Genealogy Citations for Internet Sources
One important thing I learned at the Genealogy Conference last week was that "genealogy without sources equals junk." This little phrase was in the syllabus for a lecture titled, How Do I Start? What I Wish I had Known Thirty Years Ago. The lecture was taught by Frederick E. Moss, adviser to the FGS Board of Directors, and member of the Genealogical Standards Committee of NGS. His six points for the importance of citing sources were the following:
1. Each source from which information is obtained should be listed
2. Sources may provide a lead for you to check for additional information
3. Allows others to check for more information
4. Gives authenticity to your work
5. ID Source/blame for errors
6. Genealogy without sources = JUNK
I haven't always been very diligent in citing my sources, but after it was mentioned by a lot of other teachers as well, I decided it really did make more sense and would give my work more credibility. Unfortunately, when I came home and decided to start marking down some of my sources, I wasn't really sure how the citations should look.
Luckily I found this helpful website, ProGenealogists, that contains a full list of common citations needed for Internet and Electronic Sources. It includes copyable citations for Census Images found online, FamilySearch information, Ancestry World Tree, Ellis Island Passenger Records, the Social Security Death Index, and things found with the Google Search Engine. They also have a guide to other Internet Citations not found on the common citations list.
And if you want a more in-depth approach to citations, some of the lecturers at the conference recommended the book, Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian, written by Elizabeth Shown Mills.