Terry's TMG Tips

Census Source Types Using the Split CD

This page updated 1 Sep 2008

Version Note: Applies to Versions 8 & 9

I developed three custom Source Types which I used in citing US Census records. To see how these Source Types are used within the context of an overall plan for managing census data, see my article on Managing Census Information.

This article describes the method I previously used which makes use of split CDs to reduce the total number of Sources defined in TMG while producing notes in the desired format. For information on the methods I currently use, see my article on Census Source Types without the split CD.

Overview

Elizabeth Shown Mills has authored two books that are widely used by genealogical researchers as guides in formatting source notes. Her long-standing work Evidence! is the basis for the "Mills" source types supplied with TMG. Her newer work, Evidence Explained, provides somewhat different guidance, and provides more specific recommendations for online sources, including online census images. I don't use TMG's standard Census Source Type because I find confusing and generally unsatisfactory. While I find elements of Ms. Mills' guidance useful, I disagree with some of the details of her advice, so my approach has some similarities with her examples but differs in many details.

In my view the format recommended in her earlier work, which placed the name of the head of household first, is easier for readers to understand, and therefore I retain that format rather than the one suggested in the newer book.

I regard the National Archives microfilm "original" as my source, even if I actually view an image of that online. Thus my citation focuses on the original, as suggested in Evidence!, rather than the vendor who simply provides me with a copy and who would get more recognition under the suggestions in the newer guide (but I do note that I saw an image, e.g. "image viewed on Ancestry.com").

Finally, I think including the dwelling and family numbers but not the name of the head of household in the short footnote is exactly backwards. That seems to me to make the reader work much too hard to understand the notes, so I include the name of the head of household in the short footnote.

I don't put any of the household details in the Bibliography Template because I use the Bibliography format only for my "minimalist" website and don't want much detail there. If I were actually creating a conventional bibliography I'd probably add the household details to that template.

These examples were designed for the US census, but in the few cases where I've dealt with state censuses or those of other countries I've found they can be adapted with little difficulty.

The Split CD Method

This article describes a method I previously used, which depends on the use of "split CDs" to produce "properly" constructed notes with fewer different Sources being defined. This method requires only one source be defined for each roll of microfilm (or county, if smaller), and uses the split CD method to record the details for each household and produce footnotes that are similar to the examples in Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence! The primary benefit of this method is that fewer Sources are defined and thus appear in the Master Source List.

There are a number of disadvantages to the split CD method:

• Citation Details text is more complex and thus more prone to error.
• The "Unique" Endnotes feature doesn't recognize split CDs, so you can't use that feature if you use this method.
• The "Embedded" Citations feature doesn't recognize split CDs, so you can't embed Citations in Memos if you use this method.
• It is difficult to attach census images to the sources as exhibits when there are multiple pages for each TMG Source, so other methods must be used to view the images within TMG or include them websites.
• It is very difficult to construct a full footnote that works without the expected CD segments, so using separate source pages in Second Site doesn't work well when this method is used.

It is primarily because of my use of Second Site to create more detailed websites that I've changed from the split CD method to Source Types that do not use that method. I have retained this article for those who find the benefits of the split CD method outweigh the disadvantages for their method of work.

I found that when I converted from the split CD method the number of census Sources in my Project increased from 512 to 957. The actual savings in number of Sources you would experience by using the split CD method will depend on the degree in which the people in your Project are concentrated in a few areas rather than being widely disbursed.

The Three Source Types

I use three different Source Types to accommodate the various formats used by US Census throughout the years:

• 1850 to 1930 Population Schedules – see next section.

• 1790 to 1840 Schedules - described below.

• 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules - described below.

The Style Notes and Technical Notes sections apply to all three Source Types. The sections for the 1790-1840 census and for Slave Schedules address only what is different about those Source Types.

Source Type for 1850 - 1930 Population Schedules:

Style Notes

There are some differences between the notes produced by this template and the example in Elisabeth Mills' Evidence!. The principal one is that I repeat the household name in the short footnote. I believe this makes the notes easier to follow, especially if you have a lot of census cites in your report. I've added the sheet number to the short footnote. Both of these are required if citations are to be correct in cases were citations to more than one household appear in the same report. I've eliminated the listing of the Supervisor's District, as I've never found it to be useful in finding a census listing.

I have included the Comments element, where I record when and where I saw the census. This is based on comments by Ms Mills that some copies of the census may be more clear than others, so recording the date and location of the copy viewed is a good idea. Now that "enhanced" copies of the census images are available online and on CDs, this seems like an especially good idea.

Many census sheets have both a hand written "sheet" number and a rubber stamped page number and letter. Since there seems to be no consensus on which to use, I have stolen a suggestion from someone (perhaps Ms Mills?) and show both.

Technical Notes

• I have made custom source elements for County and State. The Mills example reverses the order of the county and state between the footnotes and the bibliography. You cannot do that with a single location element, but using two elements accomplishes that. For help creating a custom Source Element, and especially considerations for selecting the Source Element Group, see my article on Working with Source Elements and Groups.
• For help with the procedure of creating a custom Source Type see my article on Creating a Custom Source Type.
• If you ever use the Ibid feature, be sure to select the "On-Requires Same Source and [CD]" option on the Output Form tab for this source. If you fail to do that, and create a report with cites to more than one household in the same source, the notes may not indicate clearly which cites apply to which household.
• The "Unique Endnote" feature does not recognize split CDs. If use of that style of endnotes is important to you, you should not use this method.
• The detail information, such as household name, cannot appear in the Bibliography entry because it is placed in the CD. The Mills examples for Census do not include the record detail in the Bibliography. But if you prefer to include that detail in the Bibliography you cannot use this method
• You create one source in the Master Source List for each roll of census microfilm. When you create the Citation Details for each citation to that source, you enter as applicable the household name, city or township, and the ED, sheet, dwelling, and household numbers as part of the CD, along with any notes specific to that particular citation. These items are separated by pairs of "pipes" (found on most keyboards above the "\" on the key at the far upper right). When you have no entry for a particular item, simply include the pipes, but leaving only a single space the missing item.

Use of the 1850-1930 Source Type:

When the source is cited, enter the household details, as well as any notes, in the Citation Detail. Each part is separated by a pair of vertical lines, or "pipes." The order of the elements in the CD is:

• Name of head of household
• Location detail - e.g. city, township, civil district, post office
• Enumeration District number
• Sheet or page numbers
• Dwelling number
• Household number
• Notes

The CD might be as follows:

John Smith||La Center||19||10/234C||156||178||shows age 26

or, if there were no "town", then:

John Smith|| ||19||10/234C||156||178||shows age 26

(note the space to indicate the empty "town" segment)

or, if there were no "notes", then:

John Smith||La Center||19||10/234C||156||178

or, for 1850-1870 where there is no ED, then:

John Smith||La Center|| ||24||156||178

The resulting full footnote from the first CD above would be:

Source Type for 1790 - 1840 Schedules:

Use of the 1790-1840 Source Type:

When the source is cited, enter the household details, as well as any notes, in the Citation Detail. Each part is separated by a pair of vertical lines, or "pipes." The order of the elements in the CD is:

• Name of head of household
• Page number (many are unnumbered, either count them or omit)
• Line number (generally unnumbered - I count them)
• Notes

The CD might be as follows:

John Smith||19||10||shows one male age 40 to 49

or, if you choose to omit the page and line numbers:

John Smith|| || ||shows one male age 40 to 49

Source Type for 1850 - 1860 Slave Schedules:

Use of the 1850-1860 Slave Source Type:

When the source is cited, enter the details, as well as any notes, in the Citation Detail. Each part is separated by a pair of vertical lines, or "pipes." The order of the elements in the CD is:

• Name of slave owner
• Location detail - e.g. city, township, civil district, post office
• Sheet or page numbers
• Line numbers
• Notes

The CD might be as follows:

John Smith||19/231||29 left - 12 right||shows 8 males and 6 females

Copyright 2000- by Terry Reigel