Online Family Tree
Documenting Your
Research
Genealogy is a methodical study that seeks to document lines of descent of a family or families. In most cases you use written and recorded records. In other cases, you may use word of mouth such as family traditions and stories. But what is most important is that you document your research and resources so that someone else can easily retrace your path.
Ultimately, what you want to do is produce a traceable record of what materials and sources you used, where they were obtained, the repositories where materials are stored, and any other supporting or corroborating materials you used. When you properly document your sources, you provide an easy path for yourself or other researchers to locate the information.
The Online Family Tree lets you add sources to most of the events you record for your family. When you add a source, you are actually describing where you got the information listed in the event. In addition to the basic information such as title, author, etc., you can fill out information on a citation within a source such as a page of a book or a frame of a microfilm. You may also fill out information on where the source is currently located (repository information).
Material taken in part from George Morgan's "Along Those Lines..." online column, February 27th, 1998.