Using books, online and in print, as sources?
Is there a correct way to use both online and hard-copy books as a source? Family Tree does not seem really set up for this.
What I've done for online books is to provide a web link to the book (e.g. http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/157199) then give it a name, use the publication date and give it a description and stick it in my Source Box. Then I just attach it to PIDs as necessary.
For hard-copy books, I use a link to WorldCat's OCLC record instead of linking to the actual book.
The problem is that there seems to be no way to then cite different pages for different PIDs. Just, "It's in the book. Go find it." I don't plan on creating a new source for each page of several books.
Best Answer
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You can certainly add sources from a book, either online or hard copy. If you go to sources in the detail page, click on Source, the add new source. It will walk you through the steps needed to create the sources. On the bottom of the page is a a box that states "Add Source to my Source Box." If you check that, the source will be readily available in your source box to add to other PIDS.
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Answers
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If you add it as a source and keep it in your source box you can reuse the source to attach it to other individuals, however if you want to change information for each individual such as the page number, you will need to copy the source to create a new source for that individual before you change the information. If you don't do that, whatever changes you make to the source will be changed in the source connected to any other individual.
In addition, if you have found sources online you can use RecordSeek.com to create a source from the website and add it as a source in Family Tree. It works great - I've been using it for years!
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The Family Tree source model is actually extremely flexible because it is just one empty box that you can use for any style that you need.
One comment before I get into this, is that you may want to reconsider using one global source for a book since if it is attached to a few hundred people and someone else does not realize it, that person might edit it for one specific person and change the source on everyone. But there are ways to avoid that such as putting a note in the Notes section that it is a global source.
Also, let me say that I think your idea of using a WorldCat link for print-only books is a great idea. I'll have to start doing that. I've just left the URL blank in those situations and that is what I'll do in the following examples.
Final preliminary thought is that is really does go quickly to create a source for each page of a book you need to reference if your computer operating system provides text shortcuts or if you have a utility that does. I use them heavily when creating sources. For example, I type ".1865" to get "in the Norwegian Census of 1865." Or type ".dapr" to get "Scanned version of microfilm copy of original parish record. Alternate link: " If you set up something like ".ci" to be the entire book citation, then just typing those three characters if faster than copying and pasting. Also, keep in mind that once you have attached that single page to everyone you want to, you do not need to keep it in your Source Box. The Remove option:
does not delete the source, it just takes it out of your Source Box so you don't get a bunch of source there that you will never need to attach again.
But to the point, there is a way to add unique information each time you attach a global source to a person. You do exactly as you are doing in creating a common source in the Source Box then attaching that source to each individual you want to the source on by using the Attach From Source Box option (you don't actually have to open it this far, there is the link to the left that says attach if the source is closed):
When you click Attach, a reason box pops up. This is a great place to put more specific details:
This shows up when someone looks at the details of a source and can be different for each person the source is attached to:
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