Sourcerers FAQ

Profile managers: Debi Hoag [send private message] and Wendy Taylor [send private message]

Sourcerers and Saturday Sourcing Sprint Participants sometimes have questions. Here are some questions and answers we have had recently. Advice given is not for Source-a-Thons, which have their own rules.

Minimum WikiTree Standards Sourcerers Project Exceptions

WikiTree spells out the minimum source standards in the Sources FAQ and states that such profiles do not qualify for the Unsourced research note box or category. Identifiable FindAGrave memorial pages, online tree profiles, and personal recollections are acceptably sourced according to that FAQ. The Sourcerers Project has determined that Sourcerers and Sprinters will be allowed to track improvements to profiles that only have personal recollections, an online profile, or a FindAGrave memorial with no picture.

Examples that meet WikiTree minimum sourcing standard but which Sourcerers & Sprinters are encouraged to improve and track:

• "Find-A-Grave Memorial #1234" if there is no gravestone picture
• "FamilySearch profile ABCD-123"
• "Personal recollection of Jane Doe"

These are exceptions for participants in the Sourcerers Monthly Challenge and Saturday Sourcing Sprints only. Please do not add the Unsourced Research Note box template nor Unsourced categories to profiles based on the exceptions for the Sourcerers Project.

Is a link to another WikiTree profile a source?

No. If sources have been added to another profile, there is no reason why they could not have been cited on both profiles.

Is a link to a FamilySearch Profile a source?

No, a link to a FamilySearch profile does not constitute a source. The same applies to profiles on any other site, e.g. Ancestry, Geni, etc. If this is all that is on the profile under Sources, it can be treated as Unsourced for the monthly Sourcerers Challenge, or weekly Saturday Sourcing Sprint Challenge.

Most FamilySearch profiles will list sources which relate to the person profiled. Any sources cited on the profile should be real records and not profiles on other web sites.

Is DNA Confirmation a Source?

No, if a profile only cites DNA Confirmation under Sources, it can be considered Unsourced.

Is a photo of a document, such as a marriage license, an adequate source?

A photo is not a source unless there is a citation for the photo under Sources giving full details.

Is a profile with a link to an online obituary considered sourced?

Yes, a link to an online obituary would be considered sourced, even though online obituaries may not be accessible in the long term. Ideally, it should cite where, when and by whom it was published.

You could consider using the 'Wayback Machine' to capture those obituaries for posterity. See Save Pages in the Wayback Machine.

Should profiles for the recently deceased be sourced?

WikiTree provides this advice on Recently Deceased Stangers.

If a WikiTree profile has been created with no sources and you can add value to the memory of the person in a courteous and respectful manner by adding sources, then you should do so.

Should profiles with a Hold Request be sourced?

WikiTree provides this advice on Hold Requests.

As stated in our Rules, Sourcerers should respect Hold Requests and not edit such profiles to add sources. Profiles with Hold Requests will not qualify and scores will be adjusted if detected during an audit.

Is FindAGrave an acceptable source?

If an existing profile only has a FindAGrave citation as a source, but there is no gravestone image on the FindAGrave memorial, the Sourcerers Challenge, or Saturday Sourcing Sprint, will accept the addition of other sources towards your count. Please consider updating the existing FindAGrave citation at the same time to the complete FindAGrave citation format from the bottom of the FindAGrave memorial, e.g.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1234/henri-langlois: accessed 11 October 2023), memorial page for Henri Langlois (13 Nov 1914–13 Jan 1977), Find a Grave Memorial ID 1234, citing Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France, France; Maintained by Find a Grave.

replacing "Find a Grave Memorial ID 1234" with "{{FindAGrave|1234}}".

Alternatively, if you use the Sourcer app,

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #1234 (accessed 11 October 2023)
  Memorial page for Henri Langlois (13 Nov 1914-13 Jan 1977), citing Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France, France (plot: Division 6, row 1.); Maintained by Find a Grave.

If the FindAGrave memorial has an image, the profile will be considered sourced and additional sources will not qualify.

The Challenge will accept FindAGrave as a source, only if it has a photo of the gravestone. You are encouraged to add other sources as well, if possible.

Please note that standards for Pre-1700 profiles are higher. For further information see Help: Find A Grave

Do Improvements to profiles without the Unsourced Category/Research Box Count?

Yes, if the profile does not cite sources, you can add sources during the Sourcerers Challenge, or the Saturday Sourcing Sprint, even though they have not been yet been categorised as Unsourced.

How do I know whether a profile is Unsourced, when it has some limited citation?

According to the Help:Sources FAQ, a source citation needs to identify a particular source. A generic name isn't enough; there has to be information to clearly identify the record. Unfortunately, the examples given are also rather generic. Here are some more detailed examples based on what Sourcerers & Sprinters see on profiles.

Unsourced because there is not enough info to find the record:

• 1880 Census
• Birth Certificate
• Tennessee, U.S. marriages, 1780-2002

Sourced because there is enough information to find the record and it meets the minimum WikiTree standards:

• 1880 Census, Brooklyn, Kings, New York
• Birth Certificate, Ontario, Canada, 1896
• Tennessee, U.S., Marriages, Rhodes, 1928

If a profile meets the minimum WikiTree standard, it is not eligible for sourcing credit unless it meets the Sourcerers Project Exceptions.

Sourcerers & Sprinters are expected to meet a more rigorous standard in their source citations. To get credit for adding a citation to an unsourced profile, Sourcerers & Sprinters must use citations that meet the criteria laid out in Help:Sources. To illustrate,

• "United States Census, 1880", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZDW-TM9 : Wed Oct 04 18:41:05 UTC 2023), Entry for Benjamin Rose and Hannah Rose, 1880, Brooklyn, Kings, New York.
• Birth: "Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1917"
  Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913; Reel: 133; Record Group: Rg 80-2
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8838 #463126 (accessed 17 October 2023)
  Bertha Cooper born on 5 Feb 1896, daughter of Walter Cooper & Sarah Goodnow, in Oxford North, Ontario, Canada.
• Marriage: "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002"
  citing p. 370, Marshall, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
  FamilySearch Record: VN6N-DHW (accessed 9 October 2023)
  Everett Rhodes marriage to Annie Lee Braden on 9 Dec 1928 in Marshall, Tennessee, United States.

Does removing the Unsourced category or template from a profile with sources qualify?

Yes. If there are sources, but someone has forgotten to remove the Unsourced category or template, removing it will count towards your Sourcerers Challenge, or Saturday Sourcing Sprint challenge score. The category and/or template are usually found above the == Biography == heading and might look like this:

{{Unsourced}} - remove the whole template
[[Category:Unsourced Profiles]] possibly with a location - remove the whole line

This does not apply to Source-a-Thons, which have different rules.

Why do the Unsourced Lists include some profiles without the Unsourced category?

There is a background process run weekly to update the Unsourced Lists. This can mean profiles remain on the List for a time even after the Unsourced category has been removed. This is commonly seen after Source-a-Thons.

Is a profile sourced if there is simply a URL without any citation?

If the link can be used to reach a valid source, improvements would be appreciated, but please do not use the Tracker as the profile would be considered sourced. If the link is broken, then the profile would be considered unsourced.

How do I cite sources from Ancestry on a WikiTree profile?

In general, if a source document can be found on 'free to view' sites, such as FamilySearch, WikiTree recommends their use over those from 'pay to view' sites, such as Ancestry, which not everyone will be able to access.

The Sourcerers Challenge and Saturday Sourcing Sprint Challenge will accept citations from Ancestry.

If you use the Sourcer App, it can help you locate the document on FamilySearch. If the document does not exist on FamilySearch, or if the document on FamilySearch does not provide as much detail, use the Ancestry source citation.

The easiest way to cite an Ancestry document, is to use the Sourcer App.

Alternatively, see Help:Links to Ancestry Help for an explanation of how to create the links.

With both of these, providing an Ancestry Sharing link would be appreciated, so that those without an Ancestry subscription can see some basic information.

Can you adopt a profile just to change the Last Name At Birth (LNAB)?

Yes, if you have found a source to support the new LNAB.

You cannot, however recycle old profiles which were originally a different person, as this will mess up the change history and interfere with Google . See Recycling WikiTree IDs.

Are there other things I should do to improve the profiles I have provided sources for?

If a profile needs to be cleaned up, please do so! Many problems are leftover from gedcom imports and need a little love on top of the sources you add. At a minimum, please ensure that the basic mandatory WikiTree headings of ==Biography== ==Sources== and <references /> are present and in the proper position.

The Bio Check app offers an excellent adjunct for this process. It doesn't need to be installed on your computer. Just visit https://apps.wikitree.com/apps/sands1865/biocheck/ You may be asked to enter your login credentials. If so, enter the email address you use on WikiTree and your WikiTree password. Now follow these steps.

1. From 'How to find profiles' dropdown menu, select 'Check challenge contributions'.
2. From the 'Challenge' dropdown menu, choose 'Sourcerers Challenge'.
3. From the 'Challenge date' dropdown menu, select the challenge month of interest, e.g. 20240801, and
4. At 'Contributor Profile', enter your WikiTree ID.
5. Click the 'Run Profile' button.

Bio Check will return a listing of existing structural problems with the profiles you've sourced during the month. It will also include a link to each profile to facilitate making the necessary corrections.

How should I handle source citations which include information about living people, such as a census citation, a marriage record, or an obituary?

Our advice is not to include a table for the household in a census citation, if any members of the household are still living. If you do decide to do so, we recommend:

• the table is listed at the end of the source citation, rather than in the body of the biography
• the table is altered to replace the names of living people with Private - Living for those members of the household.

If a marriage lists a spouse who is still living, we recommend that you ensure the biography and source citation do not give the spouse’s name.

If citing an obituary, we recommend that the obituary is cited, but the text is not included in the biography.

WikiTree respects the privacy of living people! See Information on Living Family Members.

How can I be sure I have found a source for the right person?

There are always people with similar names, sometimes even in the same family group. These are things to consider:

• Connections - are they connected to the same parents, siblings, or spouse?
• Names - if female, has the person married and might be using their married name?
• Dates - are the dates consistent, or close to, those on the profile?
• Locations - is the birth location the same, or do other records show a particular location they were living in, or is the location on the source in close proximity?
• Ethnicity - are they the same ethnicity, for example some census records will indicate if black, white, or other ethnicity?

If you are uncertain, we suggest you do not add the source, though you might consider adding the suggestion under the heading Research Notes, or as a comment on the profile.

Last Updated: 3 Nov 2024