Database-first Citation: How much information?

By Bart Robinson on Wed, 02/02/2022 - 13:54

Forums

Dear EE,

I’m currently researching ancestors from Dorset, England and have adopted a database-first citation style that I found in your exchange with Jennifer, beginning 11/10/2019 (Layering Citations | Evidence Explained.  

Following that model, I’ve created  a first reference footnote for the baptism of James Welch:

[1] “England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936,” online database with images, Ancestry (Ancestry.ca : accessed 02 Feb 2022), image (21) of baptism registry for James Welch, 15 Nov 1778, Bridport, Dorset, p. 29 (inked), p. 16 (stamped); PRO RG4/71, TNA, Kew, Surrey, England.  

Here’s the link to the Ancestry page with the image:

England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936 - Ancestry.ca

I have three questions:

First, in the database layer, I cite two page numbers: p. 29 (inked) and p. 16 (stamped) that appear at the top of the imaged registry page.   Would one of those be a folio number, and, if so, how am I supposed to tell which is which? 

Second, in the source-of-the-source layer, how much information is enough?  Would PRO GR4/71 be enough, or is it necessary to include the TNA, Kew, Surrey, England information as well?  Additionally, the Ancestry Source Citation, Description,  and Source Information paragraphs attached to the database show up to the uninitiated (me!)  as a dog’s dinner of disparate information kibble.  Is there anything from those sources I should be adding to the source-in-source layer? Wouldn’t it be useful to include the title of the actual, original source at some point in the citation, as opposed to Ancestry’s title of the database?   

Third, and unrelated to the citation issues above, do you know what the “Ag” inserted after the parents’ names in the page entry means? 

Thank you!

Bart Robinson (Too Many Charlottes)

Submitted byEEon Wed, 02/02/2022 - 16:54

Hello, Bart.

Q1: You'll note that the stamped numbers appear on just one side of a sheet, with the backside of the page blank. Those are folio numbers.  Page numbers appear on both sides of a sheet (or all sides, depending upon how many "sides" result from how the sheet is folded). (EE 7.6. If you have the Kindle version, you can also find it by querying for "folio vs. page." In the print version you'll find it in the index under 
"folio," and "numbers > folio numbers vs. page numbers," and  "page numbers > vs. folio numbers." The glossary also defines "folio" on p. 823.)

Q2: Definitely, in the source-of-the-source layer, we include the archive and its location, as well as the collection ID.   Without identifying the archive, the collection ID is meaningless to most people. As for Ancestry’s “Source Citation, Description, and Source Information"paragraphs, we extract out what’s essential. See QuickLesson 26: Thinking Through Ancestry.com Citations.

Q3: Re the meaning of “Ag” after each entry, given that this is an entry on the original document, a definitive answer would come from someone experienced with that set of records. But looking at the pattern, it seems to me that the intent is “age.”  The entries on these two pages carry the following “Ag” notations:

  • Ag 32 days
  • AG 5 weeks
  • Ag. 6 weeks
  • Ag. 6 weeks
  • Ag. 6 weeks
  • Ag. 10 weeks
  • Ag. 19 weeks
  • ...
  • "Ag. 2 months, being born Aug. 31st"
  • Etc.

Your item of interest is an entry for “three Grandchildren of the Wd. Welch." We see that the first two have Ag. [blank], while the third has “Ag 7 weeks & 4 days.”