When I lecture about citing family history sources I am often asked, ‘how do you cite yourself or something someone told you?’
The model for citing family history sources
I teach the craft of citing family history sources using the Six Question Model. Check out pages 131-144 of my book, The Good Genealogist, for information about the model and citing sources.
I call it a model, rather than a template, because not every citation has the exact same parts in the exact same order. Instead, the questions act as a prompt and provide a general order which helps you craft a citation for family history sources.
Citing yourself in family history
You can cite work that you have previously published on a subject. The format for the citation would be the same as any other work in that format, i.e. a book or a journal article, or a website page.
However, the strength of your citation will only be as strong as the strength of the research and citations in the previous work. If your previous work did not involve a reasonably exhaustive work and provide appropriate citations to demonstrate that your conclusions were reasonable and defensible, I would not consider it appropriate to cite that earlier work. Unless your current work addresses the deficiencies.
Sometimes people ask me about citing themselves because they want to cite their knowledge of something. Knowledge is gained through events that you participate in or that impact on you, or things that you read or hear.
In my opinion, it is better to cite a documentary source created about that event, or the documentary source that you read, rather than citing your knowledge. Unless, of course, it is general knowledge, as that does not need a source citation.
The purpose of citing family history sources is to help you and others find the source again and to demonstrate that the information is reliable or the conclusions are reasonable and defensible. I do not think citing your own knowledge serves those purposes. However, you can cite your memories about an event… back to that in a moment.
Citing oral information in family history
When citing family history sources, in some situations you can cite information that is provided to you orally by another person.
The most common is where the information was obtained through oral history. Oral history has well established methodologies which include making a recording of the interview.
By citing oral history information, you provide information to help you and others find the recording. You also demonstrate that the information is an accurate representation of something said in the interview.
Format:
- Whose work is it? : Name of person interviewed
- What is it? : Means of recording (e.g. ‘digital recording’)
- Who created it? : Name of interviewer (‘interviewed by…’)
- Where and when was it created? : Place and date
- Additional details? : Where held (and identifier details such as call no. if in an archive or library).
You can also cite information that is provided to you verbally but not as part of a formal oral history. For example, a telephone call or a family chat. The format is similar.
Format:
- Whose work is it? : Name of person providing the information
- What is it? : e.g. telephone conversation
- Who created it? : not necessary, as assumed to be the author
- Where and when was it created? : ‘pers. comm.’, place and date.
Citing reminiscences in family history
Personal reminiscences can provide useful insights into events in our family history.
The citation is simply the words: Personal reminiscence of the author.
Corroborate and supplement
Information from yourself and others, while important and valuable, is insufficient on their own. This information should always be supplemented using other sources.
More information
For a comprehensive discussion about source citations, see my article Citing Family History Sources. For more articles on citing family history sources and documenting family history, go to the Document page.
Copies of The Good Genealogist can be purchased from the Society of Australian Genealogists.
Post last updated 11 June 2024
