Course: 2025-04 – Inclusive Genealogy: Navigating Complex Family Trees

Coordinator: Carly Morgan, JD

Description:

Documentation lies at the heart of respectable genealogy. Without clear and complete citations to supporting sources, no family compilation or report can be credible. Therefore, all serious genealogists document their work. Students taking this course will learn how to understand their sources well enough to describe them. Then they will learn how to apply that knowledge to crafting citations. This hands-on course will help students understand how to create conventional citations with artistry, clarity, completeness, conciseness, and competence. Besides eighteen classes (four time periods each day, Monday through Thursday, and two on Friday morning separated by morning and afternoon breaks and lunch), the course includes four homework assignments, which will assigned after the last class, the first four evenings, and debriefed before the first class the last four mornings.

Other Instructors: None

Student Prerequisites:

  • Read Genealogy Standards, numbers 1–8 (pages 5–9).
  • Read Mastering Genealogical Proof, chapter 4 (pages 33–45).
  • Read Evidence Explained, chapters 1 and 2.
  • Identify a specific source that you would like to learn how to cite.
  • Come to class with questions about genealogical documentation.

Recommendations:

Genealogy Standards (required) The Chicago Manual of Style (recommended) Evidence Explained (recommended) Mastering Genealogical Documentation (recommended)

All times are listed in Eastern Time.
• Refer to your student’s Dropbox for the full schedule, including breaks. (Provided one week prior to the start of the course)
• Live sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.

Day Session Title Description Instructor
INTRO

10:00-10:30 AM

Class Intro Take this opportunity to connect with your peers and gain insights into what exciting adventures await you this week.
Mon 1

10:30 – 11:45 AM

The Flexible Nature of Genealogical Documentation Students will learn citation basics, including reasons to document, desirable qualities to show, aspects of “right” and “wrong” documentation, the importance of flexibility, the limitations of creativity, and cautions for using citation software. Jones
2

11:45 – 1:15 PM

Noncitation Aspects of Documenting Students will learn what to document and what not to document, when and where to document, and how to use reference notes and their numbers. Jones
3

2:15 – 3:30 PM

 Citation Contexts, Forms, and Shortcuts Students will learn to differentiate three citation contexts—reference notes, source labels, and reference lists—and the appropriate format for each. They also will learn how to create shortened reference-note citations and to use other citation shortcuts. Jones
4

3:45 – 5:00 PM

Assembling Citation Components Students will learn the first steps of creating citations and what to exclude from citations. They also will learn about the five citation components—answers to Who, What, When, Whereis, and Wherein questions about a source—and how to sequence those components in citations. Jones
Extra

5:00 – 5:30 PM

Enhancement Session Review of day assignments and coursework
Tue Extra

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Homework Review Students review coursework with the instructor and participants.
5

10:30 -11:45 AM

Applying “Spit and Polish” Students will learn how to use capitalization and punctuation in polished citations. Jones
6

12:00 – 1:15 PM

Determining and Citing a Source’s Publication Status Students will learn how to determine whether a source is published or unpublished, citation implications that those distinctions imply, and how those distinctions apply to online images Jones
7

2:15 – 3:30 PM

Answering the What Citation Question Students will learn options for citing titles and subtitles of all kinds of publications and unpublished sources and titles of parts of publications and unpublished sources, regardless of whether those titles are in English or another language. They also will learn options for describing sources instead of citing titles or for citing both title and description. They also will learn how to cite different versions of sources with the same title and how to cite facsimile images made from sources. Jones
8

3:45 – 5:00 PM

Answering the Who Citation Question Students will learn citation guidelines for citing private individuals, organizations (including businesses, governments, religious organizations, and societies), and multiple people as creators of published and unpublished sources. Jones
Extra

5:00 – 5:30 PM

Enhancement Session Review of day assignments and coursework
Wed Extra

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Homework Review Students review coursework with the instructor and participants.
9

10:30 – 11:45 AM

Answering the When Citation Question Students will learn about date forms for citing various kinds of publications, issues in determining dates of publications and unpublished sources, and how to interpret and cite colonial dual dates. Jones
10

12:00 – 1:15 PM

 

Groups and Subgroups of Offline Sources Students will learn how to cite publications and unpublished sources with nested levels. These include publications in series, various kinds of multi-volume sets, serial publications, and archival materials nested in named or numbered collections, series, record groups, and the like. They will also learn to distinguish pages from folios and apply the distinction to citing them. Jones
11

2:15 – 3:30 PM

Online Options for Answering Wherein and Whereis Students will learn the pros and cons of six options, including waypoints, for citing the location of information within a source. They also will learn to distinguish source repositories from source creators and to cite them accordingly. Jones
12

3:45 – 5:00 PM

 Offline Publisher and Repository Issues Students will learn how to address issues in identifying and citing offline publishers and source repositories. Subtopics include unknown repositories, closed record sets, and source provenance. Jones
Extra

5:00 – 5:30 PM

Enhancement Session Review of day assignments and coursework
Thu Extra

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Homework Review Students review coursework with the instructor and participants.
13

10:30 – 11:45 AM

Citing Original Online Information Students will learn how to cite information that exists only online, including Find A Grave memorials. Jones
14

12:00 – 1:15 PM

Citing Facsimiles of Previously Published Pages Students will learn the pros and cons of five options for citing online facsimiles of sources that appeared previously in print publications, like city directories, family histories, history books, magazines, newspapers, and research journals. Jones
15

2:15 – 3:30 PM

Citing Facsimiles of Previously Unpublished Pages Students will learn the pros and cons of four options for citing images of material that was unpublished before someone published facsimile images of the material online or elsewhere. Jones
16

3:45 – 5:00 PM

 

Multipart Options for Citing Facsimiles Students will learn the four permutations of imaged forms of sources and the underlying material. They will also learn about four citations, “architectures” or structures, which apply to each permutation. They then will apply their knowledge of source-image permutations and citation architectures to choose among five citation formats for citing material representing each of the four source-image permutations. Jones
Extra

5:00 – 5:30 PM

Enhancement Session Review of day assignments and coursework
Fri Extra

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Homework Review
17

10:30 – 11:45 AM

Citing Grammaw’s Dish Towel Students will draw from their learning from the course’s previous topics and cite sources for which no model exists. They also will combine what they have learned into a ten-step paradigm for citing genealogical sources. Jones
18

12:00 – 1:15 PM

Further Learning Students will learn ways outside an instructional environment to increase their mastery of genealogical documentation. Jones