WeRelate Help Pages

2017 Note: This page is part of a 2011 project which is no longer active. See Help:Source pages for further information or to post questions about content on this page.

Sources

Source rules

1. No trees or personal tree websites.
2. Multiple volumes/reprints/different media are one source.
3. Transcriptions intended to only contain the original source's content do not get separate source pages.
4. When an article (v. a periodical) gets its own source page
5. Collections/databases are sources. (Texas births example.) They have one or more repositories, such as Ancestry.com, Fami lySearch, X state website, etc. There are multiple source pages if different books/websites/institutions have collected different parts of the records and published them differently. There is one source page if everyone uses the same dataset (like the SSDI).
6. Books (or anything else) that are published as books, CD's, and online have only one source page.

Source rules conflicts

1. Enter author given name as printed in book from Help:Source page titles1.1.2 Adding a first name to an author previously noted by initials from Source Page Review Guide3.2

Former is typically the standard; was discussed and agreed during source page renaming project.

Source Examples

Books

• Barbour Collection, Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England = multi-volume sets that get one Source Page. Cite the volume used in the citation detail.
• Salem Vital Records to the End of the Year 1849 - one source page for all volumes, reprints, and transcriptions
• Magna Carta Sureties, 4th edition v. the 5th edition = different Source Pages because the editions are revised.

Websites

• Ancestry's card catalog, FamilySearch collections, Google Books, archive.org, state websites posting death certificate = large institutional websites posting collections/databases of records or publications => these are generally repositories. The individual collections/books/etc. are the sources (even if they are unique to that site, such as Ancestry's compilations).
• WorldConnect, other tree submission sites, message boards => Each general website (i.e. WorldConnect) should have its own Source Page. Do not create source pages for individual trees/submissions/databases. Cite the general page and put the specific link in the detail field.
• Personal family tree websites = > cite as MySources or just cite without a link. Not Source Pages for the reasons above.
• GenWeb archives, Massachusetts Vital Records Project = sites posting transcriptions => These are generally repositories. Use transcription rule, which nearly always will mean using the Source Page for the underlying publication. If the transcription does not come from a publication (such as a cemetery transcription) add it as a source page only if it concerns a significant number of people. Otherwise use a MySource or simply site the webpage with a non-linked description and a link to the page.
• Mayflowerhistory.com = high quality research of interest to many people that is not published elsewhere => qualifies to get its own Source Page

Current Source Help Pages

• Help:Source pages 5 printed pages
• Help:Source page titles 7 printed pages - this is the most comprehensive and correct list of rules, mostly on naming, but touches on a lot of issues about what a source page is (and the talk page shows our tortured work). I think for that reason any rules here should be the default unless we know the admins have since changed things.
• Help:Research tutorial Lesson Four 2 printed pages
• WeRelate:Source renaming project 7 printed pages - a lot of this is either discussion of evolving rules or out of date
• Source Page Review Guide 7 printed pages - a single user's perspective, although comprehensively done
• Portal:Source|Source Portal
• WeRelate:About source pages 1 printed page - a good place for the one-pager? Existing content is pretty vague and not very useful.
• Help:Source Page Title Examples 4 printed pages

Source help revision items

• Emphasis on Source Portal or Help pages
• Need to have a quicksheet for sources preferably one page but no more than two.
• Remove references to old style new style
• Comprehensive list of the rules at the top of this page ("What is a Source?")