Difference between revisions of "Citations"

From Gramps
Jump to: navigation, search
m (UK Census)
(Using Gramps Citations)
(18 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 +
{{languages|Citations}}
  
 
+
== Why Cite ==
= Why Cite =
 
  
 
You just want to explore your family tree, so why bother with all of this academic nonsense, right?
 
You just want to explore your family tree, so why bother with all of this academic nonsense, right?
Line 15: Line 15:
 
And if you are like me, you may need a little help remembering how you came to some conclusion some months ago.
 
And if you are like me, you may need a little help remembering how you came to some conclusion some months ago.
  
= Guiding Principles =
+
== Guiding Principles ==
  
 
In order of importance:
 
In order of importance:
 
* Citations help provide evidence of the conclusions (or 'facts') in your tree
 
* Citations help provide evidence of the conclusions (or 'facts') in your tree
* A citation should enable another researcher to easily identify the material you are referencing and how you came to some conclusion
+
* A citation should enable another researcher to easily identify the precise material you are referencing and how you came to some conclusion
* Citations should be as simple as possible to record. Don't waste time on extensive detail if you wont continue to be so thorough.
+
* Citations should be as simple as possible to record while still being precise. Don't waste time on extensive detail if you wont continue to be so thorough.
 
* Record a citation as soon as you can, before you forget or lose the details
 
* Record a citation as soon as you can, before you forget or lose the details
 
* Adopt a good style early on to avoid rework later - you will probably never bother to fix hundreds of sloppy references
 
* Adopt a good style early on to avoid rework later - you will probably never bother to fix hundreds of sloppy references
Line 29: Line 29:
 
* Follow citation style guides if you can. A lot of thought has gone into what to record.
 
* Follow citation style guides if you can. A lot of thought has gone into what to record.
  
If you are just starting out with your family tree, then you will probably want to just get started recording people and events in you tree. After a while, start adding citations to your tree. Then before you have gone too far with recording citations, occasionally review your citation style and consider how it might be when your tree is much larger and used by someone else.
+
If you are just starting out with your family tree, then you will probably want to just get started recording people and events in your tree. After a while, start adding citations to your tree. Then before you have gone too far with recording citations, occasionally review your citation style and consider how it might be when your tree is much larger and used by someone else.
 
= Sources, Repositories and Citations =
 
 
 
= Using Gramps Citations =
 
 
 
''Expand on [[Gramps_3.4_Wiki_Manual_-_Main_Window#Citations_Category]]''
 
 
 
= General Style =
 
''Core fields''
 
 
 
= Simple Examples =
 
 
 
== Discussion with a relative ==
 
  
== Family Bible ==
+
== Sources, Repositories and Citations ==
  
== Birth, marriage and death certificates ==
+
== Using Gramps Citations ==
  
== UK Census ==
+
''Expand on [[Gramps_4.2_Wiki_Manual_-_Categories#Citations_Category]]''
  
{| border="1"
+
== General Style ==
|+ Event
 
|-
 
| Event Type || asdf
 
|-
 
| Date || asdf
 
|-
 
| Place || asdf
 
|-
 
| Description || asdf
 
|}
 
  
{| border="1"
+
{| {{Prettytable}}
 
|+ Source
 
|+ Source
 +
! Gramps Field !! Core Value? !! Comment
 +
|-
 +
| Title || Yes || One of the most important fields, together with Citation Volume/Page. This should ensure the source can be uniquely identified.
 +
|-
 +
| Author || ||
 
|-
 
|-
| Title || asdf
+
| Id || || Let Gramps auto-populate this
 +
|-
 +
| Abbreviation || ||
 +
|-
 +
| Pub. Info || ||
 
|}
 
|}
  
{| border="1"
+
 
 +
{| {{Prettytable}}
 
|+Repository:
 
|+Repository:
 +
! Gramps Field !! Core Value? !! Comment
 
|-
 
|-
| Name (shared) || asdf
+
| Name (shared) || Yes ||
 
|-
 
|-
| Type (shared) || asdf
+
| Type (shared) || Yes ||
 
|-
 
|-
| Media Type (not shared) || asdf
+
| Media Type (not shared) || Yes ||
 
|-
 
|-
| Call number (not shared) || asdf
+
| Call number (not shared) || No? || This is a finding aide, to help locate the source within a given repository. (There is no equivalent mechanism to help locate a citation within the repository, which is relevant where the source is multi-volume or electronic.) How to handle web repositories?
 
|}
 
|}
  
{| border="1"
+
 
 +
{| {{Prettytable}}
 
|+Citation:
 
|+Citation:
 +
! Gramps Field !! Core Value? !! Comment
 
|-
 
|-
| Date || asdf
+
| Date || ? || Is this intended to be the event date, document publication date or date that I reviewed the source?
 
|-
 
|-
| Volume/Page || asdf
+
| Id || || Let Gramps auto-populate this
|}
+
|-
 
+
| Volume/Page || Yes || One of the most important fields, together with Source Title. This should ensure that the relevant part within the source can be readily identified.
<!--  
+
|+
{|
+
|Confidence || Yes || Normally just the default. You may want to set this to 'Low' or 'Very Low' if you are not sure this is the right family
|+ table caption, optional;
 
|- table row,  
 
! table header cell, optional. Consecutive table headers may be added on same line separated by double marks (!!) or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (!).
 
| table data cell, required! Consecutive table data cells may be added on same line separated by double marks (||) or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (|).
 
 
|}
 
|}
-->
 
  
== US Census ==
+
== Citing online evidence ==
  
== FamilySearch ==
+
== Examples ==
  
== Ancestry.com records ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Discussion with a relative]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:Family Bible]]
= More Examples =
+
* [[Citation examples:Birth, marriage and death certificates]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:England Census]]
== Newspaper clipping ==
+
* [[Citation examples:US Census]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:FamilySearch]]
== Newspaper Archive ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Ancestry.com records]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:Ancestry.com records without citation (Cambridge Alumni)]]
== Multi-volume parish registers ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Newspaper clipping]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:Newspaper Archive]]
== Census records spanning pages ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Multi-volume parish registers]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:Census records spanning pages]]
== Census records spanning addresses ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Census records spanning addresses]]
 
+
* [[Citation examples:Imported GEDCOM file]]
== Ancestry.com user trees ==
+
* [[Citation examples:Reusing 2nd-hand citations]]
 
 
== Imported GEDCOM file ==
 
 
 
== Reusing 2nd-hand citations ==
 
  
 
== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==
* [[Gramps_3.4_Wiki_Manual_-_Main_Window#Citations_Category]]
+
* [[Gramps_4.2_Wiki_Manual_-_Categories#Citations_Category]]
 
* [[Sources]]
 
* [[Sources]]
* [[Repositories_in_GRAMPS]]
+
* [[Repositories_in_Gramps]]
 
* [[GEPS_023:_Storing_data_from_large_sources]]
 
* [[GEPS_023:_Storing_data_from_large_sources]]
 +
* [[GEPS_018:_Evidence_style_sources]]
  
 
== External Links ==
 
== External Links ==
* [http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/search/label/citations]
+
* [http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/search/label/citations The Ancestry Insider: Book Review: Evidence Explained]
 +
* [http://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/2012/05/sourcing-and-annotating-the-french-way.html Sourcing and Annotating the French Way]
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Documentation]]
 +
[[Category:Sources]]
 +
[[Category:Gramps terminology]]

Revision as of 22:46, 3 October 2015

Why Cite

You just want to explore your family tree, so why bother with all of this academic nonsense, right?

If you are just using Gramps to draw a quick family tree, then perhaps there is no need to bother with citations.

But if you want to share your family tree with other people, citations let you record how you know these things, and this record may last longer than you are around to explain.

Creating detailed citations can be time intensive and may seem to be a distraction from your research, but you will find the investment pays off later.

A simple family tree can be a little dry, but linking to related documents helps you embellish your family story.

And if you are like me, you may need a little help remembering how you came to some conclusion some months ago.

Guiding Principles

In order of importance:

  • Citations help provide evidence of the conclusions (or 'facts') in your tree
  • A citation should enable another researcher to easily identify the precise material you are referencing and how you came to some conclusion
  • Citations should be as simple as possible to record while still being precise. Don't waste time on extensive detail if you wont continue to be so thorough.
  • Record a citation as soon as you can, before you forget or lose the details
  • Adopt a good style early on to avoid rework later - you will probably never bother to fix hundreds of sloppy references
  • Provide citations for as much of your tree as you can.
  • Record your references in a way that will still be relevant in many years. URLs are useful now but don't last.
  • Be consistent in your citations
  • Even a short or sloppy citation is better than no citation
  • Follow citation style guides if you can. A lot of thought has gone into what to record.

If you are just starting out with your family tree, then you will probably want to just get started recording people and events in your tree. After a while, start adding citations to your tree. Then before you have gone too far with recording citations, occasionally review your citation style and consider how it might be when your tree is much larger and used by someone else.

Sources, Repositories and Citations

Using Gramps Citations

Expand on Gramps_4.2_Wiki_Manual_-_Categories#Citations_Category

General Style

Source
Gramps Field Core Value? Comment
Title Yes One of the most important fields, together with Citation Volume/Page. This should ensure the source can be uniquely identified.
Author
Id Let Gramps auto-populate this
Abbreviation
Pub. Info


Repository:
Gramps Field Core Value? Comment
Name (shared) Yes
Type (shared) Yes
Media Type (not shared) Yes
Call number (not shared) No? This is a finding aide, to help locate the source within a given repository. (There is no equivalent mechanism to help locate a citation within the repository, which is relevant where the source is multi-volume or electronic.) How to handle web repositories?


Citation:
Gramps Field Core Value? Comment
Date ? Is this intended to be the event date, document publication date or date that I reviewed the source?
Id Let Gramps auto-populate this
Volume/Page Yes One of the most important fields, together with Source Title. This should ensure that the relevant part within the source can be readily identified.
Confidence Yes Normally just the default. You may want to set this to 'Low' or 'Very Low' if you are not sure this is the right family

Citing online evidence

Examples

See Also

External Links