I am working through the documents I have for my ancestors and trying to improve my source citations. I reviewed Elizabeth S. Mills’ Evidence Explained and the source outlines she provides. I am using Roots Magic which uses her guides for preparing sources. My question is about a number of documents that I have which don’t seem to fit the guides, and maybe that is why the Free-Form source is provided. My concern is with the following: What do you do with birth certificates and other vital records that have been handed down and you don’t have the information about how to obtain them for completing a normal source? What do you do with less formal documents like funeral programs, birth announcements, and all the other similar information that my mother and others kept and passed down to me? The next issue deals with attaching the documents. Do I attach the document to the source or as a media item, or both -- If I have an item like a birth certificate or wedding announcement, do I attach the document only to the source for the person; or do I attach it only as a media item to the person; or do I attach it to the source AND as a media item? Attaching it to the source “buries” it so it is difficult to access; attaching it as a media item makes it easier to access, but divorces it from other information. What is generally done?

I think the answer to your last question - attaching documents to sources - depends on how you define the Source. Is it the Birth Certificate? In which case the document would be attached to the Source (and consequently available to all Facts that use that Source). This of course results in a lot more sources. Or is it the Provider of the Birth Certificate (ie there are multiple certificates from the one source, such as the GRO in England)? In which case the document would be attached to those Facts which are using a specific certificate as a source. I use the latter method. I have heard that others use the former method. I'm not sure whether there is a 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing this - genealogically speaking. If you are using the former method and you have either originals or photocopies of original certificates, the 'provider' source will usually be part of the certificate. David Sydney Australia - very hot -----Original Message----- From: rootsmagic-users-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:rootsmagic-users-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Greg LeBaron Sent: Wednesday, 9 January 2013 2:43 PM To: ROOTSMAGIC-USERS@rootsweb.com Subject: [RMagic] Preparing Sources and Attaching Documents I am working through the documents I have for my ancestors and trying to improve my source citations. I reviewed Elizabeth S. Mills' Evidence Explained and the source outlines she provides. I am using Roots Magic which uses her guides for preparing sources. My question is about a number of documents that I have which don't seem to fit the guides, and maybe that is why the Free-Form source is provided. My concern is with the following: What do you do with birth certificates and other vital records that have been handed down and you don't have the information about how to obtain them for completing a normal source? What do you do with less formal documents like funeral programs, birth announcements, and all the other similar information that my mother and others kept and passed down to me? The next issue deals with attaching the documents. Do I attach the document to the source or as a media item, or both -- If I have an item like a birth certificate or wedding announcement, do I attach the document only to the source for the person; or do I attach it only as a media item to the person; or do I attach it to the source AND as a media item? Attaching it to the source "buries" it so it is difficult to access; attaching it as a media item makes it easier to access, but divorces it from other information. What is generally done? =================================== RM list Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ROOTSMAGIC-USERS/ http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=ROOTSMAGIC-USERS WISH LIST: http://www.rootsmagic.com/forums/ BLOG: http://blog.rootsmagic.com/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTSMAGIC-USERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message