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User:Magnoliasouth/Historical Records

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DISCLAIMER THIS IS NOT A PROJECT PAGE!!! This is only an example of records that do not have a proper citation template. I am trying to examine how this can be done. If you have any comments, please comment on the talk page of this user page. This is a work in progress and will probably have further examples to demonstrate the different kinds of records and databases.

Example 1

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In this example, we will use a death record of a man in Texas. This man is known to me, so no worries on privacy.

Historical archives nearly always have the same elements. The goal is to document each element. There is a database name, a database entry name, a database image with its own number (unless it's a transcript, so the format also must be recorded), a unique identifier of some sort (e.g., certificate/document numbers, record numbers, etc.) and then there is the original data. Since these are online archives, they are not the authors of the document itself, just the transcriptions or image scans. The original data is absolutely required for a citation, which includes its own author and so on. This is to try and address these problems so websites such as NARA, Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, LOC, Imperial War Museum, (UK) National Archives, etc. can be sourced properly and the way they want you to source them.

The following format is a mix of the genealogical must have for sourcing, called Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills and typical formatting so that non-genealogists can understand it better and work with the citations.

Source Template Common usage Examples
historical records {{cite historical records}}
title
{{cite historical records
 | dbowner =
 | dbentry =
 | dbtitle =
 | dbformat =
 | imgno =
 | db-sub1 = 
 | db-cert =
 | db-doc =
 | db-id =
 | dbentry-url =
 | db-url =
 | location =
 | date =
 | subscription =
 | accessed =
 | title =
 | publisher =
 | series =
 | volume =
 | edition =
 | pages =
 | language =
 | doi =
 | id =
 | isbn =
 | mr =
 | zbl =
 | jfm = }}
{{cite historical records
 | dbowner = The owner/author of the database.
 | dbentry = The record entry is a sub-title; should be in quotes, like periodicals.
 | dbtitle = The title of the database; should be in italics.
 | dbformat = Transcriptions, images of originals, etc. What format is the record?
 | imgno = The image number of the record entry. Each record has its own image and they are numbered in the images so one can flip through them, this is for all historical databases with images.
 | db-sub1 = Some archives group together other database information, so this is for that purpose. In our example, they have sorted it by county, date and a group of months.
 | db-cert = For certificate numbers, if any are present.
 | db-doc = For general document numbers, if any are present.
 | db-id = For general other special identifiers. Note that another way can be done here, | db-id-name = | PLUS | db-id = | then you can name whatever the special identifier is, then tack the identifier onto it. So in this example it would be | db-id-name = certificate number | + | db-id = 9535|
 | dbentry-url = The URL of the entry or the archived image, sometimes they are different and users can use either here. 
 | db-url = The URL for the main database.
 | location = Location of the owner/author of database.
 | date = The date the dbowner put it online, or has written it or copyrighted it.
 | subscription = Same as usual, whether a subscription is required.
 | accessed = The date accessed, in genealogy, we use dd mmm yyyy but Wikipedia prefers the full date, which is fine
 | title = More examples coming for this use. The Title may not be the same as the dbtitle.
 | publisher = More examples coming for this use. The dbowner (or website) may not work as publisher.
 | series = 
 | volume = 
 | edition = 
 | page = 
 | doi = 
 | isbn = 
 | mr = 1748380
 | zbl = 0945.14001 }}
{{cite historical records
 | dbowner = Ancestry Operations Inc.
 | dbentry = Calvin Whitfield Holden 
 | dbtitle = Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
 | dbformat =images of originals
 | imgno = 11
 | db-sub1 = Polk County, Texas, 1951, Jan-Mar
 | db-cert = 9535
 | db-doc =
 | db-id = (see above explanatory notes)
 | dbentry-url = https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2272/40394_b062379-03319?pid=21533861
 | db-url = https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2272/
 | location = Provo, Utah
 | date = 2013
 | subscription = yes
 | accessed = (wiki format)
 | title =
 | publisher =
 | series =
 | volume =
 | edition =
 | pages =
 | language =
 | url =
 | doi =
 | id =
 | isbn =
 | mr =
 | zbl =
 | jfm = }}

Should be rendered as...

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This doesn't have to be exact and the subscription can be normal wiki formatting.

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Entry for "Calvin Whitfield Holden," in Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982, image 11 of Polk County, Texas, 1951, Jan-Mar, certificate number 9535 (database online). Provo, UT: 2013. Citing Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982. Austin, Texas. Accessed December 23, 2019 (subscription required).