Examples of Genealogical Source Citations (National Institute)

Structure
If you understand the items that go into the citation of each record, it is a matter of arranging those items in a logical way. When you have created a satisfactory source note, stand back and ask the questions: Does this tell my family or my reader how and where to find the same source? Is the citation clear enough that they can understand the merit of the source being cited? You should be able to answer affirmatively without hesitation. You could collaborate with a genealogy friend in drafting your basic citations, or ask a respected professional to critique your style.

Consistency in style is almost as important as being accurate with titles, series, microfilm numbers and so on. Once you have mastered the main elements of any source, stay true to citing a source the same way, whenever and however often you cite it. Some people or archival institutions prefer the description to begin with the broadest elements, narrowing to the specific. Others prefer the opposite. Genealogical software has a built-in style, some more useful than others. Different sources or media format may require different arrangements.

Census Example (Fictitious)

 * Henry Foster household, 1871 census Canada, Ontario, Snow County, Winter Township, district 77, division 2, p. 24, line 18; microfilm C-9912, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

OR


 * Henry Foster household, 1871 census Canada, Ontario, Snow County, Winter Township, district 77, division 2, p. 24, line 18; microfilm 2,134,752, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Subsequent notes citing the same source in the same family history, report, or compilation are typically shortened by omitting the form and location of the source, e.g.:

Henry Foster household, 1871 census Ontario, Snow County, Winter Township, division 2, p. 24, line 18.

Vital Record Example

 * Charles Foster, Ontario, Canada, birth registration 041926 (1873), Office of the Registrar General of Ontario, RG 80; microfilm MS 929 reel 14, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

OR


 * Charles Foster, Ontario birth registration 041926 (1873); microfilm MS 929 reel 14, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

Book Example
Brenda Dougall Merriman, United Empire Loyalists: A Guide to Tracing Loyalist Ancestors in Upper Canada (Campbellville, Ontario: Global Heritage Press, 2006), 95.

Chapter/Article Example

 * Joy Reisinger, “The Essential Library,” Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians, Elizabeth Shown Mills, editor (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001), 82.

AND


 * Patty McGregor, “The Devon Origins of John Pullman,”Families 45:3 (August 2006), 170.

Website Examples

 * Bill Richards, Frazer Family Tree(Manitoba Branch), descendancy chart, : accessed 22 November 2007), 3.ii George Melville Frazer.

AND


 * CLM Kin-quests (Cheryl L. McIntosh), “William McKinnon–Carpenter,” article, Uncovering Cousins: At Home, At Work, At Play: accessed 22 October 2007).

Database Example
Library and Archives Canada, “Divorce in Canada 1841-1968,” database, Canadian Genealogy Centre : accessed 14 June 2006), entry for Charles Henry Foster; citing Acts of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (1920), act 145.

Digital Image Example
Charles Foster, Ontario birth registration 041926 (1873); digital image, “Ontario, Canada Births 1869-,” Ancestry.ca : accessed 20 November 2007, citing microfilm MS 929 reel 14, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

Tips and Reminders
It may be helpful to list some tips and reminders for your own research trips:


 * When a staff member of a library or repository has guided you to a microfilm or manuscript document, think about the correct way to cite it before you make your notes, log entries, or photocopies. Sometimes we get carried away with discoveries of the moment and lose our objectivity.


 * Does the microfilm leader or target, or the running footer or header if they are in place, match the title, name, or numbers on its box container?


 * If you are viewing an original paper document or file, be sure to note whether it belongs to a larger series or collection. Is there a finding aid or inventory for the series or record group that describes and clarifies a citation for the material you are looking at?


 * Are there any copyright issues that might arise if you intend to quote from, or reproduce part of a document, manuscript, book, or website?

Reading and studying the articles in scholarly genealogy journals is one way to become comfortable with accepted practices. Journals vary somewhat in their house styles, including the format of their source notes, but that also shows you different choices and flexibility. The National Genealogical Society Quarterly, The American Genealogist, New England Historical and Genealogical Register andNew York Genealogical and Biographical Record are some of the top quarterly publications.

Note: For further details on this subject, see the Mills’ books in our Recommended Reading or “Citations for Canadians” by Alison Hare, CG, at the website of the Ontario Chapter Association of Professional Genealogists.

Recommended Reading

 * Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Analysis: A Research Process Map. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2006.


 * Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian. 1997. Reprint, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2006.


 * Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007.


 * Mills, Elizabeth Shown. QuickSheet: Citing Online Historical Resources, Evidence! Style. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007.

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