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Source Clipboard


   The Source Clipboard is a feature in Legacy that can tremendously increase the efficiency with which you document the sources of the information you enter into your Family File.  The Source Clipboard holds a copy of the source citation you are currently working from.  You can then record the source of each piece of information by simply clicking one button.  Optionally, each source clipboard can hold up to five different citations which can all be pasted at once.  This feature used to be in a previous version of Legacy and is now back by popular demand.

Legacy can store up to 10 different Source Clipboards allowing you quick access to each one. You can quickly switch between sources when assigning sources to the details for one or more individuals. Use saved Clipboards when you have two or more individual sources you often use and want a quick way of choosing which is used for each fact or event.  (See Saving a Source Clipboard, Loading a Saved Source Clipboard, and Quick-Loading a Saved Source Clipboard at the end of this help topic for more information. 

You can set or change the master source citations by clicking the Step 1 link in the header area, Click here to select or change the master source to cite.  (See Master Source List for more information.)   The clipboard also holds the detailed information about where in the source the current information came from.  This is usually a page number, microfilm item number, etc.  The actual source text being cited can be entered on the Text/Comments tab.  You can also set the Surety Level for the source information.  This reflects your confidence in the accuracy of the information.  See Source Detail for more information.  In addition, you can enter a user file number to cross-reference the photocopies, extracts, and documents you find as you research your family.  To exclude a source citation on a report, uncheck the Include this Citation on Reports box.  To include the actual source text in citations printed on reports, check the Add this Text to the Source Citation on Reports box on the Text/Comments tab. If you want to be prompted for the Source Detail each time you use the clipboard, check the Prompt for Detail box at the bottom of the window.  This is a convenient way to cite sources that are on many different pages of a document.

Adding Multiple Sources to the Clipboard
The ability to place up to five source citations on the clipboard is optional in Legacy.  The option is set in the 7. Sources section of the Customize Legacy screen which is reached by choosing Customize from the Options tab on the Ribbon bar.  Scroll down to the 7.5 Source Clipboard - Capacity box and select the allowance of only one or up to five sources at a time on the clipboard.  (When you paste a source clipboard with multiple sources on it, all the sources (up to five) are added.  It doesn't matter which tab is current - all the source on the tabs with the asterisk (*) are pasted.)

When you have entered the current source information, click OK to return to the entry form.

Using the Source Clipboard
Perhaps some examples will help to illustrate the value of this feature:

You have just been to the local library and found a book that contains a lot of information about your ancestors. Page 211 of the book contains the following text:

James Michael Martin Sr. was born on the 23rd of December, 1762, in Hackensack, New Jersey. On the 16th of May, 1784, Jim married Sarah Rebecca Gilbert somewhere in rural Bergen County, New Jersey, and they had the following children:

1.  James Michael Martin Jr. Born 30 Apr 1785 in Hackensack. He married Ida Fredricks, daughter of Henry R. Fredricks and Millie Andrews, on 25 Dec 1806. Jim Jr. died in 1838 in New York, NY.
2.  Sarah Martin Born 22 Jun 1786 in Hackensack, NJ. Died young and was buried in Hackensack.
3.  Rebecca Martin Born 8 Sep 1788. Married William Demarest in about 1807. They had six children. Becky died 15 Oct 1867 and was buried in Ohio.

As you enter the information for each person on this page of the book, you should record the source of the information. Let's go through the steps:

On the Individual's Information window, enter the information for James Michael Martin Sr. 
When you have finished, but before you click Save, set up the Source Clipboard with the source information. Click the Source Clipboard button. 
First make an entry in the Master Source List about the book we are using. To do this, click Click here to select or change the mastersource to cite to bring up the Master Source List window.
Click Add to display the Add a New Master Source window.
Choose the source template to use and then click Go to Step 2
Enter the source information into the template fields.  
Save the master source and Select it for use in the Source Clipboard.
In the Detail Information section, fill in the details fields.  (If there is more than one source on the clipboard, fill in the detail fields for all the sources.)
Set the surety level to reflect your confidence in the accuracy of this information.
Click Save to close the Source Clipboard and return to the Information screen.

Now you are ready to assign the source citation to the information you have entered for James Michael Martin Sr. You have three choices from the Individual's Information window:

You can place the cursor in the Given field and click the button to assign the source to just that piece of information. Place the cursor in the Birth field and click again. Continue doing this in each field on the window to assign the source from the clipboard.

Or, you can click to have Legacy automatically assign the source to every field on the Information form that is not blank.  (This also includes all events in the event list.)

Or, you can click and have the source assigned to the general Unspecified category for this person.

Option 1 is used when you return to add a newly found piece of information to an individual at a later time and want to assign a different source citation to that entry specifically.

Option 2 is generally the best and fastest method to use when entering information for an individual for the first time. 

Option 3 is used if you are not interested in keeping specific source information for each type of event for an individual, but just want to record the source in one place.

Saving the Source Clipboard
If you find that you are reusing a particular source citation or set of citations, you can save it (or them) to disk for use in the future.  Up to ten different citation sets can be saved.  To save a citation set, click the Save Citations to Disk... button after loading the desired master source and filling in the detail fields.  When the Save Source Clipboard window appears, select one of the ten save positions by clicking on it.  Next, enter a name (up to 40 characters) in the Name field to describe the setup and then click Save.

Loading a Saved Source Clipboard
If you have saved one or more Source Clipboards, you can quickly load them back in by clicking the Load Citations from Disk... button.  When the Load Source Clipboard window appears, highlight the entry you want to load and then click Load.  (Or just double-click on the entry.)  The citation is loaded from disk and is placed on the clipboard.

Quick-Loading a Saved Source Clipboard
There is another quicker way to load clipboards that have been saved.  On any screen with a Source Clipboard button, , right-clicking the button displays a shortcut menu containing the names of all saved clipboards.  You can then simply click the citation you want and it is instantly loaded and ready to use.

Note:  You can also Quick Copy a source citation from any individual, loading it into the Source Clipboard.  See Quick Copy Existing Citations to the Source Clipboard on the Citing the Sources of Your Information topic for instructions.

Shortcut Keys for the Source Clipboard
There are shortcut keys available when assigning source citations from the Source Clipboard.

Alt-1   Opens the source clipboard.  (Same as clicking )
Alt-2   Assigns to the current field.  (Same as clicking )
Alt-3   Assigns to all non-blank fields.  (Same as clicking )
Alt-4   Assigns to the Unspecified area.  (Same as clicking )

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