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Sources in TMG
This page is an outline of a presentation on using sources in TMG presented to the California Genealogical
Society's TMG User Group on Saturday, 4 June 2005. For additional information on using sources, visit
these two topics on this site.
Citation Theory
- Content requirements
- Citations provide the exact source for every statement of fact and include enough information to allow a reader to backtrack easily to the original source, or an equivalent source, to verify the author's interpretation of the document.
- A citation provides enough information to allow another researcher to judge the validity of your interpretations and the thoroughness of your research.
- A citation gives credit where credit is due. Don't leave yourself open to charges of plagiarism.
- Format is determined by report requirements
- TMG's flexibility allows the user to vary citation format as required by reporting demands.
Definitions
- TMG Event: a tag or statement of fact
- Citation: links the statement of fact to the evidence (source) supporting it
- Source: the book, census, vital record, etc. that provides evidence for a statement of fact
- Repository: the place you found that source
TMG's Source Categories are style guides that dictate form and content
- Lackey (Wholly Genes' interpretation of Richard S. Lackey's Cite Your Sources)
- Mills (Wholly Genes' interpretation of Elizabeth Shown Mills's Evidence!)
- Custom (Your personal interpretation)
- TMG's default source template structures are reproduced in Appendix F - Source Templates,
Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist, pp. 278-287.
Source Types
- Source types: census, vital record, tombstone, will, deed, book, etc.
- Design templates composed of source elements and word constants
- Choice of source elements is determined by desired content of a source citation
- Design templates determine the format of a source citation
- Design output for: full footnote, short footnote, bibliography
Source Element Groups:
- 32 unique element groups in TMG ver 6.0 (Version 5.0's 30 source groups are listed in Appendix E -
Standard Source Groups and Source Elements, Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist, pp. 276-277.)
- Appear in different screens:
- Behave in different ways:
- Four element groups obey "Last name, First name" rules.
- Title is always present on the Source Definition General Tab, even if undefined for a given source type.
- Three available memo fields: Comments, Citation Memo, Repository Memo, can be split.
- Citation Detail can be split.
- Repository and Citation element groups may be renamed in theory, but actual screen names never change.
- View a table of the 32 unique element groups, standard source elements, and my custom source elements arranged first
by location in TMG and then by behavior.
Source Elements:
- User-friendly names for the 32 source element groups
- User can create new source elements, but cannot create new source element groups
- Only one source element per source element group can appear in any source type definition.
Define new elements carefully with this in mind.
Logical Data Entry Order
- Option (1):
- Enter Repository information first
- Enter the Source information
- Enter source elements that refer to all citations to this source
- The Source Memo provides information on the source itself and not on the evidence derived from that source.
- Link the source to the Repository
- Enter the Event information
- Open Citation screen
- Link to Source
- Add Citation Detail to identify the exact location of the evidence within that Source
- The Citation Memo can be used to explain evidence derived from the source, contradictory evidence, or other notes that relate to the cited event only.
- Option (2) (not possible before version 5.0):
- Enter Event information
- Open Citation screen to link to Source
- Enter the Source information
- Link to Repository and enter Repository information
- Add Citation Detail to identify the exact location of the evidence within that Source
The Source Abbreviation: No One Right Way
- Pick an abbreviation that will always make sense to you.
A few logical possibilities:
- Source Type, Date, State, County
- County, State, Source Type
- Surname, First Name, Source Type
- Source Type, Surname, First Name
The Citation Detail: A Few Things to Keep in Mind
- The citation detail identifies a specific page, file, line, etc. within a source and all information contained here pertains to the cited event only.
- Like memo fields, the citation detail may be split into as many as nine parts.
- The citation memo refers to the evidence as it affects the cited event.
- (The citation reference is an element group that I've never used.)
- Second Site requires all references to a citation detail to be enclosed in angle brackets: <[CD]>
- Only [CD] or [CD1] appear in GEDCOM output
- If Unique Endnotes are checked in a report definition, only [CD] or [CD1] will be printed
- If split memos are used, GEDCOM recognizes only [M1], [RM1], [CM1], etc.
The Embedded Citation
- Embedded citations can be used in an Event Memo field. This allows you to place a citation after a sentence, as opposed to placing citations only after a paragraph.
- Split citation details cannot be used in an embedded citation. The reporting results are unpleasant.
- At one time, embedded citations were not renumbered if you renumbered your sources. I haven't checked this recently.
Template Design Protocol (Examples):
- Title (source element capitalized): If field is empty, citation will read "unknown title"
- <Title> (source element in angle brackets): If field is empty, citation will ignore it
- title (source element in lower case): Empty or not, the value of this field will not appear in the citation.
Editing the Source Template:
(see
http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~mdtmgug/source_template.htm)
- Edit the source type template (global change)
- Changes all sources of that type except those edited locally (see below)
- The Bibliography contains the basic identifying information that pertains to all citations to a given source. Determine all source elements required for the bibliography and use this as your basis when designing or editing a source type template.
- Next, determine additional elements that will appear in all citations to that source.
- Identify any source elements that will vary from citation to citation (e.q. page number). These will appear in the Citation Detail.
- Arrange all elements according to the desired style guide and edit the source type template accordingly.
- Override the template locally for an individual source
- Add desired source elements to the actual source definition screen and place them in the appropriate place in the output definitions; or
- Write the citation, as you wish it to appear, in the output definitions.
- Sources in which the global template has been overridden are not affected if the global template is redesigned.
Merging Data Sets:
- Set both data sets to the Custom Source Category type before merging.
- My advice: back up both data sets first and read the instructions carefully.
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