Bread Crumbs


The childhood story of Hansel and Gretel tells the story of how two lost children were able to escape out of the woods by following the bread crumbs they had left when they first went into the forest.  The same is true for citing sources.
Leave bread crumbs.  Leave enough bread crumbs that someone else would be able to follow your trail to your documents.  Leaving a good trail is a good source citing.
Labels:  Citing sources, research

 Leaving Bread Crumbs


            In the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel a trail of bread crumbs is left to mark their descent into the forest.  Leaving a physical and tangible trail in family history work is just as important as doing the research itself.  Citing sources is similar to leaving a map to the depository of source information.  A map to the original source is useful to the finder of the information, other genealogists, and to the accountability of the overall research project.

            One important reason for citing research sources and leaving a research trail is if there is a question in your research results, there is a practicable way to compare and examine the sources of research.  Revisiting research sources is a common and important task which means that a genealogist needs to return to the original source.  Having a map to follow back to the source of information, leads you back to the point of original source. 

            At the end of a book is a list of end notes citing sources of documentations.  A research paper has footnotes containing the source of quotes and other citations.  An atlas page contains a drawing of roads, cities, and other descriptions and locations of necessary and important information.  In other words, it does not matter how the map is drawn, or how the sources are cited, what matters is that there are clear and concise instructions leading to the main source of information; thus enabling others to travel the same roads to the same source of information.
             
            Source citation is just about as important as research itself!  Hansel and Gretel, left bread crumbs and eventually found the birds had eaten them, thus leaving the abandoned children to wander aimlessly in the forest.  Although citing sources may seem time-consuming and tedious, it is better than wandering aimlessly to re-locate a source!  

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