I am after some advice regarding the use of Sources vs Citations. I have been using a Source to indicate a major resource eg. an Index and then for a sub record I would use a citation. I have notice on this mailing list that some users are creating a separate source for EVERY reference. I am wondering why people are doing this - doesn't it make your lists long? Also, I haven't used my FH for awhile and have gotten myself a little confused. Can someone confirm for me whether the following statement is correct or not. - You can attach media to a Source but you cannot attach media to a citation. Thanks all Gayle Bosworth

Hi Gayle The Repository, Source and Citation are hierarchical. The Repository is usually physically where the Source material is held, the Source describes the source of your material, a Parish Book, FreeBMD, GRO, Aunties Bible, 1861 Census etc. within the Repository. The Citation is the individual piece of information that is taken from the Source peculiar to the Individual and the Individual alone. Your method is correct, the Source is the document within the repository where you get the information from, the Citation is the page or line or chapter or sheet number or GRO reference etc. that makes it unique to your individual. Simply put, if goes on the Individual then it's a Citation. The confusion seems to arrive where you have a Census sheet that has, maybe, 10 entries all for the same family. My Source is '1861 Census'. Each Individual would have a Citation to the Sheet, District, Place etc. This way I can find, in report or query, all those people living together by finding one member and listing all those people with the same Census Reference. You're right, it does make the lists long but worse than that you are duplicating the same data in two different places, a no-no in data terms as it is prone to typographical errors, unique data should only be stores once. Stay as you are, don't be tempted to overload your system - yes, yes, I know, data is free etc. etc. Regarding media, I have downloaded most of my census sheets. This I where the system breaks down, you can attach media to a Source i.e. the copy of a census page but you can't attach media to a Citation. However, I just refer to the sheet etc. in the 'Where within Source' field of the Citation. Again I can list off all those people on the same Census sheet or same Parish Book etc. I then attach the Census image directly to the various members of the family. David -----Original Message----- From: family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Gayle Bosworth Sent: 28 February 2012 05:48 To: FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS@rootsweb.com Subject: [FHU] Sources Vs Citations I am after some advice regarding the use of Sources vs Citations. I have been using a Source to indicate a major resource eg. an Index and then for a sub record I would use a citation. I have notice on this mailing list that some users are creating a separate source for EVERY reference. I am wondering why people are doing this - doesn't it make your lists long? Also, I haven't used my FH for awhile and have gotten myself a little confused. Can someone confirm for me whether the following statement is correct or not. - You can attach media to a Source but you cannot attach media to a citation. Thanks all Gayle Bosworth ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4835 - Release Date: 02/27/12

This has recently been discussed on the list. Please see http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS/2012-02/1329569896 and http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=glossary:sources which covers this subject in detail. You can attach media to citations using the all tab. On 28 February 2012 05:48, Gayle Bosworth <gayle.bosworth@gmail.com> wrote: >  I have notice on this mailing list that > some users are creating a separate source for EVERY reference.  I am > wondering why people are doing this - doesn't it make your lists long? -- Jane. Jane Taubman | www.rjt.org.uk | www.taubman.org.uk |www.fhug.org.uk

Gayle, There are two schools of thought - both 'correct'. Which one you use depends mainly on what you want to record against each Source. Method 1 - Source Record per Source Document ---------------------------------------------------------------- In this method, each BMD Certificate, Household Census, etc has its own dedicated Source Record. The Source Record Type would identify what kind of Source Document it records. Any Multimedia images of the document are linked directly to the Source Record. A transcript of the Source Document is held in the Text From Source field of the Source Record. A linked Repository Record identifies the organisation that holds the original Source Document. Then every Fact that is derived from that Source Document is linked to it via a Citation. There will often be many Facts linked via a Citation to each Source Record. e.g. Marriage Certificate would support a Marriage Fact, possibly two Birth, Residence, and Occupation Facts for the spouses, Occupation Facts for the fathers, etc. Census Return would support a Census, Birth, and Occupation Fact for each Individual in the household, etc. This method ensures all the data about one document is stored once in one place in the Source Record. By using a consistent naming convention and Source Types, it is not difficult to manage the large number of Source Records. Method 2 - Source Record per Source Type --------------------------------------------------------- In this method there is one Source Record for all Birth Certificates, one for all Marriage Certificates, one for all 1891 Census Returns, etc. The only place to store data about each individual document is in the Citations. If there are many Facts derived from one document, and you want to associate any Multimedia image or transcript, then they must be added to every Citation. This results in the same links and transcripts being replicated in many Citations. If the data needs to be updated, then all the copies in each Citation must be found and updated. However, if you rarely link Multimedia images and do not keep transcripts, then this method is perfectly OK. Both methods are 'correct' and both are supported by Family Historian and Ancestral Sources. It is a matter of horses for courses. If you want to keep detailed information on every document then use Method 1. Otherwise you can use Method 2. Regards, Mike Tate -----Original Message----- From: family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Gayle Bosworth Sent: 28 February 2012 05:48 To: FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS@rootsweb.com Subject: [FHU] Sources Vs Citations I am after some advice regarding the use of Sources vs Citations. I have been using a Source to indicate a major resource eg. an Index and then for a sub record I would use a citation. I have notice on this mailing list that some users are creating a separate source for EVERY reference. I am wondering why people are doing this - doesn't it make your lists long? Also, I haven't used my FH for awhile and have gotten myself a little confused. Can someone confirm for me whether the following statement is correct or not. - You can attach media to a Source but you cannot attach media to a citation. Gayle Bosworth