Okay so by now I hope I have established my lack of credentials for this type of blog. Now let me address the issue that gave birth to this blog and ask for your help in getting me to see what I'm sure is staring me right in the face. Of the three programs I am using Family Tree Maker 2012 is by far (at least in my opinion based on the templates) the easiest to create sources and citations.
So as stated in previous posts I have decided to start fresh and apply the lessons I have learned since delving into Genealogy so I can start with a clean slate and confirm that the assertions i have made so far still hold up. So I put my name into Ftm2012, I gave my parents their spot, and then the grandparents I knew. Having my paternal grandma's New Jersey Birth Certificate i wanted to create the source and citation for the data it contained. So I started with this certificate, which my dad had in his possession and I personally scanned into my computer.
And ended up with this as my source entry. I chose Vital Records Certificate (State Record) because I was working from an original state issued birth certificate, I filled out the other fields with data from the birth certificate and named my father as the repository since he still maintains possession of the Original Document. I didn't put any thing for the call number because he just has it in a nondescript box. In the comments I just left a brief description of the document and parties involved.
And this as my citation entry:
Which leaves my long form citation to read this way:
"New Jersey, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Certificate, 524, Ap 7, 1905; Annie Webster- child of
Jas. Webster & Annie McGill. Birth certificate of Annie "May" WEBSTER mother of Edward Leger
LEROY III; Edward Leger LeRoy, III."
Will this gives me a single citation for up to 8 pieces of data pulled from this single certificate. Or am I over stuffing the citation. Am I better off leaving the citation detail to read "524, Ap 7, 1905; Annie Webster" and creating a new citation for each fact (parents names, aproximate birthyears, locations)? Should I fill in the Citation text field thus "daughter of Jas. WEBSTER(30) and Annie McGILL(25); mother of Edward Leger LEROY III"? Edited post 7/18/2012 to reflect and clarify points from comments below and better rephrase my intended question.
Let me know what you think.
So as stated in previous posts I have decided to start fresh and apply the lessons I have learned since delving into Genealogy so I can start with a clean slate and confirm that the assertions i have made so far still hold up. So I put my name into Ftm2012, I gave my parents their spot, and then the grandparents I knew. Having my paternal grandma's New Jersey Birth Certificate i wanted to create the source and citation for the data it contained. So I started with this certificate, which my dad had in his possession and I personally scanned into my computer.
"New Jersey, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Certificate, 524, Ap 7, 1905; Annie Webster- child of
Jas. Webster & Annie McGill. Birth certificate of Annie "May" WEBSTER mother of Edward Leger
LEROY III; Edward Leger LeRoy, III."
Will this gives me a single citation for up to 8 pieces of data pulled from this single certificate. Or am I over stuffing the citation. Am I better off leaving the citation detail to read "524, Ap 7, 1905; Annie Webster" and creating a new citation for each fact (parents names, aproximate birthyears, locations)? Should I fill in the Citation text field thus "daughter of Jas. WEBSTER(30) and Annie McGILL(25); mother of Edward Leger LEROY III"? Edited post 7/18/2012 to reflect and clarify points from comments below and better rephrase my intended question.
Let me know what you think.
Johni,
ReplyDeleteI have a FTM2012 Blog. I have an example here:
http://ftmuser.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-source-baptismal-record.html
but it would work for your Birth Certificate.
The trick, is to use the FTM2012 Template feature. That will get you to the Evidence Explained! format, that you talked about earlier. That book, is the basis for the Templates in Family Tree Maker.
The question to start with, (Keyword), What (exactly) am I looking at, and Where did I find it.
A physical record is DIFFERENT then that same document found online or on microfilm.
It's a very good start, but understanding the importance of Documenting what you found and where. The Next Step of that process, is to Evaluate your documentation or Evidence.
You might want to look at this website:
http://www.geneabloggers.com/
and look at these Genealogy Webinars. Many are free.
http://blog.geneawebinars.com/
Sign up for the Legacy webinar on Wednesday (its the first one listed), at least when I just looked.
Good luck and Keep up the great work.
Russ
Hey Russ,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, I am using the templates, being new it just seemed like it would have been the easier route (no since reinventing the wheel right?) So reading along your suggested tutorial and given that the image is a scanned copy of the actual certificate originally held by my grandmother but now in my dad's possession, so I guess that my source info above is correct. My real question is do I really need to cite each fact independently or did I fill out the citation properly to use it for the source on my grandma's name, her parents names, her parents aproximate dates of birth, and location for all three?
I mean in the Field Citation Detail the guideline text says "enter the certificate type, number, and date; and name(s) of person(s)on the certificate." Well the first part is crystal clear, the second part leaves a little to be desired. Do I just name my grandmother, Do I include her parents, what format do I use to distinguish the child and the parents.
Then in the next field Citation Text the guideline states to "Enter pertinent text from the source and/or an explanation of the relevance of the data to your research." To me this is where I could record the parents names, ages and address if I don't include it in the citation detail, but I could just briefly explain my analysis of the document valid because of the 4 points of which I rated each claim, where I found the document, etc. I am fortunate to have a really nice genealogy center near where I live but the people that work there don't seem to eager/capable of helping me understand this aspect of the research. They are excellent with helping to locate data but that's it.
Or should I just stop trying to conserve my data entry and just create a separate citation for each individual fact? I just think it would be so much easier to follow the paper trail if I can make one citation and link it to all the facts on that page, sheet. Like if you have two families on a single page in a census you could make a citation referencing one family and another citation for the second family. But if both families where living at the same address it would only require the one citation.
One thing I have found is that by forcing myself to go back and document everything I am also improving my analysis of the data that I have collected. So it is important for the beginner to learn this process right out of the gate.
You also bring up a good discussion for my next post. Microfilm, Digital image, Photo copy of original, original hard copy.