Reference Tools and Types of Sources - International Institute

Knowing Your Sources
How often have we seen someone rush into the genealogical source material, struggle and then perhaps give up, when by using some common and readily available reference material the problem could be solved? Val Greenwood, in his classic Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, sums it up in this phrase. “One of the main differences between a good researcher and a poor one is his knowledge of, and ability to correctly use, critical reference works.”

For productive research one should first thoroughly familiarize oneself with these different kinds of reference materials which can be grouped into two main kinds, those providing background information, and finding aids.

Background Information
These are the tools that one needs to learn how to use before accessing the records themselves. They help you to understand why records were kept, how they were organized and how to access them efficiently.

Geographical Tools
Atlases, maps, gazetteers, older city and county directories and modern postal directories. Specialized local sources such as local histories and books showing place name changes and boundary changes are also very useful.

When beginning a search you need to know a place to start in. For ecclesiastical records you need to find out if it is a parish, and if not, what parish it is in by means of a gazetteer. This will lead you to the appropriate parish records of various kinds. Next you need to know which civil jurisdictions this place belonged to, for example which Registration District, Probate Jurisdiction, Census District, Poor Law Union, Township, Townland, etc. so that all relevant records may be accessed.

Historical Tools
History books, both national and local, and historical encyclopaedias and dictionaries.

Methodology Tools
Texts, handbooks and manuals of general genealogy and family history as well as on specialized topics such as national, ethnic, religious and occupational sources. Language dictionaries and Family History Society journals are also valuable.

Family Tools
These include research directories for current research, family histories, pedigrees, biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias, biographies, ethnic background, surname origins and distribution, One-Name Studies and Family History Society journals. Many of these reference sources contain information from more than one of the above categories and it is wise to know what you are looking for and to assess what types of information are contained in the tool you are looking at.

Finding Aids
Finding aids show you where specific information can be found. They include bibliographies, directories of newspapers and periodicals, archives holdings lists, library catalogues, lists of societies and their holdings, telephone and city directories and lists of sources for an area, religion, or occupation.

Indexes are great finding aids and it is wise to know how to find and use indexes to periodicals, (such as PERSI), biographies, published family histories and pedigrees, current researchers, passenger lists, and so many more. Indexes to original sources are becoming increasingly available and many of us participate in creating them for the good of the community. An index does not substitute for the original source but acts as a finding aid, saving valuable time and effort. You cannot create a proven pedigree from an index. When you use one you need to understand why it was made, what it contains, and what wasnot included. Good indexes always have instructions or explanatory prefaces giving this information. Good researchers always read them!

Genealogical Sources
A Source is the means by which we discover and receive information (data).

Nowadays we differentiate between original sources and derivative sources. Each of these can contain both primary and secondary information.

Original Sources
An original source is the first recording of an event whether oral, written, artefact-based or image-based, such as a parish register, an illustration, or a microform, photocopy or photograph of these, or an oral source.

One source can provide several pieces, and different types, of information. Facsimile microforms, photographs, photocopies or reliable, unaltered digital reproductions are considered equivalent to an original source.

Original sources are more likely to be accurate than any subsequent derivations and are therefore the preferred types of sources for genealogical research.

However, it is often the case that a derivative source is more available to the researcher than an original one. This allows the researcher to perhaps access it sooner and probably more quickly, but it does not excuse her from eventually searching and viewing the original.

Derivative Sources
Derivative sources include any that are not original. All derivative sources are less acceptable because errors could have occurred in their production.

Derivative sources include the following:


 * Transcripts These can be made at different times by different people for different purposes and using different technologies. There may be several transcripts of the material you wish to search and undoubtedly some will be more accurate than others, some more detailed than others (and sometimes more detailed than the original!) When two separate transcripts agree with each other it increases their reliability.


 * Translations One of the commonest examples is translation of early Latin documents into the modern language of the country to which they refer. The researcher is wise to examine these carefully as not all translators are of similar expertise. Indeed not all ancient scribes were equally capable of rendering their parishioners’ names and circumstances into correct Latin either, so care has to be exercised on both counts.


 * Abstracts These are summaries of the contents of a document for a particular purpose. Not all were done with genealogists in mind, but many were.


 * Extracts Extracts are selected portions of an original record, perhaps only those referring to one surname, or one town. They may or may not be abbreviated.


 * Indexes These are a special kind of derivative source that should not be quoted as a ‘source’ but used only as a finding aid for one. They may be produced by hand, typewriter or computer, and may be the work of one person who never bothered with proofreading all the way to a professional-level triple-checked process. Some index compilers were a bit shaky on their alphabet, others used phonetic spelling or had trouble with ancient or illegible handwriting. Indexes take many forms from the contemporary margin type, annual calendar, slip and card indexes, book(let)s, fiches, CDs, or online forms. With modern technology many indexes can be manipulated to sort by different parameters, or searched for specific terms. Some indexes come with the original source, others separately, whilst some may be held by persons who do look-ups, perhaps charging a fee.


 * Compiled Records Compilations are collections of information drawn from different sources. They may be a rearrangement of original material and/or they may contain the compiler’s conclusions or synthesis of genealogical problems. All genealogies, family histories, local histories, books and websites fall into this category. They are the work product of a third party and not a first-created contemporary record or document.


 * Primary Information This is information reported at the time, or very soon after, by someone who was there. It is a contemporary, eye-witness account, and is usually more reliable than secondary information.


 * Secondary Information Any information provided later, or by someone who wasn’t actually there, is classed as secondary. It is generally less reliable than primary information.

There is no strict dividing line between the two, and it should be appreciated that one record can contain both primary and secondary information. The techniques involved in evaluating genealogical sources (original and derivative sources) as well as primary and secondary information. are discussed extensively in the International Institute of Genealogical Studies course Methodology-Part 5: How To Prove It, and in the book Genealogical Standards of Evidence: A Guide for Family Historians by Brenda Dougall Merriman.

Using Family Sources
Family sources, whether oral, written, visual or archaeological, are the first ones we are urged to search for. They may not always be close at hand, but they are more or less guaranteed to be our family, and whereas archives will be around forever, our aunts and grandpas won’t be.

Descendants who haven’t caught the genealogy bug have an annoying habit of throwing away items that they view as ‘old junk’. It cannot be stressed strongly enough how worthwhile it is to chase up all relatives and ask for facts, documents, photos, and memorabilia. It will be likely that these things are definitely from your family. But be especially careful of the identification of photos—some may be friends, music hall stars or Royal Family—collecting their photographs on cartes de visites was very popular.

Find the 2nd, 3rd , 4th, cousins who may have been given the family bible or photograph album to take to Australia or North America when they emigrated. They may also have letters written by your ancestors, and what treasure troves they can be.

Most oral family information is derivative; exceptions would be the first telling of an event the teller took part in or witnessed, soon after it happened. Family stories and tales that have passed through several generations are prone to exaggeration in some instances, or to the omission of certain details when social stigmas were attached. Family sources such as photos, artefacts, letters, diaries and other documents are original sources.

Main Original Sources
The Five Main Original Sources of Genealogical Information

•North Americans are cautioned against the use of the term Vital Statistics in Britain, where it has a completely different meaning relating to a lady’s figure!

The first three concern the whole population and that is why they are so important. Indexes exist for all on the list. When we look closely at the list of five main original records we see that the first two of them disappear as we proceed back through the 19th century. Of the remaining three which have the potential to take us back several more centuries, probates apply to a only a very small portion of the population in early times, but to the majority in more recent times, of course. Land records do not apply to everyone either, but to a far greater percentage of the population in North America than in Europe.

Errors can occur in any source, although they are far less likely in legal ones like probate and land records. It is strange that of the five main sources the two most reliable ones are those least used by genealogists! They should be better utilized.

Prior to the mid-19th century there is only one major source that concerns everyone—the parish registers. In order to be able to access these we must use family information, civil registration and census with maximum diligence and efficiency to ascertain our ancestors’ parishes in the early 19th century. This leads, then, to our overall strategy for utilizing the main original sources.

There are, of course, many other original sources as well as hundreds of derivative ones. In most cases they relate to only a certain section of the population, such as apprentices, sailors, taxpayers, or those appearing in court records or newspapers, but they can all provide valuable corroborating evidence for constructing a pedigree and in building up a picture of your ancestors’ lives.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online courses offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about these courses or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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