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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 3: Adding Master Text, Detail Text, Quality and Repository Information

Researchers new to RootsMagic 7 may have challenges learning how to enter source citations into RootsMagic, so I thought I would show how I enter a new source and then create a citation, with the Evidence Explained source templates, and with a free-form template (in a later post in this series).

I have a photocopy of pages from this published book in my Adams notebook:


J. Gardner Bartlett, Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England and Braintree, Mass.; His English Ancestry and some of His Descendants (New York City : privately printed, 1927).  

I obtained the pages at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in 2010, and also found that it has been digitized in FamilySearch Books.

Note that this "Master Source" is a different work than the first two posts in this series.  I am using it because it has more information about the Henry Adams family that suit my purposes for this blog series.  I probably should have used it initially.

Previous posts in this series include:

*  Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 1: New Master Source (posted 12 January 2016).

*  Creating Source Citations in RootsMagic 7 - Post 2: Adding Source Details to the Master Source (posted 13 January 2016).

In the first two posts, I created a new "Master Source" and a "Source Detail" using the RootsMagic source templates.

In this post, I will demonstrate how to add additional information about a specific master source and source detail that completes the source citation information.

1)  I added a Probate event for Henry Adams in RootsMagic 7, using the date and place that his will was proved, clicked on the "Source" button on the "Edit Person" screen, and then selected the appropriate Master Source.  The Master Source was created earlier using a "Free-form" source template.  Here is the "Citation Manager" screen for the Master Source (highlighted) before I entered a Source Detail:




2)  In order to add the "Source Detail," I clicked on the "Edit" button on the screen above, and added a Source Detail for the probate record in the book.  Here is the "Edit source" screen after I added the Source Detail:



There are six tabs on the line below the words "Edit Source" on the screen.  They are:

*  Citation (the screen above)
*  Master text
*  Detail text
*  Media
*  Quality
*  Repository

All of these items can be input if the user desires, to provide a complete description of the source and citation.

3)  Here is the "Master Text" screen - it has two parts, the "Source Text" and the "Source Comments."


I copied the description of the Master Source from the FamilySearch Library Catalog into the "Source Text" field.  I entered my research Log entry for the book into the "Source Comments."

4)  The "Detail text" tab also has two sections - the "Research Notes" and the "Comments."


I transcribed the probate information from the book into the "Research Notes" and left the "Comments" blank.  If it was from a web page, I could have added a "Web Tag" using the button below the line with the green background.

All "Research Notes" from source citations will go into the "Research Notes" in the "Reports > Research Reports menu item.

5)  I'm going to skip the "Media" tab.  I usually add Media to the person and then tag the Event with it.  When I do this, the Media thumbnail does not appear in the "Media" tab in the "Edit Sources" screen.

6)  The "Quality" tab provides a screen to define the Source, Information and Evidence quality of the specific work and citation.  The quality measures are the ones pre-dating 2013, and need to be updated to the latest definition from Mastering Genealogy Proof and the latest edition of Evidence Explained.


7)  Clicking the "Repository" tab on the "Edit Source" screen opens a list of repositories and the user can select one from a list or create a new Repository using the "Select address from list" button (on the right of the screen).  If you want to add a new Repository, then click on the "Select address from list" button and then the "Add" button and create a new Repository.

I already had the Family History Library as a source, so I selected that from the list.


8)  I am done with my "Edit Source" screens, so I clicked on the "OK" button on the screen above.

The "Probate sources for Henry Adams" screen opened, and I expanded the margins a bit so I could see all of the entries resulting from the inputed information above:

.  
9)  Now I'm done with this particular source citation for the Probate record for Henry Adams found in a published book about Henry Adams of Somersetshire and Braintree.

10)  In the next blog post in this series, I will create a source citation for this same record, but using another source template that covers online access of this book.  

Some comments on the earlier blog posts, and to my email, have requested examples for other offline or online resources.  I will address those requests over time in subsequent posts, but I want to get through the basics of source templates first.


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/creating-source-citations-in-rootsmagic_14.html

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


5 comments:

  1. Thanks Randy for creating these tutorials! I'm trying to update my sources after transferring from Master Genealogist. I've discovered that I had info in what TMG called a citation detail field but don't know how/where to put it in RootsMagic. In TMG, I tried to include where I had the document filed. I tried putting that in RootsMagic as a call number but discovered that since I am 'lumping' that doesn't work. Any suggestions on how to incorporate this information?

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  2. Randy - I really appreciate your posting these tutorials. I'm doing an genealogy "Go-Over" (not a do-over)and my database is very much deficient in good source information. I can't wait for more articles in the series, especialy the one on creating a free-form source.

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  3. Randy, thanks for these tutorials. I am cleaning up my sourcing in FTMM3 and will be moving to RM this year. This is very helpful.

    I'd like to suggest a similar example with the U.S. Census, using "lumping", and how you complete the source details.

    Thanks

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  4. This is such a great series! I use RootsMagic as well and it's always nice to see that someone else does what you do as well. I do have a different naming pattern than you for my sources (I keep a style guide document so that I stay consistent), but that's to be expected. I look forward to reading more in this series :)

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  5. Thank you so much for these posts! I am new to RootsMagic (I formerly use FTM) and learning how to properly document my sources has been challenging!

    I do have one question about the case when I have one Master source, like a census record, that would support multiple facts. I understand that I cite the census as the Master Source for each fact, but is there a way to replicate the source details for multiple facts as well?

    I've been citing the census record as the master source, and adding the individual record location details, like the page number, microfilm roll number, in the source details for each fact. But if I have a whole family listed on the census record, and they all have multiple individual facts that need citations (such as birth year, occupation, birthplace, etc) - I have to enter the source details over again for each fact. Is there a way to copy the citation with source details from person to person? Or is there a better way to handle those situations?

    Thanks so much - I enjoy your musings a lot!

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