1. How do you use Sources? To confirm validity of person data? To find relatives? Any other usage?
A source especially census, birth/ baptism, marriage, death and burial records, can also often provide place of residence, occupation, often names of relatives, plus others like witnesses to events, such as weddings, godparents who may or may not be immediate family members or relatives, but usually have some connection to the family. Evidence of where the family lived over a period of time. Which can provide clues to their financial situation, if on the first census on which they are found, they are living on A street, the next census on B street, if the census includes a description of the home and the house on B street is smaller than the house on A street, it might indicate that they had less money to spend on housing. If the head of household is listed as a lodger or boarder, at a different address to his spouse, is this an indication that they are separated, or is he living somewhere else temporarily for work related reasons.
2. Do you create Sources? Depends on what you mean by create:
If I find a record or information about a person or an event that is not found in the many commonly used source collections. For example; I have a 1970’s social studies textbook for kids about age 10, it includes an entire chapter on the 1830 founding and subsequent development of a small town in Ontario, it also includes information about the founders of the village and some of their descendants.
I can create a citation for it: Book Title, when and where published, pages within the book that I have used as a source of information for a particular person. Where I found the book (in my bookcase, is not useful) in a local library, or in this case it is also on Archive.org, but unless I provide a description of what type of information is included in the book, the fact that the book exists is not very useful. I didn’t write the book so I didn’t create it, but I can provide enough information that others who are interested in the same town or the people who lived there, can find the resource for themselves.
3. What is your most frequent kind of Source? Link to external site? Photo of the physical record? Something else?
A description of the source, such as 1871 Census of Canada, location X, page whatever, most of the time a link to the census page on a website, sometimes not if I have multiple census entries for the same person/family in the same place. Very seldom a photo or digital copy of the record. Occasionally I create a small table title it Baptism Record or other as required, and include in it the relevant information, the names, dates etc on the record and the actual source name as well, then take a screen shot of the document so it can be included on the profile as a photo. It works well if the original document is difficult to read, and also if the information on the record has been misinterpreted several times.
4. Do you prefer to source only "hard" data (origin of source, date of the event that is sourced, etc) or do you also include some personal data related to the sourced profile?
The story of the person is important, otherwise it just becomes a list of dates and places. Of course; it does depend on the date of the record, personal knowledge of events from many years ago is unlikely, but you can create a story about events that happened to someone. I have a family where 4 children died within 3 years from cholera, the 2 older children survived, the youngest child survived, it presents an opportunity to explain why the mother spent several months staying at a convent and the surviving children stayed with other relatives for the same time period.
5. Would you invite the possibility to share Sources between profiles? Let's say birth of the child is the event that is mainly relevant for the child, but the source also refers to parents and / or grandparents. Similarly census record refers to entire family living in the house in the point in time. Current solution doesn't allow to create (or later edit) 1 source and share it between profiles - each profile has it stored separately - if the mistake happens, each instance of the source must be fixed separately.
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. You can share sources between profiles, that is use the same source for more than one person, a baptism record that includes the name of the parents can be used as a source for both the child, the parents and the godparents, it could also be used as a source for the priest or minister who performed the baptism, and a source for where the various people lived and when. If the source is found not to belong to a person, or event it has to be removed from all people included in the event described.
6. Are there any issues with current Sources?
Sources are what they are, and they vary widely depending on the information given and the reliability of the original documents. As has been discussed many times, personal knowledge of events that happened before the profile manager was born or could possibly remember is not reliable. Unsourced family trees are not sources, even sourced family trees are not sources, it is the records attached to those trees that are the sources.
7. Would you suggest any changes about the sources?
Once again I’m not sure what you mean, what records are used? Whether the records actually belong to the profile, whether the source is accurate or reliable?
Edit to clarify which parts are my responses
