1940 U.S. Census Celebration!

In honor of the release of the 1940 U.S. Census, this site has been updated and a blank form is being provided that may be used for transcribing your ancestor's information. The blank 1940 Census form may be found by clicking here.

While you're visiting, be sure to visit the rest of this site and find out how easy it is to cite your sources. Enjoy!

Simple Citations

Citing genealogical sources for your family history shouldn't require a degree in rocket science or entail spending every waking moment trying to determine exactly how to document your materials. I created "Simple Citations" for my own use because all of the existing approaches require too much work, are fraught with ambiguities, and are far too confusing. It was also created to be used with RootsMagic, a program which, in my opinion, has the most well-designed user interface (although it's not perfect), is relatively (no pun intended) easy to use, and most important of all, allows me to document my sources consistently and with the least amount of effort. The approach advocated by Simple Citations can, however, be used in other programs but with the realization that they probably don't have a customizable template system for entering data consistently. Over the years, I've used many of the other programs out there and most are too complicated and confusing to use. I decided to create this site to help others understand how the Simple Citations system works.

In order to make this site as easy to use as possible, it has been divided into several sections:

• Overview: Provides basic information about Simple Citations.
• Templates: Although this page may be a bit technical, it explains how the templates were developed.
• Examples: Simple Citations is very easy to use, I have, however provided some examples for those who are visual learners.
• Download: This link will take you off this site to the templates that RootsMagic uploaded more than a year ago. Although I have made a few very minor (e.g., spelling) changes since then, these are the same files I've used for the past year.
• FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Links: Just a few links to other sites that may be of interest.
• About:
• Legal

Note:

This site is under development and, considering that I lead a very busy life, there are no promises as to when I'll update it. (I've been working on a Ph.D. for past five years, finished my coursework a year ago, passed both my written and oral exams, completed the lit review and methods section of my disseration. If all remains on schedule, I'll begin data collection by January 2013 and will be finished by spring 2013!) While I have researched my family history since the mid-1970s, I currently work on it when I get some "free time" (okay, I'm trying not to laugh), and as a form of stress relief.