Like everyone before me, citations and sources weren’t something I was originally concerned about. I’ve learned my lesson now, about a dozen or so times. There are a variety of reasons to document your sources, but my favorite is so that YOU can reproduce it. A common story, that I’ve played out many many times …
I’ve got a great printout of a Passenger List. I can read the names on it. It’s a Great Grandparent and some of her kids. Wow! I forgot I even had this. I want to track down more records like this. How the heck did I find this one? What’s the microfilm number? Did I get it from a Family History Center or from the National Archives? Did I find it first on an index? When did I find it? Did I look thru that whole film and strikeout on other ancestors?
After several attempts, I’ve come up with the following strategy for tracking sources:
- Detailed source templates in my genealogy software
- An individual image folder for each ancestor that includes their date of birth: Doe, Jane 1801
- Filenames that include FHL microfilm numbers and target subjects: Birth Record Deller, Frank (1907) FHL 1991804.jpg
- A Google Spreadsheet diary of every microfilm I have looked at. This helps me avoid doing the same research over and over.
Here’s a closer look at one of my source templates in Reunion:
Citation Example
