Are there more SOURCE templates we can use on our profiles ?

Question

My biggest interest would be in setting up wiki TEMPLATES for source citations loosely based on ES Mill's Evidence Explained  for the profiles of WikiTree .

I think  Lianne created a couple of them , i.e. {{citation needed}} which I adore . Are there more , Lianne ?

Can I help create them  ? How , when and where ? Thanks !

Comments

Whatever happened to this initiative?  I have been using the MLA citation template extensively, but it is for books.  Having nothing else, I have used it for periodicals too.  Hope this hasn't fallen by the wayside.

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Hi Vic,

The {{MLA citation}} template should be appropriate for Books, Periodicals, Journals, Newspapers, and most webpage citations.

There are also 2 templates based loosely on Evidence Explained which use the same parameters as the MLA citation template. One is formatted as a "reference note", the other is formatted as a "source list" entry. {{EE source}} and {{EE citation}}. Because they use the same parameters, if you have already entered data in MLA citation format and wish to change to one of the EE formats all you should have to do is change the template it calls.

There is also a template, again loosely based on Evidence Explained, for "reference note" formatting of Census data. {{EE censusf}}

All the above are documented OR linked from: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Source_Citations_Formatting

As you saw in the leaders discussion I had also mentioned the ability to create individual pages for sources that can be called as templates. Those pages can themselves use templates for formatting as I did with http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Burritt_Family_in_America and the specific template applied can be changed as a parameter when called so these 3 entries all produce different results:

{{Space:The_Burritt_Family_in_America|p=123|t=EE source}}

{{Space:The_Burritt_Family_in_America|p=124|t=EE citation}}

{{Space:The_Burritt_Family_in_America|p=125|t=MLA citation}}

While I have not created it yet, another underlying template such as {{EE citation2}} could be used to create a shorter (subsequent) citation. I had another idea related to this but have a question I need to answer before I pursue the idea.

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Since last summer when I first posted that question, I have been toying around with a MLA one myself now that you & Lianne, aka Template project, have shown us how it can be done. Not done yet but the possibilities are there !

Answer 1

I am not sure if this will help because they aren't templates, but rather, my list of on-line free resources.  Hope this helps!  Kitty's Library 

Comments

Thank you for posting this.  I think that I will find your library very useful!

Answer 2

I've never quite understood {{citation needed}}.

Surely if there is a fact, then there is a source. Otherwise how can it be a fact? If there isn't a fact, then it should be flagged as a probability/possibility.

Or am I missing the point?

Comments

Citation needed is really more for putting on others' work than your own. That way, you aren't deleting someone's information, you're just calling it into question and pointing out that it's unsourced.

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One could also put it on one's own work as a reminder that a piece of information needs citing.

I tend to use it when there is conflicting information about a person, or a person's origins/relations are in doubt.

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Thanks, Lianne, I hadn't seen it that way. Yes, it does make sense then.

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Jillaine, on your cases of in doubt, I make sure that I say so. But there are probably two different cases:

1. Where there is unlikely to ever be any proof.

2. Where you are still expecting some proof might materialise.

Answer 3

Not much has been done yet on this. I actually just started talking to Jillaine about this. I'll start including you in any emails on the topic!

Comments

In addition to coming up with something that will help peope add source data that would be displayed in standard format, we're also talking about templates for frequently used sources-- Great Migration Begins, for example. I, myself, look forward to writing simply {{source-gmb}} instead of having to type: Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins..., Boston, MA: NEHGS (1995). 

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Anything to make listing sources is helpful!  I actually have a little program on my iMac call "Stickies" that are nice little electronic sticky notes.  I have a whole list of "templates" that I can copy and paste to WikiTree as often as needed.  These include text such as:

"Please compare and merge Smith-45965 into Smith-1844 if you agree they are two profiles for the same person.  Thank you.  Kitty Smith" and

[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=XXXXXX Find-A-Grave Virtual Cemetery memorial #XXXXXX] in NameAndLocationOfCemetery.  In this example, I fill in the memorial number for the XXXXXX and the cemetery info.

The only problem with this process is that I deleted my great Stickie note with all my info, so now I am building a new copy and paste list.  Works well otherwise.

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Leaving aside the actual display format  (EE/MLA/APA) if we could try and make the wikitree source template conform to the wikipedia citation template (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation/core), that would be, IMHO, awesome!!!

My big reason is that some websites, such as openlibrary.org, which catalogue a ton of works, are starting to include wikipedia citations in addition to the JSON/RDF/OPDS type citations - this would allow citations to be copy/pasted directly into the bio without alot of re-typing.

As an example here is a copy/paste of the reference Jillaine mentions above:

{{Citation
        |publisher = New England Historic Genealogical Society
        |isbn = 088082042X
        |publication-place = Boston
        |title = The great migration begins
        |url = http://openlibrary.org/books/OL921528M/The_great_migration_begins
        |author = Robert Charles Anderson
        |publication-date = 1995
        |oclc = 33083117
        |id = 088082042X
        }}

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This looks good.  Related links on Wikipedia imply system load issues that Chris would need to consider.  I'm envisioning a citation committee or project that would start creating a library of such templates.  We can incorporate these discussions into the Style committee.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Rob.

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Jillaine...

Always happy to help...

I must admit I do not entirely understand your comment that "related links on Wikipedia imply system load issues'... but in all fairness I may be misinterpreting your meaning of related links, and am further fairly oblivious to how templates and scripting work in the first place.

My interpretation of "related links" (within the context of increasing system load issues) would be a back-and-forth communication from the wikitree server to the wikipedia server to 'look up' and serve each citation. If this is the issue, then perhaps I was unclear in my previous post when I said "starting to include wikipedia citations"; it may have been more accurate to say "wikipedia-formatted citations". The citation is entirely placed in a template on the profile - no back and forth. Within my limited knowledge of the processes involved, I imagine the server load for wikitree would not be substanially different from any other templates.

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Having created a couple of templates for my most frequently used sources, I'm definitly interested in being kept in the loop about this!

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I have started using EasyBib which is a free bibliography and citation generator and so fat it works for me.

The URL is:

http://www.easybib.com/index/index

 

hope this helps

Answer 4

I used this website a LOT when I was in graduate school, Citation Machine. You can choose which format you want to use (but they don't have Evidence Explained), plug in the information, and it creates the citation that you can copy and paste wherever you need it. Just my two cents! :-)