Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian

Great, very useful, one of a kind. I recommend it. It's worth the small dollar amount.

In the olden days of genealogy research we just jotted down names and dates. Now we know we must provide footnotes to the documents we've reviewed to arrive at our lineage assumptions. Assumptions they are, because they are based on the "evidence" at hand!! Elizabeth Shown Mills details sound guidelines to follow in her discussion of evidence!For beginners - to get off on the right foot! For advanced - to verify your citations are as definitive as possible!"Research, evidence, citation, and analysis are inseparable. Evidence is the vehicle that moves our research from curiosity to reality. Citation and analysis are the twin highways that get us there, smoothly and safely.Evidence! tries to strip away much of the confusion that researchers experience in this adventure. It offers a road map for beginners, who hope to avoid mistakes, and guideposts for the advanced, who already appreciate the need to map their own course precisely." (Genelaogical Publishing Company.)Elizabeth Shown Mills is a well-regarded, nationally ranked genealogy lecturer and author. Applying the principles discussed in this book is like having Mrs. Mills' critical evaluation of your genealogical research to date. What you'll learn from this book will undoubtedly shape your research strategies in the future!DearMYRTLE

Excellent in helping record resources for research.

A very handy and informative guide for these necessary citation tasks, but I felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information, and feel that the book is a bit hard to use when looking for a particular answer to a citation question. I felt frustrated trying to find how to do a particular citation because the index did not differentiate the various subclasses of citations within a given class very well.

This work is now a standard reference for genealogists and for good reason. It provides up-to-date citation standards for any genealogist from amateur to professional. Family history that lacks proper sources and citations is not worth much. If we would stop for a moment in our internet frenzy of finding more and more information, faster and faster and just take the time for good sourcing, our final product would be worthwhile and credible. This is one book, along with dictionary and thesaurus and Bible that I go back to again and again. If you are a family historian, you should have it on your bookshelf also--within arm's reach.

Without proof of some kind, a family tree is just hear-say. Don't frustrate your descendants! After doing the research and finding out some very interesting facts about your ancestors, make sure you cite your sources so they know there is proof. This will save everyone from having to reinvent the wheel over and over. Try to make copies of the documents also. So many things can happen - courthouse fires, flooded basements, silverfish snacking on papers on a back shelf - save your history and make your descendants glad you were their ancestor. This book is great for anyone serious about their genealogy.

Few of us, as amateurs, will achieve or aspire to the level of quality of evidence that this professional says should apply to judgments about information for genealogy. Nevertheless, the author presents many cautions, suggestions, and guidelines for writing down citations for future use by ourselves and any readers we may have. I was looking for a slender book with such guidelines, and this is it. I glanced at the author's larger and newer book in a library, but it is better suited for true historical researchers.

Informational!