I also recommend Mill’s,  “Evidence”.   Elizabeth Mill’s latest work is a “cheat sheet”, [she calls it a QuickSheet]  that is a handy- dandy item to use at home or on a research trip.  Published in the form of a laminated folder, the QuickSheet contains a series of sample citations showing the correct way to write citations for online sources such as databases, census images, and digital books and articles.  It also shows the correct way to cite the familiar sources, such as census sheets, passenger lists, books, magazines, etc.

  Elizabeth Shown Mills.  Quicksheet: Citing Online Historical Sources. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2005).

  I know Amazon carries it. The local B&N could probably order it, without having to pay shipping. IMO the price is very reasonable. [abt $5.95].

  If you are citing a deed or other document that you haven’t seen yourself,  it is wise to give credit to the person who did use it, or cite it.  Aside from the issue of integrity, what if there are errors in it, or misunderstandings?  Worse, what if the document doesn’t really contain the information claimed?  That is a very common problem: there are wrong book numbers, page numbers, and even made-up facts . Do you want to risk getting credit for others’ mistakes?  A proper citation can add, “transcribed by.., abstracted by.. and “as cited in…”

  Langdon Hagen-Long



Brent Tarter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:  Elizabeth S. Mills, EVIDENCE: CITATION AND ANALYSIS FOR THE FAMILY HISTORIAN (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997), is an excellent discussion of what good scholarly work requires in order to establish its accuracy and to provide readers with confidence in the research and analysis of the author

It is always proper and decent to give credit where credit is due to
those people who went before us and found facts or made other
contributions to how we understand and interpret the information that we
develop and use in our own research...>>>

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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