Dear Carolyn and listmembers, I really enjoyed your excellent discussion on documentation, references, and citations. I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth based on my own experience. It seems like most folks on this list are experienced researchers but my comments would be more useful to newbies. Years ago, when I started out, I was afraid of the documentation "thing" because I didn't know how to do it. As I learned, it got easier and easier till now it is almost second nature. First, I had to learn why it is important. It has become clear to me now, that a lot of time and energy is being wasted by researchers doing the same work over and over again, by themselves or others. If we cite our work so that folks can easily verify it's accuracy or so that they can trust it, they then spend their time digging up new data and we move on. We make progress. We break down more brick walls. Genealogy is not done well in a vacumm. It is a community kind of thing, and so has to have some form of order so other members of our community can believe and respect our work. To any newbies on the list, don't be put off by words like, "The Chicago Style". It is very good to learn that important information as soon as possible, but it is based on common sense and gives us a way to present what we know is needed. To start out, think of what information you would need to go to the person's source and check their interpretation. In the case of a book, as Carolyn stated, you'll need the title, author, publisher with address, date of publication (very important to put the data in context), and the page numbers. It's pretty obvious that this will save you a lot of time. Even the time and energy saved by being able to go directly to the pages is valuable to you. That holds even more true when there is no index! If you wanted to go straight to a census entry someone has cited, think what will take you directly there. Of course, the country, state, county, but also the township and very importantly, the E. D. (Enumeration District) if available, the page #, Dwelling #, and Family or Household #. Oh, how I have blessed those who provided this kind of info to me and felt sad when they didn't and I had to go over the microfilm, entry by entry for hours. There are so many sources of data that we might someday need to cite, and the identifying info varies, especially on microfilm. So figure out what will help you get back to that piece of data, and use that in your source citation. Sometimes, there are just the names and dates, and the numerical point on the tape that you found it, to give yourself and others the easiest way to re-find that data. When you copy your information, it's helpful to copy the one or two pages in the front of the book that contain the source info. If you can't, you need to do it the old-fashioned way (!), with pencil and paper. I like to keep the pages in order and connect the source page to the front. Whatever it takes to get you straight back to the info, in case you need more data, is generally what is needed by others in a source citation. A good thing to add is the place you found the book, microfilm, or document itself. It gives folks an idea of the type of place they might find a copy in their own area, or when on a trip. That person who goes straight to the data, using your good citation info, may be the cousin who finds your missing ancestor and helps you break thru your brick walls. This is how and what I learned, the hard way. Happy Easter to all, Barb Temple

Hi, I appreciate your suggestions on accuracy and exactitude in making family histoty notes. Good suggestions. Two additional items I have found helpful: (1) When working with a notebook, use a separate page for each entry and on each page, or at least at the first page of the series, place the date and the Library or other archive used and the call number of the book, article, etc. That way, if you need to go back and check, the catalog will not be required the next time and if the book is needed by interlibray loan this call number is easily reached. (2) I find 3x5 cards very helpful for specific items [larger ones can be used on larger quotations], with full bibiolgraphical info on each. Yes, it gets tedious, but when you are 100 miles away and did not note where you learned x about y and want to add another thought you remembered and did not write down, where did you learn that? At least, that is how I have found it. The cards can then be arranged in an indexed file for later use. Best regards. ww ----- Original Message ----- From: <keenebj@juno.com> To: <AMXROADS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 6:34 PM Subject: Re: [AMXROADS] Documents and References > Dear Carolyn and listmembers, > I really enjoyed your excellent discussion on documentation, references, > and citations. I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth based on my > own experience. It seems like most folks on this list are experienced > researchers but my comments would be more useful to newbies. > > Years ago, when I started out, I was afraid of the documentation "thing" > because I didn't know how to do it. As I learned, it got easier and > easier till now it is almost second nature. First, I had to learn why > it is important. > It has become clear to me now, that a lot of time and energy is being > wasted by researchers doing the same work over and over again, by > themselves or others. If we cite our work so that folks can easily > verify it's accuracy or so that they can trust it, they then spend their > time digging up new data and we move on. We make progress. We break > down more brick walls. > > Genealogy is not done well in a vacumm. It is a community kind of thing, > and so has to have some form of order so other members of our community > can believe and respect our work. > > To any newbies on the list, don't be put off by words like, "The Chicago > Style". It is very good to learn that important information as soon as > possible, but it is based on common sense and gives us a way to present > what we know is needed. To start out, think of what information you > would need to go to the person's source and check their interpretation. > In the case of a book, as Carolyn stated, you'll need the title, author, > publisher with address, date of publication (very important to put the > data in context), and the page numbers. It's pretty obvious that this > will save you a lot of time. Even the time and energy saved by being > able to go directly to the pages is valuable to you. That holds even > more true when there is no index! > > If you wanted to go straight to a census entry someone has cited, think > what will take you directly there. Of course, the country, state, > county, but also the township and very importantly, the E. D. > (Enumeration District) if available, the page #, Dwelling #, and Family > or Household #. Oh, how I have blessed those who provided this kind of > info to me and felt sad when they didn't and I had to go over the > microfilm, entry by entry for hours. > > There are so many sources of data that we might someday need to cite, and > the identifying info varies, especially on microfilm. So figure out what > will help you get back to that piece of data, and use that in your source > citation. Sometimes, there are just the names and dates, and the > numerical point on the tape that you found it, to give yourself and > others the easiest way to re-find that data. > > When you copy your information, it's helpful to copy the one or two pages > in the front of the book that contain the source info. If you can't, you > need to do it the old-fashioned way (!), with pencil and paper. I like > to keep the pages in order and connect the source page to the front. > > Whatever it takes to get you straight back to the info, in case you need > more data, is generally what is needed by others in a source citation. A > good thing to add is the place you found the book, microfilm, or document > itself. It gives folks an idea of the type of place they might find a > copy in their own area, or when on a trip. > That person who goes straight to the data, using your good citation info, > may be the cousin who finds your > missing ancestor and helps you break thru your brick walls. > > This is how and what I learned, the hard way. > > Happy Easter to all, > Barb Temple > > > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp >