What is a Source?

Reliable sources are a critical element in family history research…

A source, in a nutshell, is a document, index, book, person, or other material from which you find information related to a fact or event in your family tree. Reliable sources are a critical element in family history research because they help you prove that the information you are compiling is accurate. When you run into conflicting information, it is much easier to decide which source is more reliable if you know where your information came from. Additionally, others may want to verify that the assertions you make about people in your tree are correct—they use the source information you provide to assess the validity of what you say about your ancestors. In order for others to retrace your steps to find the same information you found, you should create a source citation, the actual reference information about the source.

How does sourcing work in computerized genealogy programs?

Although genealogists often refer to source citations as the entire bibliographical reference about a source, computerized genealogy programs usually split source information into three components (citation, source, and repository) to make it possible to select often-used sources from a list rather than re-type them each time you would like to cite them. Together, these three components compose the source information needed to document your findings:

• Citation: a reference to specific information, or evidence about a fact or event in your treeit should help other researchers retrace your steps to find the same information you found.

  Example: Year: 1930; Census Place: Idaho, Gooding County, Wendell Precinct; NARA publication: T626; Roll: 399; Sheet: 7A; Enumeration District: 24-8; Digital Image: 1062.0.

• Source: the document, index, book, person, or other material (including its corresponding publication information) in which you found the information related to a fact or event in your tree.

  Example: 1930 United States Federal Census, published online by Ancestry.com, 2002, Provo, Utah, USA; Index by Ancestry.com from microfilmed schedules of the 1930 U.S. Federal Decennial Census. Data imaged from national Archives and Records Administration, T626, 2,2667 rolls, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

• Repository: the library or other location where the source was found.

  Example: New York Public Library or Ancestry.com, etc.

Isn't there an easier way?

Yes! To save you time and effort, Ancestry will do its best to fill out the source information for you on any historical record that you find on Ancestry and attach to your tree.

Are some sources better than others?

Not all sources are created equal. There are two types of sources: original or derivative. As a rule, original sources are considered more reliable than derivative sources, although exceptions do exist.

• Original source: the original document or recording related to the event in question or a legible and legitimate image of that original document viewed via the Internet, CD-ROM, or microfilm/microfiche.

  Example: An original will written by your ancestor's own hand or signed by your ancestor.

• Derivative source: a copy, compilation, or other derivation from an original sourcemay not retain the same value as the original because errors can be amplified over time.

  Example: The court clerk's transcribed copy of your ancestor's will or a published abstract of the will.

The information provided by a source can be classified as either primary or secondary information. Primary information is typically more reliable than secondary information.

• Primary information: information provided from first-hand knowledge of the recorder or the informant.

  Example: A death certificate could provide primary information about the decedent's death.

• Secondary information: information that was not provided by someone with first-hand knowledge.

  Example: A death certificate would usually provide secondary information about the decedent's birth, unless the informant was a parent or someone else present at the birth.

We gather information from sources, and we use this information to compile evidence. Evidence can be classified as either direct or indirect.

• Direct evidence: the information is relevant and directly answers the question.

  Example A birth certificate provides a date of birth for your grandfather.

• Indirect evidence: the information is relevant, but implies an answer to the question—may need additional supporting evidence to form a conclusion.

  Example: A birth certificate could provide the date of birth for your grandfather and the full names of his parents, but the parents may not have named the baby at that point, so the certificate could read "Baby Boy Jones." You may also have a dated marriage license application, from the same county, in which your grandfather tells his age, his birth location, and that his parents have the same names as those on the birth certificate. Neither document gives you direct evidence that your grandfather was born on a certain day or direct evidence of his mother's maiden name. However, taking the two together, you have indirect evidence for your grandfather birth date and his mother's maiden name.

We analyze the evidence to draw a conclusion. The better the sources and information, the stronger the evidence, which leads to a reliable conclusion.