Custom Source Types

How to cite your sources the way you want

How to create a properly-cited source in
TMG
Write citation on paper

Choose (or create) Source Elements

Choose (or create) Source Type

Add source to Master Source List

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What is a “properly-cited” source?
Source Categories in TMG follow one of two standards:
 “Evidence” by Elizabeth Shown Mills
 “Cite Your Sources” by Richard S. Lackey
 Or one of your own making – Custom (OK, three
standards)
“Evidence Explained” by Elizabeth Shown Mills (2008)
Archives fact sheets
 State Records NSW Archives in Brief No. 10 – “Citing
State Archives”
 National Archives of Australia fact Sheet 7 – “Citing
archival records”
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Source Types
Definition: “Source types specify which characteristics of the
source are to be recorded, and how the footnotes and
bibliography entries will be formatted.”1

Characteristics – title, author, publisher, date, publisher

location, etc
Format – how to arrange these characteristics when citing the
source – order, punctuation

1. Terry Reigel, A Primer for The Master Genealogist (Modbury, South Australia: Gould
Genealogy, 2008), 46.

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Source Groups and Source Elements
These are the characteristics of the source.

Source Groups = Source citation FIELDS

Source Elements = Source citation field LABELS

There are 32 Source Groups (fields) – can use each one

only once, but in any order
Use Source Elements (labels) to make data entry easier
when creating Source in Master Source List
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Source Citations – 3 templates
Full footnote – where you cite the source for a specific
piece of information, includes “Citation Detail”
Short footnote – short version of full footnote for
subsequent citations of same source, includes
“Citation Detail”
Bibliography – list of sources at the end of the book,
report, chart, etc.
Shown in Output form tab

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Bibliography
Hoffman, Lee H. (editor). Getting the Most out of The Master Genealogist. Modbury, South
Australia: Gould Genealogy, 2003.
Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained, Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace.
Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007.
National Archives of Australia. Fact sheet 7 – Citing archival records. Website. http://
www.naa.gov.au/about-us/publications/fact-sheets/fs07.aspx, retrieved 17 May 2009.
Reigel, Terry. A Primer for The Master Genealogist. Modbury, South Australia: Gould Genealogy,
2008.

Reigel, Terry. Working with Source Elements and Groups. Website. Terry Reigel. Terry’s TMG Tips.
http://tmg.reigelridge.com/Source-Elements.htm: last updated 5 May 2006.
State Records New South Wales. Archives in Brief No. 10 – Citing State archives. Website. http://
www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-
brief-10
, retrieved 17 May 2009.

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