Your long lost cousin found you through Ancestry.com DNA match and is curious how you know that your common great great grandfather died in 1898. What do you tell him/her? Do you just say, ‘I don’t know?’ or can you point your cousin straight to the source? Citing your genealogy sources is critical for proper research in order to save yourself headaches in the future, to be able to prove your findings, and to have the ability to help others and preserve your family history.

Primary and Secondary Genealogy Sources

Genealogists base research in facts.  Genealogy facts are discovered through primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are recorded near the time of the event. These sources can include birth, death, and marriage certificates, oral histories recorded close to time they occurred, military records, deeds, tax records, etc. Secondary sources are recorded after some significant time has passed between the event and the recording but could still be reliable if paired with primary sources. Secondary sources include oral histories by witnesses that were recorded well after the event or even information on death certificates such as birth dates that are simply recalled and relied upon by the informant.

To be a genuine genealogist or family historian you have to use facts based mostly on primary sources.  Errors may have been made here and there on documents, but you have to take all of your information after exhausting all efforts of finding more clues and come to the best conclusion based on all facts. 

I will admit that I am guilty of not citing my sources from to time to time. I often get wrapped up in my research and will print something up or save it to my computer without making a note of the source.  Not citing my sources in the past has caused headaches when I try and go back and find it again. I also end up looking in the same place for documents when I have already checked those places, but because I did not cite my sources I then spend extra time going back over resources.

Examples of Citing Sources

The picture of this document is not obvious. Not only is it not in English but it is also not a common source such as a census record or court issued death certificate. Not having this document properly cited could lead to big frustration in the future. 

Should I need this document again or tell a relative about it, I need to know exactly where to go to retrieve it.

This document is a marriage record from a Catholic church.  I found it on microfiche at a library in the county where the church is located.  This is not found online and required a microfiche to copy it.  Therefore, recording the source would be crucial to prove my findings.  In my files I noted the name of the church, the year, and page number (if available). I also included in the source the place I found it and media used: microfiche. I also included the title that is printed on the microfiche box itself.

The image above was taken from a book about the history of Crawford County, Illinois. I found several biographies referring to my relatives. Although I did not make paper copies of the pages I needed in the book (only took pictures), I still made citations. The files in my computer state the author, name of the book, publication year, and page number(s). 

Citing sources also saves time in the future. Knowing where you have already looked for information saves wasted time, money, and possibly even travel.   If you are solely researching for your own personal knowledge, I do not believe that it matters how you document. Simply document in a way that details as much information for future reference. 

Many family tree software programs out there have spots for noting  sources.  I use FamilyTree Maker and with each bit of information such as birth, marriage, death, burial, etc. I can enter click on ‘source’ and type in the information I have for citing. 

If I print hard copies of documents I always write directly on the paper-either on the front in a corner or on the back. I have had relatives flip through my binders and ask where I found a certain document and I am able to simply look in the corner of the paper or the back and instantly tell them.

I did not cite my sources when I first began my research.  It wasn’t a big deal in the beginning, but as time went on it got frustrating. I started going over the same sources again and again and then realizing I had already poured over those two years earlier. I just wasted time.

In the beginning I also thought it didn’t matter because the information I gathered was for myself.  After many years I started sharing my research and others wanted me to prove my information.  I quickly knew I had to keep up with my citations in order to prove my years worth of hard work.

Keep good records, cite your sources, and keep track of the places you have researched and your journey will be much smoother.