Footnoting vs. Common Sense
Footnoting and a Bibliography are a means of documenting the source used. In high school I bought a book on how to do footnotes, Research Papers by William Coyle, 1959.. It was necessary to look up the format of a footnote to figure out what type of source it was. . Cite Your Sources by Richard Lackey has been a long time expert. More recently Evidence: Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian was published in 1997 by Elizabeth Mills which attempts to differentiate the same type of source according to technology. The author suggests one format for snail-mail, a different format for e-mail. Why? They are both letters. One is delivered by the Post Office, one is delivered by the computer. Should there be another format for old letters delivered by the Pony Express?
And I have to admit that I just learned something from Ted Pack. Underlining was always used to indicate a book. Always. But not on a computer. An underline indicates a LINK. So now I use italics to indicate a book. My old teacher, Mrs. Evans, must be rolling in her grave!
There are two reasons for having a Bibliography and Footnotes. 1. To supply your source as proof for the information that you are providing.. 2. To enable someone else to find that source (and you too, again, for that matter). So you need to provide sufficient information to answer those two goals. But the style was developed by and for educated men who had too much time on their hands and wanted to impress each other. The colon means something. The semi-colon means something else. I say nonsense. Documentation should be easy, not complicated. I propose something straight-forward, clear and concise without reliance on obscure abbreviations and punctuation. Just SAY what it is. It's a book. It's a letter. Now isn't that simple?
And (Sic) means the error occurred in the original source. If you don't use (sic) then the error is yours. And if you "correct" the error you are meddling with the Prime Directive by changing History. And Captain Kirk would not approve.
Suggested Headings:
Letter. Written by: Written to: Date:
Book. Title: Author: Publisher: Date: Library: Call Number: (Add page for footnote)
Interview: Who: By: Where: When:
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FOR A BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Book. Moondust by Andrew Smith, pub Fourth Estate in New York, 2005. Rockford Public Library 629.45 SMI11/05
Book. Queen Mary 1867-1953 by James Pope-Hennessy pub. by Alfred Knopf in New York, 1960. Personal Collection.
Cemetery Record. for John Smith by Grand Haven Cem Sexton Paul Jones, Grand Haven, Mi, 8 Jun 1985
Census. 1894, State of Michigan, Kent County, Wyoming Twp, Page 1, Line 1, "Josph (sic) Smith"
Census. 1880, United States, Michigan, Kent County, Paris Twp, Pg 1 Line 20, Dwelling 8/Family 10, "Jos Smith"
Death Certificate. Kent County Clerk, #14689 "Mary Smith" 3 Jan 1902
Interview. James Fox by Barbara Vander Mark in Grand Rapids, MI on 10 May 1868
Letter. Written by Barbara Vander Mark, Grand Rapids, Mi to Georgeanna Tucker, Peoria, IL 2 June 1976
Letter. Written by Barbara Vander Mark, Babs27@charter.net to Georgeanna Tucker, Georgieboy@avl.com 7 May 2004
Letter: Written by Daniel Boone to his sister, Susan Jones. Manuscript Collection at Bradley University, Peoria, IL.
Obituary. Grand Rapids Press. "Mary Smith" 4 Jan 1902 Pg 6, Col. 3
Tombstone Reading. DAR 1929. Manuscript collection at GRPL.
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FOR FOOTNOTES
1. Census. 1880, United States, Michigan, Kent County, Paris Twp, Pg 1 Line 20, Dwelling 8/Family 10, "Jos Smith"
2. Book. Queen Mary 1867-1953 by James Pope-Hennessy pub. Alfred Knopf in New York, 1960. Pg 148
3. Death Certificate. Kent County Clerk, #14689 "Mary Smith" 3 Jan 1902
4. Cemetery Record. John Smith, Grand Haven Cem Sexton, Grand Haven, Mi, Jun 8, 1985
5. Tombstone Reading. DAR 1929 Manuscript collection at GRPL.
6. Interview. James Fox by Barbara Vander Mark in Grand Rapids, MI on 10 May 1868
7. Obituary. Grand Rapids Press. "Mary Smith" Jan 4, 1902 Pg 6, Col. 3
8. Letter. Written by Barbara Vander Mark. Written to Georgeanna Tucker. 2 June 1976
9. Census. 1894, State of Michigan, Kent County, Wyoming Twp, Page 1, Line 1, "Josph (sic) Smith"
10. Book. Moondust by Andrew Smith, pub Fourth Estate in New York, 2005. Rockford Public Library 629.45 SMI11/05
And when the footnote refers to additional information about someone in the book, the whole name should be repeated in the footnote not "She" or "Mary". Just in case someone, like I do, reads the whole chapter then reads all the footnotes. Then it's She or Mary who?
Or you can do it the official way http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php
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