How do you do it?

[Sabrina]

Enter sources on your family tree program?

What I do, for example if I have a copy of a marriage certificate, I enter the certificate as the source and attach an image of the certificate to that source. All the information gleaned from that certificate is then entered and that source cited. I have no problem with that for those I have actual certificates for; they are usually direct ancestors anyway.

But, what do you do when you have seen say, a marriage entry in a parish register, but you don’t take a copy or perhaps they are not for a direct ancestor?

I write down all the information given, and keep these details in a spread sheet (one per surname) and then if they are relevant to my tree, enter them in my family tree program.

I cannot make up my mind however, whether to just make a general source called “Marriage Entry/Baptism Entry etc”, or maybe make a source for each parish, and then add the individual details in the source text; or whether to make a new source for each individual entry – potentially hundreds of different sources.

Ideas please – I would really like to get organised and consistent! :)

[Kit]

I enter sources for any relative - direct or not.

Some things are a generic source ie cemetery, newspaper, parish register and I put the specifics on the source for that person.

I have certs for 4 different countries and they are listed as English BMD Cert, Australian BMD Cert etc and the specifics go on the source for that person.

If I don't have a cert but have a good idea which one it is I will have a source say FreeBMD and put the details in.

If any source is an online source the website address is part of the source so I know how to get back to it.

I don't mind a lot of sources as long as I know where the info came from. There is nothing worse than having info and not knowing if it is reliable or where it came from.

[Merry]

I cannot make up my mind however, whether to just make a general source called “Marriage Entry/Baptism Entry etc”, or maybe make a source for each parish, and then add the individual details in the source text; or whether to make a new source for each individual entry – potentially hundreds of different sources.


I have gone for the first of the above as I think if you have hundreds of sources you won't remember to re-use them when you should as you won't recall that Joe Bloggs also married at X church etc etc. I use the source text to record any additional info. I feel the source is only there as a guide to re-finding the info should this prove necessary.

My sources are catagorised (individually) as to the likelyness of accuracy too, so if it's a primary source like a cert or a sighting of the original PR , the source gets a higher rating than if, for instance, (worst case scenario) I am told be someone that ther ancestor was born in Ceylon but they cannot provide evidence that that is the case, yet I feel they can be trusted!

[Sabrina]

Thanks for your replies. It is interesting knowing how others record and organise their data.

I have gone for a generic source "baptism entry" in the past for all the non-directs, but since upgrading my family tree program, feel I ought to make use of the "text from source" field and enter the exact text as it appears in the register. But if I do that, I think maybe I should just make a new entry for each and be done with it! Either way it's going to be a lot of work!

I think like you Kit, that a generic one for FreeBMD is probably sufficient, and I just make a note of the reference in the text from source field.

I have not made assessments on the evidence in the past (don't think that was even available with my first tree program), but think perhaps I might start now.

[Nell]

If its a direct ancestor I'm more precise, so I'd have "Anyville parish baptism register, p. 34, # 21 for example. I also put where I got it from (Ancestry online, or Records Office visit).

I just put what will help me later, so I might say "on familysearch, submitted, needs checking" so I know whether I need to do more.

[Sabrina]

Thanks for your ideas too Nell.

I think maybe I will stick to the generic source for non-directs, but be a bit more specific with direct ancestors, after all I have got over 200 images to enter just with the directs!! Oh joy!

[Kit]

Generic still works for direct rellies.

If Baptism entry is your generic source put the exact details in the notes or comments section of that source.

I have FTM so I have a generic source. The fields of each source are:

source title ie Baptism entry.
Repostory - can be a place or website if the source is specific or can be blank.
Citation detail - specifics to find the source again ie Anyville Parish reisgters page 6 or LDS batch number...
Citation text - here you can put the exact wording of the source. If it is an online source I just copy and paste the text in.