Multiple Citations for the same record?

By Anonymous on Thu, 07/17/2014 - 23:59

Forums

I am a couple of weeks old in experience with Evidence Explained, so please bear with me on this. I’m sort of feeling like a ditz here.

As an example, I want to use the following source: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VC19-8GQ

In this one record, I have:

1.       The marriage date for Johann Heinrich Metzler and Anna Katharina Seibert

2.       The location of their marriage.

3.       The birth date for Johann Heinrich Metzler.

4.       The birth date for Anna Katharina Seibert.

5.       The name of Heinrich’s father.

6.       The name of Heinrich’s mother.

7.       The name of Katharina’s father.

8.       The name of Katharina’s mother.

This is where I get confused. In some source examples in the book, like SSDI on page 626, there is no reference to the vitals – birth and death are available in SSDI. In other citations, like LDS Vital Records index shown on page 481, birth is listed. I feel like I am missing some important piece of the puzzle because I don’t get when to list the vital and when not to.

Is the above record 8 different citations, or one?

Submitted byEEon Fri, 07/18/2014 - 04:00

Mada,

The basic rule is this: When we make an assertion, we cite the source. It's not a matter of whether a record requires 8 different citations. The question is what do I cite to support this one assertion? For example.

  • If we are writing a biography of someone and we make an assertion about their marriage date, then we cite our source.
  • If we make an assertion about the place of marriage, then we cite that source.
  • If, in the same sentence, we make an assertion about the date of marriage and the place of marriage—and both pieces of information came from the same source—then we have only one source to cite.
  • If we make these two assertions in the same sentence and each one came from a different source, then we have two sources to cite.

Documents often give us numerous pieces of information. Therefore:

  • If we are just typing an abstract of that document in a word processor, then we only cite the document once and include all the information.
  • If we are using a database in which each piece of information has to be put into a separate field, then we have to identify the source each time we enter a piece of information. The chore is not as onerous as it might seem. When we enter the first piece of information, we create our citation. Then we copy it into memory and, for each additional piece of information we enter into a separate field, from that source, we paste in the same citation.

As we continue research, if we are thorough, we typically find multiple sources that deal with a certain “fact” about a person or an event. We also find that Source A disagrees with Source B, while Source C says something else entirely. What then do we believe?

That is the point at which we understand the value of identifying the source for each and every piece of information. If we have kept careful notes, then we know which assertion came from which source. That enables us to evaluate and compare the quality of each source to decide which assertion is more likely to be correct.

Submitted byMadaon Sun, 07/20/2014 - 09:14

First off, thank you so much for your reply. I can't believe how much time you invest in your users education. When do you have time to do your own stuff? :) And secondly, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your contribution to my education, your book is always up on my screen and I refer to it for every single citation that I edit or create.

I don't think that I asked my question well. I follow the principal that every fact that is recorded should be cited. That makes perfect sense to me. I also believe that every fact in a record, regardless of whether you use it, should be in your citation database.

What I'm unsure of is whether or not the citation needs to be edited to include the fact that you are citing, resulting in multiple citations for the same source, or if one generic citation is used across all facts and is simply a pointer to the source.

Another thing, in regards to the name of the person that I am working with. Do I use the name as I know it to be, or how it is listed in the source? This applies to not just misspellings, alternate spellings, but married females. So, if I have a death record, do I site the name on the death record or do I cite the maiden name? On Find A Grave - do I use the name at the top of the page, or the name in my database?

Again, thank you very much for your time and efforts.

Mada

Submitted byEEon Sun, 07/20/2014 - 11:37

Mada,

Thanks for the kind words. EE was created to fill an educational need and we've long since decided that "Evidence, Explained" is a need that needs to be filled in a variety of ways.

You write:

What I'm unsure of is whether or not the citation needs to be edited to include the fact that you are citing, resulting in multiple citations for the same source, or if one generic citation is used across all facts and is simply a pointer to the source.

Normally, the "fact" that is stated in the text of our narrative or in a database field, is not repeated in the citation. Sometimes, we may need to tweak the citation to make it say something such as "For John's account of San Juan Hill, particularly see ..."  Also, if certain facts are needed to clearly identify the source, we repeat those facts in the citation. This commonly happens when we are working with, say, registers that don't have pagination but are arranged by date or for files that are arranged by names.

Another thing, in regards to the name of the person that I am working with. Do I use the name as I know it to be, or how it is listed in the source?

(See EE 2.16) Always, when a citation includes a name, use the name exactly as it appears in that source. Otherwise, the record may not be relocatable. If, in that source, the spelling of the name differs from the "standard" that you use in your narrative or database, then the situation is clearer for your readers (and yourself after your recollection of the source has gone cold) if your citation puts quotation marks around the aberrant name. You might also choose to add immediately after it, in square editorial brackets, your standard spelling.

Submitted byJandyon Sat, 05/23/2020 - 18:45

I have a question when citing a date of birth with no conflicting dates; do you put in every source into once citation, or if they all agree, use one record instead of six?

 

Thank You,

 

Jandy

Submitted byEEon Sat, 05/23/2020 - 21:33

Jandy, if six sources are used to document one fact, then the situation is most efficiently handled by citing all those sources in one single reference note. You would cite each individual source in a separate sentence.