Documentation of Family History:
Full documentation of a Family History record is essential to establishing the quality and reliability of the file information. Source citations refer researchers to a specific record, and also note factors that researchers less experienced with the file content may otherwise not be aware of.
We selected TMG, The Master Genealogist program, as the repository for the Goodrich Family Association records partly because the program strongly encourages that we document source citations, and document well, thus assuring our master files are quality work.
Our goal is to be the standard for Goodrich Family information.
But we need everyone’s assistance.What you can do to contribute to your own and our Goodrich Family Association quality of evidence standard is to reference pertinent detail about the specific records in any information you send to us.
Start with the basic what, who and where:
What (title information) - book, Bible record, document, census, oral interview, CD
Who – editor, writer, compiler, person spoken with
Where – book publisher, CD creator, place oral interview was held
Page number in book
Page or line number of census
Item number in a list
Place where the record can be found
Finally, attach the complete source citation to each item of information collected from it.
If you would like to read more on this subject, I highly recommend that you obtain a copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills book:
"Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace"
When you fully document your record, you help to establish the evidence from which other researchers validate the quality of your own work as well as our Goodrich Family Association master files. Thank you.
-Delores Goodrick Beggs
President and Genealogist/Historian
Goodrich Family Association
-Matthew Goodrich
Vice-President, Database Compiler and Webmaster
Goodrich Family Association