NOOOOOOOO! You can’t use the original source if you didn’t look at it yourself! Well, you CAN but you shouldn’t.
Here is a great example. Let say you find someone in a marriage index at Ancestry. You cite the INDEX. You wouldn’t source it like a marriage certificate. I can’t tell you how many times I have requested an original document after seeing someone in an index and when I actually got the document the name was spelled differently or the date was wrong. Your source for your example would be either a Family Group Sheet, a GEDCOM or a manuscript (whichever is the most appropriate) of the person that authored the family tree you are looking at. HOWEVER, what you can do is you can put a note in [ ] after the citation explaining where the person states they got it from. For example, let's say I am sourcing a marriage date/place using someone else's family group sheet: Donald Anderson, "Family Group Sheet of Nathaniel Humphreys"; digital images, "Anderson Family Tree," Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 09 Feb 2012) [Per the author, Wilkinson County, Mississippi Marriage Book B, page 24]. I would not cite the marriage book and page unless I actually saw it. However, I DO want to document it so that I can get a copy of for myself. When I do that, then I will change the citation. Michele From: Barbara [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 7:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [LegacyUG] Documentation When you receive information from a well-documented source for a whole family line, should you use that source or should you use the original source? I know Jeff always says when you site a FHL census source, that it is really from the Nat. Archives. Thus, if I follow that, I should use the original source, even though I may not have seen it. Barb Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
