TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2000-04 > 0954870408


From: Lee Hoffman/KY <>
Subject: Re: TMG-L: Re: Sources - E-mail and Web Site And Others
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 13:46:48 -0400
In-Reply-To: <20000404.092344.-913175.2.djschulteis@juno.com>


wrote:
>This may be one of semantics, but from a many years later documentation
>standpoint, I go with identifying the source of the information, and how
>I may have received it (if appropriate), not identifying from whom I
>received it and secondarily where they obtained it. I believe I am
>documenting my information, not documenting my work.

I agree that you should definitely identify _your_ source of the
information. How it is done (i.e., "Aunt Elizabeth via Uncle Joe" or
"Uncle Joe who obtained it from Aunt Elizabeth") is probably anot worth
arguing about.

But consider this, Uncle Joe (age 88) tells you some information about a
family member and says he got the information from Aunt Elizabeth. How
sure are you that it really was Aunt Elizabeth? Maybe it was during a
family gathering when Aunt Sally was there and it was really Aunt Sally
that gave the information. Giving Uncle Joe as the Source tells me what
_your_ source was. Indicating that he said he obtained it from Aunt
Elizabeth also tells me something. And the date of the interview compared
to his age will tell me that the information as well as the identification
of his source is possibly suspect.

One the other hand, if you indicate the source is Aunt Elizabeth via Uncle
Joe, I am unsure what this means. Did you ask Uncle Joe and he then asked
Aunt Elizabeth, did he say that Aunt Elizabeth told him the information
earlier, or did Aunt Elizabeth send the information in a letter to Uncle
Joe to pass on to you?

Naturally, there are other possibilities -- either way! ...




----------
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)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TMG-L The Internet Mailing List for The Master Genealogist
To unsubscribe: Send an e-mail to with 'UNSUBSCRIBE TMG-L'
or... if you get the digest version: 'UNSUBSCRIBE TMG-L-DIGEST'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This thread: