TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2000-04 > 0954775701


From: Lee Hoffman/KY <>
Subject: Re: TMG-L: Re: Sources - E-Mail and Web Site Addresses and Others
Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 11:28:21 -0400
In-Reply-To: <20000403.091157.-892523.3.djschulteis@juno.com>


wrote:
>In my simplistic way of looking at sources and citing sources, I see one
>doing so to identify from where the information came from so the reader
>(and ourselves) can determine how "correct" the information might be.

Exactly!

>Now if the best we can do, at least at that time, is to cite as a source
>Aunt Elizabeth, well and good, for that is what we must cite, for that is
>the source of our date. It though behooves us to do better, and we
>should attempt to do so.
>
>Now if Uncle Joe received this same information from Aunt Elizabeth, be
>this on the telephone, in a letter, or though email, but in his
>communication to us he did not cite Aunt Elisabeth as his source, we must
>cite Uncle Joe for he was our source.

Agreed!

>If Uncle Joe identified Aunt Elizabeth as his source, I then cite Aunt
>Elizabeth "for she is the source" and as a courtesy I also identify that
>I receive the information through Uncle Joe.

No, I disagree here. You should cite where _you_ got the data. In this
case, you didn't get the it from Aunt Elizabeth! You got it from Uncle
Joe. Aunt Elizabeth may have been right, but did Uncle Joe remember it
correctly? A better way would be to cite Uncle Joe and indicate that he
obtained it from Aunt Elizabeth. This give one your exact source and
further tells the source's source. The combination is more or less the
same as what you indicate above, but the emphasis is on _your_ source and
eliminates any confusion.


----------
Lee Hoffman/KY
E-mail:
TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
--------------
A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)

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