Lesson 2: Referencing, Citing Sources and Research Logs

LESSON 2

REFERENCING, CITING SOURCES AND RESEARCH LOGS

RESEARCH LOGS

Research logs are a great way to keep track of where you have looked and what you found or didn’t find. You can download one from Ancestry, under their free resources, or you can make one yourself. Even using just Word and writing everything down can help.

You may think this is a waste of time but it can be very useful if you stop researching for a while, it can help to remind you where you were up to. Although I would always recommend that you go back and take another look at everything, as more records may be available.

I also print these off and put in the front of the folder as part of an index/reference list. You can use one for each person, couple or family group.

Date	Name	Found/Didn’t Find	Where Web site, Repository, Record Set	Copy requested Y/N Snipped
12 Jul 2017	Grace Jones	Found Baptism Record	www.findmypast.com.au	Snipped
12 Jul 2017	William Edwards	Searched for baptism – didn’t find	www.findmypast.com.au www.familysearch.org OPC Cornwall

This is just a rough example.

Where I have “Snipped” above is for when I take a snip of an entry from a web site. Example: I find the baptism record of Grace Jones in 1809, Gwinear, Cornwall, on Find My Past. (Original Parish Register entry is not available to view). I use the Windows Snipping Tool (found under accessories) to clip a copy for my records. These can be saved as .png or .jpeg files. I then attach this snip to her, in my family tree program.

REFERENCING and CITING SOURCES

How you reference and/or cite your sources is a personal choice.

Citing sources is a minefield but you only need to formally cite entries in your personal genealogical records if you are planning to publish your work at a later date. Citing covers your butt from being accused of plagiarism. 

Different “schools” within a University can use different types of citing e.g. English papers use APA style while History papers use Chicago style.

If you want to use formal citing in your records, I suggest you find a book on how to cite records Chicago style. But if you do want to use this, the main rule for citing and referencing is to be consistent.

Of course, if you aren’t citing you must always reference your records. This is another way to help you re-find that record.

The best way to look at it is: with this reference, can I or other people find this information?

Even with meticulous citing it could be that in the future, the web site or repository may not exist.

Most family tree programs have some way for you to cite/reference your records. Legacy has Sourcewriter where you add the records information and it produces a ‘formal’ citation.

With Sourcewriter you can set up a Master Source for each record set and/or repository. You select the Master Source and you then get a pop up window where you fill in that records details.

You can then add exact details on this next screen.

I’m sure other family history programs have similar ways to handle citing and referencing.