificate [long form] no. 124-83-001153 (1983), North Carolina Division of Health Services - Vital Records Branch, Raleigh.
3. Elmer Koth entry, Gladwin County Deaths, Liber 2: 312, no 96, County Clerk's Office, Gladwin, Michigan.
From an online index: 4. Ohio Death Certificate Index 1913-1937, The Ohio Historical Society, online
From a FHL microfilm: 5. Yvonne Lemarie entry, Crespières naissances, mariages, déecs 1893-1899, microfilm no. 2067622 Item 6, frame 58, Family History Library [FHL], Salt Lake City, Utah.
Book Published sources, including books, should list author (or compiler or editor) first, followed by the title, publisher, publication place and date, and page numbers. List multiple authors in the same order as shown on the title page unless there are more than three authors, in which case, include only the first author followed by et al. Citations for one volume of a multivolume work should include the number of the volume used.
Margaret M. Hoffman, compiler, The Granville District of North Carolina, 1748-1763, 5 volumes (Weldon, North Carolina: Roanoke News Company, 1986), 1:25, no.238.
*The number in this example, indicates a specific numbered entry on the page.
Census Record While it is tempting to abbreviate many items in a census citation, especially state name and county designations, it is best to spell out all words in the first citation to a particular census. Abbreviations which seem standard to you (e.g. Co. for county), may not be recognized by all researchers.
1920 U.S. census, population schedule, Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Enumeration District [ED] 174, sheet 8, dwelling 110, family 172, Frederick A. Kerry household; National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 721; digital image, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com (accessed 28 July 2004).
Family Group Sheet When you use data which has been received from others, you should always document the data as you receive it and not use the original sources cited by the other researcher. You haven't personally checked these resources, therefore they are not your source.
1. Jane Doe, "William M. Crisp - Lucy Cherry family group sheet," supplied 2 February 2001 by Doe (put mailing address here).
Interview Be sure to document who you interviewed and when, as well as who is in possession of the interview records (transcripts, tape recordings, etc.)
1. Interview with Charles Bishop Koth (interviewees address here), by Kimberly Thomas Powell, 7 August 1999. Transcript held in 2001 by Powell (put mailing address here). [You can include an annotation or personal comment here.]
Letter It is much more accurate to quote a specific letter as a source, rather than just citing the individual who wrote the letter as your source.
1. Letter from Patrick Owens (put mailing address here) to Kimberly Thomas Powell, 9 January 1998; held in 2001 by Powell (put mailing address here). [You can include an annotation or personal comment here.]
Marriage License or Certificate Marriage records follow the same general format as birth and death records.
1. Marriage license and certificate for Dempsey Owens and Lydia Ann Everett, Edgecombe County Marriage Book 2:36, County Clerk's Office, Tarboro, North Carolina.
2. George Frederick Powell and Rosina Jane Powell, Bristol Marriage Register 1:157, Bristol Register Office, Bristol, Glouchestershire, England.
Newspaper Clipping (Marriage Announcement, Obituary, etc.) Be sure to include the name of the newspaper, the place and date of publication, the page and column number.
1. Henry Charles Koth - Mary Elizabeth Ihly marriage announcement, Southern Baptist newspaper, Charleston, South Carolina, 16 June, 1860, page 8, column 1.
Web Site This general citation format applies to information received from Internet databases as well as online transcriptions and indexes (i.e. if you find a cemetery transcription on the Internet, you would enter it as a Web site source. You would not include the cemetery as your source unless you had visited personally).
1. Wuerttemberg Emigration Index, Ancestry.com, online.
Information obtained with permission from:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/citing/a/sources_3.htm
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