Your 7 Basic Rules for Identifying Sources. Just 7.

If you ever felt like source citation involves too many rules, this list is for you. Yes, in every style guide for every field, each "rule" is there for a purpose; but if you're able to remember them all, you're likely to be an editor or a fuss-pot. For everyone else—normal people who have learned to look up "particulars" in one of those style guides but would prefer to mentally tote around just a short list—here's EE's 7 Basic Rules.

Unofficial Record Keepers & Reasonably Exhaustive Research

History researchers are trained not to make conclusions about issues until their research has been reasonably exhaustive. They comb the published literature and archival catalogs in search of relevant materials. If their subject is local or biographical in nature, they know that public records need to be explored. But no biography or local study can ever be complete until we have identified and studied the works of that area's unofficial record keepers. ... Oh? Who's that? ...

A Marriage Record Is a Marriage Record Is a Marriage Record—Not!

As researchers, we use words so loosely. Too loosely. We speak of *the* marriage record as though just one existed. We cite a date of marriage from a courthouse index without questioning *which* marriage-related event actually occurred on that date. In fact, we even see dates of marriage cited for couples who never went through the ceremony after one of the preliminary records was created. (Should I confess here that ...