For today's Wordless Wednesday I posted an image of a headstone I found on Findagrave.com. I wanted to give credit where credit was due so I searched the web to find out how to cite my source. Two websites generated the following using the MLA style to cite an image located in an online database:
- Option A: Dunn, Walter. Findagrave.com. Digital Image. [Headstone: Mary N. Massey]. Web. 21 Oct 2009
- Option B: Dunn, Walter. Headstone: Mary N. Massey. N.d. Findagrave.com. N.p., 4 Sept. 2006. Web. 21 Oct. 2009.
[http://www.noodletools.com generator; www.bibme.org generator; http://www.ccsf.edu/Library/imagecitationformat.htm reference]
I completely understand that as a genealogist one should used the current accepted form of citation to cite sources; however, in this circumstance I feel that the standard form is greatly lacking. What to do?
Here is how I chose to cite the image:
- Headstone: Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey. 1974. Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas. Digital Image by Walter Dunn. Findagrave.com Memorial #15616487 created 04 Sept 2006. Accessed 21 Oct 2009
My questions are:
- Is it ever acceptable to enhance the standard form of citing a source by including more details that might be of interest to a researcher?
- If so, is it acceptable to rearrange the format to increase clarity:
- Option C: Headstone: Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey. 1974. Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas. Digital Image by Walter Dunn. Findagrave.com Memorial #15616487 created 04 Sept 2006. Accessed 21 Oct 2009
- OR should the added information be placed at the end:
- Option D: Dunn, Walter. Findagrave.com. Digital Image. [Headstone: Mary N. Massey]. Web. 21 Oct 2009 (Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey, Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas. Find A Grave Memorial #15616487 created 04 Sept 2006)
I would LOVE your opinion!
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Well, seek and you shall find! Two amazing geneabloggers crafted awesome responses to my questions: Thomas MacEntee and FootnoteMaven. Thank you! Here is my revised citation:
Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, digital image (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 October 2009), photograph, “gravestone for Mary Nancy McCaskill Massey (1881-1974), Memorial No. 15616487, Records of the Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas;” photograph © Walter Dunn.
Read more: FootnoteMaven's discussion with Elizabeth Shown Mills
Herstoryan:
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind I think a post about this at my blog might be better than have a long long comment here.
http://destinationaustinfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-cite-find-grave-headstone.html
Herstoryan:
ReplyDeleteYou asked for my opinion on Twitter, and here it is:
Good Citations - A FindAGrave Question
fM
Thank you, Herstoryan, Thomas, and footnoteMaven, for these blogs. I have been wanting to get further into the Template feature of the Family Tree Maker program. This is the example I needed.
ReplyDeletehttp://ftmuser.blogspot.com/2009/10/source-citation-template-find-grave.html
Is the result of this, Find-A-Grave, Citation into the Family Tree Maker Template.
Thank you all.
Russ