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Define or Edit a Master Source (using the Basic System)

This section describes how to enter sources when using the Basic system citation screens.  (See SourceWriter for the new method of citing sources using professional templates. If you are viewing the Add a New Master Source screen, which uses the older Basic source system, and you would like to enter a SourceWriter citation instead, click the Use SourceWriter Instead button in the lower-right corner of the window.)

 
To reach the Master Source List, choose Master Lists / Source from the View tab of the Ribbon bar.

Source List Name
Enter a name for the master source record.  This name will be used in the Master Source List whenever it is displayed.  The source name is generally an abbreviation of the source title.  For example, if you are working from a book called "Gilbert Radcliff Johnson of Wilderberry County, South Dakota and all Known Descendants Through 1945", you might want to name the source something like "G.R. Johnson Descendants."

Source Type
Specify the type of source the information is coming from.  Legacy starts with a pre-defined list including Bible, Book, Census/Tax, Church, Court, Interview, Journal, Land, Letter, Military, Newspaper, Periodical, Personal, Vital and Other.  You can select one of these by clicking the down arrow to the right of the text box and clicking on the desired type or by typing it manually. You can also add new types by simply typing them.

Author
Enter the person, agency or entity that created the source record.  In the case of a published source, this could include the author, compiler, editor or transcriber.  For an unpublished work, this may be an individual, a government agency, private or church organization, etc.

Source Title
In this field you should enter the full, actual title of the source document.  For published works, type the title as it is shown on the title page.  For articles in periodicals, type the name of the article.  For works that are unpublished and don't have a title, type a brief description of the source.

Title Formatting
Select the formatting you would like to use when printing the source title in a source citation on a report.  In most cases, a published source title is printed in italics; an unpublished source title is quotes.  You can also choose not to have formatting applied to the title when it is printed.

Publication Facts
Enter where and when the source record was created.  For a published work, this could include the city of publication, name of the publisher and year of publication.  New York, Millennia Publishing Co., 1967. For an unpublished source, it would include the date and place the record was created.  For example, the city and state where the writer of a letter resides, or the place of residence of a person making a pension declaration.

Source Assistant
Legacy can help you enter and format the publication facts for many of the source types you will be using.  To invoke the Source Assistant, click Assistant... to the right of the Publication Facts field. See Source Assistant for more information on using this feature.

Recorded Date  
This is the date you recorded the source citation.

File ID #  
You can assign your own filing number if desired.  

File ID Assistant
To help you figure out the next available file ID number, click the Assistant button .  (See File ID Number Assistant for more information.) 

Text of Source
A word-for-word copy of any description contained in the source.  Don't enter opinions about the source by you or the compiler.  This should only include "what the original record keeper said" as opposed to any interpretations.

Source Comments
You can record notes for each master source you enter.  This is a good way to document how you found a particular source and other interesting and important information about it.  To write a note, click on the Comments tab.

Repository
Record the name and address of the place where this source is stored.  It may be a cemetery, library, or archive.  It can even be the address of another person who has a copy of the document.
Click the Select button to get an existing master repository address, or click Add to add a new repository address. If a master source is registered with a repository, this button caption changes to Edit. You can click that button to edit the repository address. Click the C button to remove the reference to the repository.
Call Number
You can also record the Call Number for the source. The most common call number is the number used by libraries to tell where you can find the book. This number is usually based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System.

Pictures
Use the Pictures tab to attach media files to the source.  These may be scanned images such as birth certificates, obituaries, etc.

Embedding Formatting Codes into the Notes
You can add formatting codes to your source text and comments so that portions print in bold, italics, underline and superscript.  These codes are used when printing reports, producing word processing files and Web pages.  (See Text Formatting for complete information on how to do this.)

Clearing the Fields
If you want to clear all the source fields and start again, click Clear.

Saving the Source 
To save the source, click Save.

Tagging Sources
Sources can be marked with a tag so that later you have the option to print only the tagged sources when doing a source report.

Excluding the Source from Reports
Select this option to exclude this source from the footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies when printing reports or books. Normally you will only want to print a few of your best and most reliable sources for each event on a report or book. You might have a dozen or more sources for a person's name, for example, but it doesn't make sense to include all of them on a report. The resulting footnotes end up very long and take too much space at the bottom of each page.

Verifying Sources
This checkbox is used when you have verified the source information. For example, if you receive information from another person, either through a GEDCOM import or by email or other means, you should verify that the source citations are true and accurate. As you check each citation, you can mark Verified to indicate your confirmation of the source information.


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