I agree completely, Margaret. Especially the very last sentence. And for me, that's what makes most of these popular "great" genealogy Internet sites and databases almost a useless waste of space. Just as an example, last night I found some of my remote ancestors on a FamilySearch.org's Pedigree Resource file (which are contributed genealogical databases to the LDS much like the contributed information to RootsWeb.com's WorldConnect site), but the data looked remarkably like my own information (e.g. middle name abbreviations the same, city-county name designations exactly the same, same missing data, etc.). Of course there were no citations as to the souces of the material. So I am left with a bunch of questions, is this the original research of the donor to the site possibly using the same original or secondary source I used, or is it from another original source that I haven't seen, or is this my own recycled information uncited and undocumented by the contributor? And can the person even remember if I wrote and asked? While the Internet in general and these genealogy collection site specifically offer many open doors for further research for genealogists and family historians, it also leads to and encourages "junk genealogy." Bob On Sun, 11 Aug 2002 18:01:51 -0400 "MScheffler" <[email protected]> writes: > One can be accurate in their source description and not feel required to be as detailed as some of the examples that have been recently given. I am not saying there is anything wrong with being detailed, but one should not think "be detailed or make no effort to cite sources", which I am afraid is the case in some instances. > > My rule of thumb for citing sources is that I or another person can tell where I got the information and return to the same source to look it up. My exception to his rule would be the addresses, etc. of living sources. > > Most of us will not be writing a PhD thesis or an article in a professional journal, so the "perfect" format is not as important as knowing the details needed to find the source again. If writing a professional thesis or article, then one will want to cite our sources according to professional standards for where we are submitting the material. > > FO makes it easy to cite books correctly by correctly filling in the title of the book, the author, publisher and date in the boxes provided. Other media may not be as clear cut. > > I use a number of general sources, i.e. 1810 census, Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Obituary, etc. Then in the citation detail I put the town, county & page for a census source, the name and date and page for the obituary source if known, etc. > > Whatever one's approach, add the sources as you go along -- don't think you will know what to add later. You can later change the source format, but you cannot check discrepancies or rate the quality of information if you cannot tell where it came from. A database without sources is essentially useless. > > Margaret Scheffler > >