How can I find the sources used for information contributed to WT?

Question

For example, in the profile of President Abraham Lincoln or anyone, how do I see the sources used in the relationships, shown, such as son, brother, husband, father, and died?

Answer 1

An unfortunately frequent occurrence in WikiTree are profiles with an assumption of facts (let's not address outright errors here). This is not supposed to be the case but WikiTree only enforces proper sourcing for pre-1700 profiles. 

In the example of Abraham Lincoln someone has merely attached to his birth an archives.com profile which has not a single source for its "genealogical" statements. In my view, this should not occur on Notable profiles but it does (and far too often). And, since President Lincoln is a post-1700 profile WikiTree sourcing criteria don't require that genealogical connections and statements be supported by primary source evidence. Perhaps the Notables Project could consider holding all notable profiles to the pre-1700 sourcing standards.

The only way I have found to combat this problem is to be thorough in my own sourcing and when feasible to enter sources in other profiles that lack them.

Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.

Comments

And way too many people think it’s fine to just copy from (or refer to) Wikipedia or Find a Grave for a Notable profile.

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Unfortunately, a Wikipedia entry only is considered adequate justification for a profile to be considered Notable and yes people just copy/paste.

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I certainly do not deny the problems mentioned by T, Kathie, and M, but I do question whether the Abraham Lincoln profile constitutes a good example.  Both the profile and the Wikipedia article have humongous lists of sources and references.  Unfortunately many of them on the profile are ancestry.com sources, but still, you could head off to your library with the list and a big notebook in hand and spend weeks researching this one notable.

If Dick is perhaps asking which items in the sources list support which facts, there is even quite a bit of that kind of association in the profile -- the sections on Ancestry, Descendants, and Timelines all point to specific sources for listed events.  So in many cases I think the answer is there, and the solution to "how do I see them?" is click the link, or Google the title, or go to your library and ask the librarian for help if necessary.

What would you folks do differently with Abe's profile?  How do you think the data should be presented, or should different data be presented?

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But surely there are some primary sources for the facts associated with Lincoln, censuses, marriages, birth records, etc.  All the citations seem to be secondary sources, maybe they are good ones which have sources, clearly some are not, but facts should be sourced back to the original record, not to a secondary source unless that's the only place a fact is recorded.

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The think I like best about WikiTree is that when I notice a profile that may not be sourced with the primary or best sources, I can add the sources that I have access to that would improve the profile and support the info in it.  I can add links to a record or even just better worded source to the profile that I feel would make the source more findable.  Not everyone has access to the same sources, so more is usually better, so if the edit button is an option, I can make it better with my resources.

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Could we please at least remove (from Lincoln's profile) the references to US Data Collections and the Millennium File?  I shudder every time I see those.

Answer 2

As a very notable person who has been heavily written about and extensively sourced, Abraham Lincoln is not a typical case.  In general, though, if there is a statement in the bio concerning the relationship you are interested in, there might be an inline citation associated with the statement.  Then you can just click on the little superscript number (like the 2 after Abraham Lincoln in the Family History section of his profile).  That takes you to a footnote down below and you can click on the source associated with that number (in this case 2).

If inline citations are not used, then you should look to the sources down at the bottom the profile.  Usually you can tell if something is a birth, marriage, or death record or it might be labeled as such.  For example, see:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kreitinger-5

Of course, in some cases, possibly too many, relationships have been inferred from census records, Find a Grave, family trees, etc. 

Comments

As noted above in an answer, item [2] in the Lincoln sources goes to an entirely unsourced archive.com page which is of no value.

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T, I think you're referring to the Abraham Lincoln Genealogy link at archives.com.  (Archive.org is the Wayback Machine, among other things, and archives.gov is the National Archives.)  Archives.com is a commercial site (which I think is now owned by ancestry.com) that requires a subscription.  If you have one, there's a "View Records" link on the page that claims to take you to more than 14,000 sources.  I agree that like all those other ancestry sources, it would be better to list real records, but in the case of a notable like Abe, I can understand why the authors would look for a more concise summary.

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Yes, that was to read archives.com. With someone of Lincoln's stature I believe it is imperative that WikiTree use direct primary sources if it is to be taken seriously. Just as one  example, Scotland Project has spent (and continues to spend) huge amounts of time correcting profiles of people deemed Notable with links to summaries that are chock-full of misinformation.

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Colleen answered my question specifically. Thank you (and the other contributors). I have been checking the superscripts and sources given in many profiles.

I too feel that many sources given in profiles are unreliable. I liked T Stanton's example of archives.com. Other WTers singled out these unreliable sources: Wikipedia (lists sources to check, tho), FAG, and Ancestry.com. Good info at https:///www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Reliable_Sources

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@Dick   WikiTree has some very specific instructions around Post-1700 profiles and sources.   I do not want you to be mislead that every profile on WikiTree should be sourced completely.   That is an ideal situation.   Please make sure you read through https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Sources_FAQ#Why_are_unreliable_sources_allowed_for_post-1700_profiles.3F

Answer 3

I assume you don't have access to ancestry, and that is your question. How can I view sources from paid sites.

Once the information is spelled out for your review, you don't have to see the source. Most of the sources you could simply Google and find a free source to view. For example, they cite ancestry for Abraham Lincoln in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. If you put that in Google, you will get the free version.