Page 29 - index

28 About Genealog~cal Standards of Evidence

Citation and Documentation
The final words in ths chapter on principles of evidence deal
with the documentation of your sources of information. "Citing
your sources" is another familiar phrase in genealogical study.
If you have been taught to keep a log of your research sources,
and if you spend the requisite time in learning how and why
certain records were created (introductions and finding aids to
sources!), you will be able to cite clearly the source material
you have searched so that the interested reader can consult
the same. In fact you may find yourself wishing to return to
that same source for additional study Elizabeth Shown Mills'
Evidence! Citation andAnabsisfor the Fatnib Historidn is the leader
in this regard. Richard Lackey's Cite Your Sources, a Manualfor
Documenting Fanlib Histories and Genealogical RecorrEs is an older
reference work sold by many societies and genealogical
booksellers. Major research institutions often have a guide or
pamphlet to illustrate their preference for citing their holdings.
As Mills has described the importance of citation:

Many factors combine to create "quality" in genealogy.
And there is only one fault so obvious, so fundamental,
that it instantly brands a piece of work as the product of
an amateur or careless researcher: poor source citations. We may
know a set of records better than anyone else in existence;
but if the material we extract is not identified in a manner
that permits others to easily re-locate the document we
used, then our information is suspect. Neither our
knowledge nor our shll is tr~sted.~
If and when sources for a BMD event are in question or
conflict, say so. And say why. Use notes and references to

Elizabeth Shown Mills, "Skillbuilding: Citing Your Sources" in 071
Board (Newsletter of the Board for Certification of Genealogists),
September 1995.