Friday, December 13, 2013

A Source Citation for Anna's Death Record in Voss, Norway

When I wrote Finding Norwegian Church Parish Records in DigitalArkivet Website yesterday, it bothered me that I wasn't able to craft a source citation for this record immediately.  I knew that I should do it immediately, and that I needed to use an Evidence Explained derived source template in my genealogy software.  

My first concern was "Should I use the English or Norwegian language version of the website?"  I realized that it was the same website, and that Google was translating it for me - there is no English language webpage on the site.  Then my question was, "Should I use English in the source citation, or Norwegian?"  I decided to use English for everything except for the website name and the record book name.

Here is the screen from the "Church Records (online image copies)" source template in RootsMagic 6:




I filled in the form fields with the information that I thought was pertinent.  The goal for every source citation is to provide enough information that another researcher can find the record, and to enable other researchers to assess the quality of the source.  In this case, I entered record book identification, the record type, page and record number, and the person's name and farm name.

The resulting source citation for Anna Sjursdtr's death record is:

Footnote:
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway), Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle; digital images, Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read : accessed 12 December 2013).

Short Footnote: 
Voss, Hordaland, Norway, Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle.

Bibliography: 
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway). Ministerialbok, 1709-1926. Digital images. Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read : 2013. 

Because the RootsMagic 6 source citations crafted using these source templates do not transfer well via GEDCOM into other software programs or online family trees, I usually modify the source citation a bit and make a "Free-form" source citation.  For this source citation: in Footnote format:

Footnote:
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway), digital images, Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read)Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle (accessed 12 December 2013).

The only change is the order of the information.  The first part is the "Source" (through "12 December 2013") and the second part is the "Citation Detail" (from "Voss:" through "Gjelle").  Nothing has been lost in the change.

I hope the genealogy source citation minders don't mind...but that will ensure that my source citations will transfer well when I put the database through the GEDCOM mill.

I added the record image URL to a Webtag for Anna Sjursdatter in RootsMagic 6:  http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070524640423.jpg.  I also attached the record image to Anna Sjursdatter and tagged it to her death and burial record.

I wonder what the source citations created in templates in Family Tree Maker 2014 and Legacy Family Tree 8 look like?  Maybe I'll check that out also.

It would be interesting to see how a researcher in Norway would cite this record.  Any takers?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/a-source-citation-for-annas-death-in.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

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