Christina: If you're "really new" to family history and already thinking about sourcing, you're a giant step ahead of the game. The thing many of us regret the most is the failure to properly document sources when we started. So congratulations!
The next painful lesson that we learn is that records posted online by individuals are frequently not worth the "paper" they're written on, and this includes many at FamilySearch. On the other hand there are many items at FamilySearch that are transcriptions from original records, and these are excellent resources that will point you to the location of an original record. You can tell the difference by reading the screen containing your specific "hit." The example you cite is a GEDCOM submitted by an individual with no original source citations included. As a beginner, you're probably anxious to add data to your tree, and there's a chance that what you've found might be correct. There are at least a couple of simple ways that you can safely handle this: (1) When I receive information from a source that I feel to be very reliable, I create a Master Source called (in this instance) "Research of Larry Wheeler." For publisher's information, you could use your CD and PIN title and number. Then attach that master source to *every* data field that you complete in the individual's record (name, dates, locations). Later on, as you verify the information, you can replace those source citations with references to original records. (2) You can enter the data without formal sources and use the Notes section of the individual record to list the source as your CD. Here again, be sure to specify exactly what information came from the CD because you're sure to find conflicts as you dig for original records. There are probably as many ways to format source citations as there are people on this list, and you'll see evidence of that in the list archives. There are also books and web sites on the subject and, of course, Geoff's training materials. Since a lot of the philosophy is off-topic for the Legacy list, you might consider joining one of the RootsWeb mailing lists where people will be happy to discuss sourcing styles. Good luck! Kirsten -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Christina Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 2:21 PM To: LegacyUserGroup@legacyfamilytree.com Subject: [LegacyUG] How To Source Hello, I am "REALLY" new at this. I am entering the Patriarch of the family and have all kinds of source information from LDS records. ex:Compact Disc #123 Pin #231970 and Submitter Larry A WHEELER 7471 98th St S Cottage Grove MN 55016 Submission Search: 2181032-0829105094309 URL: CD-ROM: Pedigree Resource File - Compact Disc #123 CD-ROM Features: Pedigree View, Family View, Individual View, Reports, Downloadable GEDCOM files, Notes and Sources. Where would I enter this and should the information be individual entries as far as "Submitter" goes and "Submission Search". (I tried watching the learning video sent with the program and it doesn't work properly.) All your help would be greatly appreciated Christina Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
