Ancestry Message

By Eventide on Tue, 02/18/2020 - 11:57

Forums

Typically I would handle citing an Ancestry message much like an email or instant message. However, Ancestry recently made some updates to their messaging system and there is no longer a way to create or view subject lines. I am thinking that in order to cite it correctly I would need to make one up. If that's the case, am I correct in thinking that the subject line should now be placed in brackets?

ie:

David Smith" to "Joe Jones", e-message communicated via Ancestry e-mail, 29 May 2019, [Jones Family Connection,] Ancestry, Privately held by Smith, London, England. 

Submitted byEEon Tue, 02/18/2020 - 12:28

Eventide, this problem of no titles is addressed at EE 14.31:

14.31 Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Etc.) ... Because postings and tweets are typically untitled, the first few words should be quoted, followed by the date.

Whether we're dealing with a social-media posting, a tweet, or a message, the "first few words" principle is the same. Other passages in EE also address the issue in different contexts. This one, for example, considers instances in which the first few words are so so generic that they would not be useful:

14.44  ... IDENTIFYING A CONGRESSIONAL PETITION
Congressional petitions and similar documents often have no formal title by which to identify them. They usually begin with generic words such as “To the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress
assembled....” Because such preambles are so common, you cannot use those first few words to serve as a label.

The "so common" problem would likely be one you'd face in citing multiple messages from the same party through Ancestry Messaging, if you share just one family in common or receive multiple messages from that person on the same day.

Submitted byKristinaCleveron Mon, 02/07/2022 - 09:19

I am trying to work out the best way to cite a specific Ancestry message that I don't think fits the 14.31 Social Media format. It is important to specify who the correspondence is between in order to find the information later. In this particular instance, I contacted a DNA match to ask her to confirm her direct line to a common ancestor and obtain her permission to use her name in a case study. I created these citations:

Kristina Clever to "Mary", Ancestry message, 21 January 2022, "...I believe you descend from...;" privately held by Clever [private], Alabama, Client Cases - DNA match files.

"Mary" to Kristina, Ancestry message, 21 January 2022, "Previous information is correct. I'd be delighted to assist;" privately held by Clever [private], Alabama, Client Cases - DNA match files.

I would love your thoughts on this.

Submitted byEEon Fri, 02/25/2022 - 10:04

Kristina, my apologies for not seeing sooner this query attached to an older post.  EE14.31 focuses on social-media posts—public postings. Have you seen EE 3.42, which covers "E-mail and instant Messages"—i.e., private correspondence?