new user question - How do I manage this source?

Question

Hello again,

I read through a bunch of help pages, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

I have a copy of my great-great grandfather's Civil War pension application. It includes a wealth of information relevant to both his marriages and his eight children, as well as his military service, so I'd like to be able to cite it as a source in about 10 person profiles. I uploaded it as a source type image to his profile, but then realized I wasn't sure what to do next. Is there a URL for the image I can use to source this on other family members pages? Or should I create a free-space profile for the document?

Thanks so much for your help!

Answer 1

You can create a Free Space Page and link that page to each person named in the document.

Since you already have the document as an image on one profile, you can link other of the family members by going to the image page and adding each person's WikiTree ID. The image will then show up on each of those profiles.

Comments

Doh! That's so obvious, and I tagged them all in a photograph last night so I should have realized, but it didn't occur to me I could do the same with a source image. Clearly not enough coffee today.

Thank you!

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Have another cup, if it isn't too late!! There is so much to absorb on WikiTree that sometimes we all have those moments.

Answer 2

For future reference:

While a link to an image of a source document is a great help, it isn't required. Many good, primary sources are not available online anywhere. A complete, well-written citation to the document that includes a descriptive title, date, volume/page/film #/other finding information/etc., the repository/original record holder and the library or website where you viewed/obtained the copy you have is all that is needed. That way someone else can always go find it.

It also has the longest shelf life. I'm constantly trying to chase down original records that are vaguely referenced and that have links to websites that no longer exist. Yesterday, I was trying to find a book referenced in a journal article, but the writer had gotten their reference from a website that no longer exists. A proper citation to the book would have been more helpful than an old website.

A link to an image is, of course, a nice added extra, especially if it isn't set up in a way that hides the original info. (Yes, WikiTree "templates" are one of my peeves...)

Comments

Been there - done that. I'm new here, but not new to research, so I feel your pain. For my off line tree, I download copies of most documents, and print the interesting ones, so I don't have to worry about where it went.

In this case, the only way I know of to get a US Civil War pension application, is to request it from the national archives, which takes many months, if not years, to get to the top of the queue. A cousin requested this copy years ago, and we want to make it available to as many cousins as possible without them having to request it again from the national archives. It's an especially awesome document, as many of the forms are filled out long hand by the applicant, so we get to see their handwriting and signature.