Some people care more than others about the form of sources. LDS will give you an entire class on how to do them if you're interested. I always just put them in the notes - much faster that way, and most software and most places where you can upload your tree will display whatever is in your notes. Some of them also display your sources. In the notes you of course put your discussion as well. The important thing is that people can evaluate your information and find the source if needed. Dora -----Original Message----- From: Lynne Roberts via Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2015 11:40 AM To: 'MScheffler' ; [email protected] Subject: Re: [RMagic] Citing FamilySearch You're right - the whole point of sourcing and citing (just like footnotes in a research paper) is to inform the reader where that original record can be found for further research. I have found a great deal of information simply by searching out sources and citations found in books and other locations. So in your example, if I want to see the original records, I wouldn't have clue where to look. However, if you added a blurb providing the source of the original records, researchers could go back and find the material. No different than with a source that tells you that a will is with specific county court records in a specific will book and on a specific page, e.g., Louisa County, VA Court Records, Will Book K, pp 273-275. Then, no matter where those court records end up (starting in the court house, ending up in a centralized records administration or the state library) you would know exactly what you were looking for in order to see that original record. Family history library films are terrific, and I've certainly used them, but I've found many records that were simply unreadable on the microfilm, and I had to go back and use a copy of the original. Knowing the original source was critical. I also agree that sourcing is being treated like an arcane process - I'm fascinated by the variety of formats offered in Roots Magic. I, too, use generic formats and frequently use free form (thank heavens they retained that!!) especially for census data. I personally think it's become ridiculously overcomplicated. Several basic formats would serve all situations nicely - however, I realize that my opinion is definitely in the minority now. Lynne --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com