In a message dated 9/1/2007 11:53:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, bjreece@bellsouth.net writes: Joan Can you help me define Sources, Evidence and Information as used below. I'd like to see if my definitions are correct Source=where you got information from--how you know it. If Aunt Susie told you then Aunt Susie is the SOURCE, if you have a birth certificate then the document is your source for knowing a fact. Information=the fact -- what you learned from the source. Aunt Susie said that your mother was born on 25 March 1909 so Aunt Susie is a source and the date of birth is the information she supplied. Evidence=what the information indicates to you. Evidence furnishes proof or bears witness to a fact. It is what you weigh to arrive at a conclusion (especially if the evidence is in conflict). Aunt Susie says your mother was born on 25 March 1909 but your mother says she was born on 25 March 1910 and Aunt Susie is younger than your mother so she wasn't around to know from first-hand experience. So you obtain a copy of your mother's birth certificate which says 25 March 1910. So you take all of the "evidence" into consideration and determine which to accept -- in this case the birth certificate would be the best evidence. Joan ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour