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What Makes a “Good” Source?

From Family Tree come these hints for a good Genealogical source. While there are suggested ways to do a source citation, there is not a true wrong way or right way. It is said that “citation is an art, not a science”. It comes down to sticking with the components of a citation listed below. Once you know them, you can ad lib as needed when you run into an out-of-the-ordinary record.

There are 5  elements to a successful source citation. If you include these, you will be good to go, with only a few exceptions.

  • Who created the information (author, editor, transcriber, etc.)
  • What is the title of the source
  • When the record was created or published
  • Where in the record the information is located (volume, page, etc.)
  • Where is the source physically located (archive, library, etc.)

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“Who” specifically refers to the author or creator of the source. It may be a person(s) or it could be an organization. There are two reasons you wouldn’t list a “who.”

  • If it is unknown, like the writer of a historic newspaper article which typically did not list writer’s names.
  • If it is the same entity that published the item and the “who” is also the title of the work.

“What” refers to the source’s title. Underlining, italics, and capitalization rules for publications apply here. If the item does not have a title we create a description for it. The description lets others know exactly what the material is. For example “Letter written by John Doe to his wife Jane.” If you think the title doesn’t make it clear what type of a source it is you can add descriptive words after it such as database, transcript, image, and etc.

“When” refers to the date the media was published. Years are used for books. Months, quarters, or seasons are added for journals and magazines. Full dates are used for newspapers, downloads of online information, and unpublished sources if applicable. If the item is undated we can state that by using the letters ND for “no date.” However, if we can estimate a publication date then we should try to do so. This can be done by simply showing the estimated date range or writing “likely the 1880s.”

“Where in” refers to the specific place in the source where the information is located. The place is a page number, volume number, chapter title, or etc. If the record is an unbound source, or has no page numbers, you can identify the information on the page you are citing by describing it. For instance “birth dates chronologically listed on loose page in file.”

“Where is” refers to the specific physical location of the source. Did you find it online, in a library, at an archive, or is it held privately? This can get very complicated but remember, you want to work from small to large. Start with the collection name (the smallest where) and work your way up to the state or country (the largest where) listing all the information about the location of the source as you go.