The Naked Truth About Citations: Stripped Bare Guide to Citing and Using History Sources
The Naked Truth About Citations: The rain hammered the windows like accusations. I’d seen it a hundred times before: walk into a room full of private eyes working the family history beat, drop the word “citation” and watch them scatter like rats from a searchlight. Half of them hit the floor. The other half break out in a cold sweat that has nothing to do with the weather. I get it, see? We’re in this racket for the big moments: The dusty evidence rooms they call archives, the census records that crack a case wide open, and those beautiful “aha!” moments when a brick wall finally crumbles under the weight of the truth. Nobody signed up to spend three hours in the file room formatting a footnote that’d make a law clerk weep.
But here is the “naked truth” about genealogy:
Research without a citation isn’t genealogy; it’s just a collection of stories.
If you can’t prove where you found that 1840 birth record, or if you can’t lead another researcher back to that exact same digital image on a microfilm of an original ledger, your hard work might as well be written in sand. This is why I am a fierce advocate for the work of Elizabeth Shown Mills. She didn’t just write the book on citations; she defined the standard that keeps our family histories from being dismissed as fiction.
The Gold Standard: Evidence Explained
When it comes to working a case in the family history racket, there is one handbook every private eye needs on their desk: Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace.
This isn’t just some cheat sheet you pick up at the corner newsstand. Elizabeth Shown Mills teaches you how to think like a detective working the evidence. In this digital age where we’re clicking through millions of digitized case files on Ancestry and FamilySearch, it’s easy to get sloppy. Some saps think a URL is documentation. (Here’s a news flash, junior: It isn’t.) Evidence Explained helps you navigate the murky territory between “derivative and “original” sources. It makes sure your investigation can stand up in court when the heat’s on.
This isn’t just a book of templates. Elizabeth Shown Mills teaches us how to think about our sources. In an age where we are clicking through millions of digitized records on Ancestry and FamilySearch, it’s easy to get lazy. We think a URL is a citation. (Spoiler alert: It’s not!) Evidence Explained helps you navigate the complex world of “derivative” vs. “original” sources and ensures your research stands the test of time.
For the “Stripped Bare” Essentials
I know what you’re thinking, kid. “MacLeod, I just need to know how to file a death certificate without feeling like I’m writing the definitive treatise on criminal procedure.”
I hear you loud and clear. If those 800+ pages of the main manual feel like reading the entire penal code, you need the pocket edition. The one that doesn’t skimp on the goods. The Your Stripped Bare Guide to Citing & Using History Sources is your ultimate cheat sheet. It strips away the fancy talk and gives you the core principles of the Mills method. The real McCoy. Perfect for keeping next to your computer during those late-night stakeouts in the record room.
Why Your Genealogy Society Members Need to “Keep Calm”
I’ve always said genealogy societies are the heartbeat of genealogy The underground network every genealogist needs. They provide the training, the connections, and the local expertise that no machine can replace. But even the best genealogists suffer from what I call “evidence fatigue.” The documentation starts to feel like a prison sentence.
To inject some adrenaline (and a challenge worthy of the best detectives) into your next meeting, Genealogy Bargains is offering a prize that’ll make your members sit up and take notice: 40 “Keep Calm and Cite Your Sources” pins for one lucky genealogy society. These pins are the badge of honor for any serious investigator on the case. Your society can use them as prizes for cracking tough cases, rewards for your best operatives, or even as fundraiser bait.
But here’s where it gets interesting, see? This isn’t a simple raffle where you drop your name in a hat. To win these pins for a genealogy society, you have to prove you can crack the case. We’ve partnered with Elizabeth Shown Mills herself to create a “difficult-to-document” challenge that’ll separate the real detectives from the amateurs. And the incentive? Individuals can try to solve this case and designate their favorite genealogy society to receive the prize!
The Case of the Fowl-Mouthed Fowl
Picture this: You’re a professional private eye, and a new client just walked through your door. Real classy dame, worried about her Duram line up in Michigan. You’ve been making progress, doing good work, but then you hit something that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Information about the murder of Martin Duram. The kind of case that makes your fingers shake when you try to document it. Here’s the setup:
In the quiet burg of Sand Lake, Michigan, a blood-soaked crime scene in 2015 left the cops with a dead husband, a wounded wife, and a house full of secrets darker than a moonless night. But the most chilling witness didn’t come from forensics or some hidden camera; it came from a cage in the living room. Bud, a 19-year-old African Grey parrot, started reenacting a domestic dispute straight out of a nightmare shortly after the shooting. The bird switched between voices, mimicking a high-stakes argument that ended with a scream of, “Don’t f*ing shoot!”
This feathered witness sparked a legal firestorm, forcing prosecutors to decide if a bird’s involuntary mimicry could serve as admissible evidence in the murder trial of Glenna Duram. It was a case where the “stool pigeon” was literal, and the truth was squawked from the beak of a bird that simply couldn’t forget what it saw.
The Documentation Challenge: Your job is to prove Bud actually voiced those words:
You have a photocopy of page 42 of Michigan State Police Incident Report #061-0004567-15, which contains the description of the African Grey parrot’s vocalizations at the crime scene. You found this in a box of family papers, not at the courthouse.
Create a citation that follows the ‘Privately Held Document’ format of Evidence Explained.
How to Enter the Challenge
Is your society up for the task? We are looking for the most accurate citation using the Evidence Explained style for a complex record (details below). And remember – ANYONE can enter, post your source citation, and designate a favorite genealogy society to win!
Click HERE or use the form below to enter the
Keep Calm and Cite Your Sources Giveaway
Can You Cite “The Case of the Fowl-Mouthed Fowl?”
The Goal: To move beyond “good enough” research and embrace the “Evidence Explained” way of life. By mastering the art of the citation, you aren’t just filing papers; you are preserving history.
Click HERE to Purchase Evidence Explained
Click HERE to Purchase Your Stripped Bare Guide
Check out the full contest rules and the “Difficult Record Challenge” by clicking the giveaway link. Let’s get to work and show the world that genealogists know how to cite!
The rain’s still falling outside my window. The city never sleeps, and neither does the truth. Every family’s got secrets buried in their past, and it’s our job to dig them up, document them properly, and make sure they don’t get lost again.
So grab your hat and get back to work. The cases are piling up, the evidence rooms are calling, and somewhere out there, somebody needs you to crack the code of their family history. Just remember:
Cite your sources or die trying.
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Author’s Note: I want to be transparent that this content – The Naked Truth About Citations: Stripped Bare Guide to Citing and Using History Sources – was created in part with the help of an artificial intelligence (AI) language model – Claude Sonnet 4.5. The AI assisted in generating an early draft of the content, but every paragraph was subsequently reviewed, edited, and refined by me. The final content is the result of extensive human curation and creativity. I am proud to present this work and assure readers that while AI was a tool in the process, the story, style, and substance have been carefully shaped by the author.
