KINSEARCHING
Marleta Childs
kinsearching@gmail.com
Now available—the third edition of EVIDENCE EXPLAINED: CITING HISTORY SOURCES FROM ARTIFACTS TO CYBERSPACE by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Continuing to be an invaluable reference tool for all types of researchers, this new edition of the critically-acclaimed handbook contains new citation models, updates many websites, and describes and evaluates numerous contemporary materials not included in earlier editions.
In her foreword, Mills asks why researchers should spend so much time documenting sources and then answers: "Because all sources are not created equal." She points out, for instance, that some sources may exaggerate, be biased, be remembered incorrectly, or simply be erroneous. Researchers need to know from where information comes and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the sources in order to judge reliability and to reach credible conclusions. To help people make these decisions, her first two chapters deal with the fundamentals of evidence analysis and citation.
The bulk of the volume concerns documentation, furnishing examples for all kinds of records, accessed through a variety of media styles. Among the subjects covered are archives and artifacts, business and institutional records, censuses, cemetery and church records, local and state documents, national government (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia) publications in various forms, printed works (books, journals, and newspapers), genetic databases and reports, microfilm, microfiche, CDs, videos, maps, radio and television broadcasts, websites including blogs and chats, digital books, e-journals and e-magazines, sound clips, and podcasts. Since this thorough handbook leads individuals through the maze of all types of sources not covered by traditional citation guides such as THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE, researchers can easily understand why this hefty reference tool has received so much praise.
Since she often furnishes annotations about the materials used in her documentation examples, researchers may glean helpful information about the individual resources from her discussions. For instance, she explains differences in the Illinois and Oregon databases for citing delayed birth certificates. In another instance, she gives considerations concerning whether to cite DOIs or URLs.
By supplying and updating examples of more than 1,000 citation forms. Mills provides a necessary and worthwhile service for all researchers. Now considered the authoritative guide on documentation, a copy of the new third edition of EVIDENCE EXPLAINED: CITING HISTORY SOURCES FROM ARTIFACTS TO CYBERSPACE is a "must have" for all genealogical libraries, both public and private.
The 892-page hardback has a foreword, a QuickStart Guide to basic citations, a process map for evidence analysis, two expanded appendixes composed of a glossary and a bibliography, and two indexes—a standard one for topics and another for QuickCheck citation models. To the book's price of $59.95, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $5.50 for one book and $2.50 for each additional copy; for UPS, the cost is $6.00 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume (item order 3878) may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (for phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com ).
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