Sources vs. Memories

dallinjohnstokes1

Hi everyone!

I'm relatively new to family history work, so I'm still finding my way around. I am working on adding some documents I inherited from a deceased ancestor to their profile on FamilySearch. After obtaining scans of some of them, I opened the person's profile and realized I didn't know whether I should post the documents under "sources" or under "memories". Do you have any pointers about what types of documents should go in each category? I have all kinds of documents to upload, including a will, a personal letter, his dogtag from his service in the military, some photographs, his enlistment and discharge papers from the army, and a few other documents of note. Which categories should I upload those documents to? What counts as a "Source" and what counts as a "Memory"?

Thanks!

Dennis J Yancey

though other people may have different perspectives - I really don't think there really is a hard and fast rule

different people will do things differently.

I have uploaded thousands of items like the ones you cite - and uploaded them to FS Memories.

I also believe that even a FS Memory can be linked as a "source".

but in my mind most personal items like you allude to would go under Memories and more the like of census records, death records etc, that are part of indexes and databases woudl go under sources. but it is a gray area and I don't think there is any official black and white rule to what has to go where.

and I'm sure you will probably get a wide range of varied responses from people replying to your post,

elizabethannecraig1

From what I have seen, most of what you mention is generally considered a Memory. Military documents are also possibly a source for things like vital dates, etc.

I think it is mostly about why the item is useful: is it useful to establish facts about the person? Or is it more like a personal detail, something that shows the person behind the data? If it establishes facts, my gut puts it in sources, if it is more descriptive of the person, then I call it a memory.

Sanra

@dallinjohnstokes1

If you decide to add memory as a source, use the steps below:

You can use memories as sources in Family Tree. You can either upload a new memory or select from the photos, stories, audio files, and documents in your gallery.

In your source box and in Family Tree, you can identify sources from Memories by this icon:

Steps (website)

1. Sign in to FamilySearch and navigate to the Person page of the individual you want to attach the source to.  
2. Click the Sources tab. 
3. Click Add Source.
4. Click Add New Memory Source.
5. Enter the source title and other relevant details.
6. If you uploaded the source to FamilySearch, click Select from Gallery. To add a new memory, click Upload Memory, and find the file on your computer.
7. Click the boxes to identify the information that this source contains.
8. If you do not want this source in your source box, click to deselect Add Source to My Source Box.
9. Click Save.

Wishing you success.

Gail Swihart Watson

What I do is decide if the memory is proof or evidence of something. You make this decision after you upload your memories, as Sanra describes. You will use an image as a source if it has a date of death, birth, residence or any other event. A typical example might be an image with a label "Our new house right after we moved to Spokane Washington, 1962". It is a residence event. It sounds to me like much of what you have is definitely useful to be made a source. I encourage you to take the time to digitize and create your sources!