Sweden Citing Sources

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Citing Sources for Swedish Church Records
Documentation or citing of sources is imperative in Family History work. Citing a source puts credibility to research and is an aid to research. When doing research all information needs to be carefully documented and the source recorded. Some sources are primary sources and others are secondary. When evaluating information it is necessary to know the source especially where there is a conflict of information. Someone’s memory of when a birth took place could be helpful but a birth certificate would usually be conclusive. All bits and pieces of information need to be collected, evaluated, and documented by citing each source to create an accurate picture. Citing the source is a benefit to the researcher in the event that the researcher wants to see the source again. It gives a record of where information was found and proof of information to others when information is shared.

How to cite sources for Swedish Church Records
There are some good books written in great detail on how to cite sources, but basically when citing a source, you want to record all the information necessary so that anyone desiring to see the same document can do so easily. There are many ways to view Church Records for Sweden – the originals kept at the provincial archives, microfilm at the Family History Library or Family History Centers, and scanned images through subscription websites such as Genline (http://genline.com/ ), Svar (http://www.svar.ra.se/ ), and Arkivdigital (http://www.arkivdigital.se/ ). Each has their own system of numbering but there is one common element included in each system. That is the use of the “Church Archive Cataloging Plan” (Kyrkoarkiv:Förteckningsplan). It is good to include this in citing a source as it makes it easy to go from one source of church records to another.

“Church Archive Cataloging Plan” (Kyrkoarkiv:Förteckningsplan).
In the late 1800’s the Provincial Archives (Landsarkiven) were given the responsibility to collect and preserve the church records that were more than 100 years old from each parish within its region. All the church records were cataloged using the same plan for the entire country. Each type of book was given a letter code and then a volume number. The main categories of books with their letters are: AI = clerical surveys B = removal records C = Birth and baptism records E = banns and marriage records F = death and burial records

For a complete listing of all codes see Church Archive Cataloging Plan

A good way to cite a Swedish church record is to record the following:


 * The name of parish:
 * Letter code for type of book:
 * Volume number.

For example if you want to record a citation for a household examination record volume 18 of Lungsund parish, it would be Lungsund:AI:18. The page number could be added to the citation making it Lungsund:AI:18:p. 194.

If the information came from microfilm from the Family History Library, the microfilm number could also be recorded along with type of record and years covered in the volume. This could appear as follows: Lungsund:AI:18:p.194 FHL Film # 0,082,175 Household Examinations 1851-1855.

If the information came from Genline then the Genline GID number could be included. This source would appear as Lungsund:AI:18:p.194 Genline GID # 504.33.13400.

If using another online method of viewing the Swedish Church records, then their identification system should be used. In this way, any person desiring to see a particular document could view the document that has been cited no matter what system the person is using to view the Swedish church records.

More Reading:
Lackey, Richard S., Cite Your Sources. A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records. University Press of Mississippi. 1980. ISBN 0-87805-286-0. Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore. 1997. ISBN 0-8063-1543-1

References:
Thorsell, Elisabeth. Cite Your Sources – Some Thoughts. The Swedish American Genealogist. September 2004. Vol. XXIV:3. Johansson, Carl-Erik. Cradled in Sweden. The Everton Publishers, Inc. Logan, Utah. 1995.