APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2004-02 > 1076721116


From: "Gregory Winters" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Repositories, Sources, and Citations
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 20:12:10 -0500
References: <001201c3f27a$12145480$dc1afea9@K9> <003e01c3f294$3c01ac10$16763e44@win2000a141573>


I may be repeating in a more simplistic form what Elizabeth is saying, but
being a Web designer and computer professional, I can point out a couple of
important differences between a physical publication and a website.

First, anything which is 'published' to the web is not only unique to that
site (as Elizabeth points out) but it doesn't really 'exist' in terms of
being *separate from* that website. A library is a collection of
publications which existed prior to being included in the library's
inventory (and are hardly ever exclusive) and were created and controlled by
authors and publishers not connected with that library. If the library
assumes these other roles, then it simply becomes party to those roles - the
building itself does not become the 'source.' A website is not in itself a
'source' of data so much as it is a *display* of that data, kind of like a
card catalog would be to a library. When citing a physical source from a
library, a researcher is obligated to verify the information contained on
the index card, not cite the card as the source.

Website data does not normally exist anywhere else other than than that
website, and if it does, then that 'other place' becomes the actual source,
not the website. When Ancestry displays the Federal Census, for example, it
is not the *source* for the census: that distinction belongs to the
National Archives and Records Administration. The average lifespan of a
website is 100 days. Although Ancestry will certainly be around longer than
that, the only time I ever mention the site is when it is appropriate to
cite the *vehicle* I used to access the source (e.g., 1790 United States
Federal Census, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington,
D.C. USA - digital images and subscription provided by Ancestry.com). I do
NOT cite Ancestry as the source of information which I attach to the
database record.

Does this sound reasonable?

Greg

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mills" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 7:48 PM
Subject: Re: [APG] Repositories, Sources, and Citations


> Jerry wrote
> > The Clayton Library in Houston contains numerous genealogical sources.
> > It is the keeper of that information, regardless of who created or
> > published the information originally. Ancestry is also a keeper of
> > information created/published by others. Like the library, the
> > information is physically kept and maintained by Ancestry regardless of
> > the media (printed vs electronic). If Clayton Library is a repository,
> > then why isn't Ancestry? If Ancestry publishes a "refined SSDI" then I
> > would expect them to be both the source and the repository for this
> > specific case.
>
> Jerry, Ancestry's website (and others of its type) is not a "keeper of
> information created/published by others." Ancestry is a publisher and it
> publishes in two versions--online and in print. For some of what it
> publishes at its website, it is also the "author."
>
> Clayton Library is a repository that shelves works physically produced
> elsewhere. Whether you go to Clayton, LC, Fort Wayne, Dallas, or
Timbuctoo,
> a published book, film, or whatever is going to be exactly the
> same--regardless of the library (repository) that you use.
>
> When you go to Ancestry (and others of its type) and use a book or
database
> that was originally produced elsewhere, you get Ancestry's digitized
edition
> of that product. Ancestry has created a different product, which could
have
> enhancements or (heaven forbid!) it could have glitches. Their edition is
a
> different source from the original edition you would use at a library. It
is
> a new Ancestry edition of that source. That's what enables Ancestry (and
> similar publishers with websites) to hold a copyrights on its digitized
> products.
>
> When you go to Clayton, or any other library, does that library hold a
> copyright on the books and films that it shelves? Yes, libraries can be
> publishers or even vice-versa (Craig Scott says folks regularly come into
> his WillowBend/Heritage storefront and use his Willow
> Bend/Heritage-published books just like they were at a library <g>), but
> there is a fundamental distinction between libraries and publishers.
>
> The focus on Ancestry, however, is misleading. The issue is a policy or
> procedure or format that will apply to any website, regardless of which
one
> you use. The hierarchy that I outlined last night will do that.
>
> Elizabeth
>
> P.S. Jerry, I know everybody on this list who is familiar with how many
> times you and I go back and forth on a subject before we reach a consensus
> or else wear ourselves out <g> will be disappointed to hear this, but this
> time I'll have to forego the dozen or so exchanges. I'm in a time crunch!
> Sorry!
>
> ======
> Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
> Author, *Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian*
> Editor/Author, *Professional Genealogy: A Manual for
> Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians*
>
>
>
>
> ==== APG Mailing List ====
> The Association of Professional Genealogists
> http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html
>

This thread: