Why is it important to cite your sources? We’ll go into detail about source citations on MyHeritage further on. Source citations are also added automatically when you confirm a Smart Match™ or Record Match and extract any information from the match into your tree. On your MyHeritage tree, you can add a citation for every recorded fact in a person’s profile. The note might be added as a footnote, as an endnote, or encased in parentheses. What is a source citation?Ī source citation is a note that tells the reader where a given piece of information came from. It’s best to compare and contrast and find more than one reliable source for a given piece of information before accepting it truth. Human memory is a fickle thing.Īlways approach sources with a healthy dose of skepticism. Even a direct witness may not always remember details exactly right.
For example, immigration records are a primary source of information about an ancestor’s immigration, but the person recording the information may have done so incorrectly due to human error, or the immigrant may have chosen to conceal or change information when asked. Still, not all primary sources are more reliable than secondary ones. The reliability of a secondary source depends a lot on who compiled it and how rigorous and exact they were in recording the information. Secondary sources are sources that come from second-hand knowledge or that pulled information from primary sources to analyze them: for example, a history book that mentions a diary or letter and examines its contents is a secondary source. Both of those sources are primary sources. If you wanted to know exactly when and where you were born, for example, the best sources would be your biological mother (who was definitely there) or a birth certificate (which was recorded shortly after the event based on the testimony of direct witnesses). As a general rule, researchers prefer to rely on primary sources : that is, sources that come from first-hand knowledge of direct witnesses. You may even find information in “unconventional” genealogical sources such as jewelry, travel and leisure documents like passports and ticket stubs, or old books.
#HOW TO INSERT A CITATION TO A SOURCE HOW TO#
In this article, we’ll explore the various types of sources you may draw genealogical information from and how to cite them in your research most effectively.
Citations keep your tree accurate and your steps easy to retrace, which may actually save you time down the line when you need to revisit and cross-reference your sources. Every few extra minutes you take to clearly note where you got the information, photo, or document you’ve added to your family tree is time well spent. Source citations may not be the most glamorous aspect of genealogy, but they are certainly one of the most important.