Citation Entity

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Overview

A Citation entity represents a specific reference to evidence that supports genealogical conclusions. Citations link to Source entities and provide detailed information about where evidence was found, including page numbers and data dates.

Core Concepts

Citation vs. Source

• Source: A bibliographic resource (book, document, database, website)
• Citation: A specific reference to information within a source

One source can have many citations referencing different pages or sections.

Fields

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
Entity ID (map key)	string	Unique identifier (alphanumeric/hyphens, 1-64 chars)
source	string	Reference to Source entity

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
page	string	Page number or locator within source
data_date	string	Date the data was recorded (for documentary sources)
text_from_source	string	Transcription or excerpt from the source
locator	string	Location within source (e.g., 'Page 45, Entry 123', 'Film 1234567, Image 87')
repository	string	Reference to Repository entity
media	array	References to Media entities
notes	string	Free-form notes about the citation
tags	array	User-defined tags for organization

Usage Patterns

Simple Citation to Book

# citations/citation-book.glx
citations:
  citation-marriage-record:
    source: source-parish-register
    page: "125"
    text_from_source: "John Smith married to Mary Jones, 15 May 1850"

Note: The id is the map key (citation-marriage-record), not a separate field.

Citation with Online Source

# citations/citation-online.glx
citations:
  citation-census-online:
    source: source-ancestry-census
    data_date: "1851"
    page: "Schedule 7, piece 1123"
    locator: "https://www.ancestry.com/..., Image 87342534"
    text_from_source: |
      Name: John Smith
      Age: 35
      Occupation: Blacksmith
      Place of Birth: Leeds, Yorkshire, England

Citation to Archive Document

# citations/citation-will.glx
citations:
  citation-will-john:
    source: source-probate-wills
    repository: repository-probate
    page: "23"
    locator: "Item 1876/X/150, Film 100234"
    data_date: "1876"
    text_from_source: |
      I, John Smith, being of sound mind, do hereby
      bequeath all my goods and chattels...

Citation with Media References

# citations/citation-photo.glx
citations:
  citation-photo:
    source: source-photo-collection
    locator: "Album 1, page 5"
    media:
      - media-john-photo
    notes: "Photo provides visual evidence of person's appearance"

Citation in Assertions

Citations are primarily used within Assertions to provide evidence:

# assertions/assertion-birth.glx
assertions:
  assertion-birth-john:
    subject: person-john-smith
    claim: born_on
    value: "1850-01-15"
    citations:
      - citation-parish-birth
      - citation-census-birth
    confidence: high
    notes: "Primary source from parish register"

File Organization

Note: File organization is flexible. Entities can be in any .glx file with any directory structure. The example below shows one-entity-per-file organization, which is recommended for collaborative projects (better git diffs) but not required.

Citation files are typically embedded in assertion documents or organized by source:

sources/
├── books/
│   └── source-book001.glx
│       └── citations/
│           ├── citation-01.glx
│           └── citation-02.glx
└── online/
    └── source-ancestry.glx
        └── citations/
            ├── citation-01.glx
            └── citation-02.glx

Or more commonly, citations are referenced by ID from assertions.

GEDCOM Mapping

GLX Field	GEDCOM Element	Notes
Entity ID (map key)	(synthetic)	Not in GEDCOM
source	SOUR	Source reference
page	SOUR.PAGE	Page within source
data_date	SOUR.DATA.DATE	Date data was recorded
text_from_source	SOUR.TEXT	Transcribed text
locator	SOUR.OBJE.FILE, SOUR.REPO.CALN	Combined from multiple GEDCOM elements

Validation Rules

• Source ID must reference an existing Source entity
• Page information should be concise and meaningful
• Text transcriptions should accurately represent source material
• Repository, if specified, must exist

Evidence Hierarchy

Citations are part of the GENEALOGIX evidence hierarchy. See Core Concepts - Evidence Hierarchy for the complete evidence chain from Repository → Source → Citation → Assertion.

See Also

• Source Entity - Bibliographic resource
• Assertion Entity - Evidence conclusions
• Repository Entity - Where sources are held