Source Entity

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Overview

A Source entity represents an original document, record, publication, or material that contains genealogical information. Sources are the foundation of evidence-based research and form the middle layer of the evidence chain between repositories (where sources are held) and citations (specific references within sources).

Sources can include:

• Vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates)
• Census records and population registers
• Church registers (baptisms, marriages, burials)
• Military records and service files
• Newspapers and periodicals
• Published family histories and genealogies
• Wills, probate records, and court documents
• Land records and deeds
• Immigration and naturalization records
• Oral histories and interviews
• Online databases and digital collections

File Format

All GENEALOGIX files use entity type keys at the top level:

# Any .glx file (commonly in sources/ directory)
sources:
  source-parish-register:
    title: "St. Paul's Parish Register, 1840-1860"
    type: church_register
    authors:
      - "Church of England"
    repository: repository-leeds-library
    date: "FROM 1840 TO 1860"

Key Points:

• Entity ID is the map key (source-parish-register)
• IDs can be descriptive or random, 1-64 alphanumeric/hyphens

Fields

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
Entity ID (map key)	string	Unique identifier (alphanumeric/hyphens, 1-64 chars)
title	string	Full title of the source

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Source type from vocabulary
authors	array	Author(s) or creator(s) — personal names or institutional names
date	string	Date or date range of the source
description	string	Description of the source
repository	string	Reference to Repository entity
language	string	Language of the source
media	array	References to Media entities
properties	object	Vocabulary-defined properties (see Properties)
notes	string	Free-form notes

Required Fields (Detailed)

Entity ID (map key)

• Format: Any alphanumeric string with hyphens, 1-64 characters
• Must be unique within the archive
• Example formats:
  • Descriptive: birth-register, 1851-census
  • Random hex: a1b2c3d4
  • Prefixed: source-a1b2c3d4
  • Sequential: 001, 002

title

• Type: String
• Required: Yes
• Description: Full title of the source

Example:

title: "1851 Census of England and Wales"

Optional Fields

type

• Type: String
• Required: No (but recommended)
• Description: Classification of the source type

Common source types:

• vital_record - Birth, marriage, death certificates
• census - Census records and enumerations
• church_register - Parish registers, baptisms, marriages, burials
• military - Military service records, pension files
• newspaper - Newspapers, periodicals, gazettes
• probate - Wills, probate records, estate files
• land - Deeds, land grants, property records
• court - Court records, legal proceedings
• immigration - Passenger lists, naturalization records
• directory - City directories, telephone books
• book - Published genealogies, family histories
• database - Online databases, compiled records
• oral_history - Interviews, recorded memories
• correspondence - Letters, emails, personal papers
• photograph - Photo collections
• population_register - Civil population registers, household registration records
• tax_record - Tax rolls, assessments, tithes
• notarial_record - Notarial acts, contracts, legal instruments
• other - Other source types

Example:

type: church_register

authors

• Type: Array of Strings
• Required: No
• Description: Author(s) or creator(s) of the source. Maps to GEDCOM SOUR.AUTH.

Use for both personal authors and institutional creators:

Example:

# Personal author
authors:
  - "Elizabeth Shown Mills"

# Institutional creator
authors:
  - "General Register Office"

# Multiple authors
authors:
  - "Elizabeth Shown Mills"
  - "John Doe"

date

• Type: String
• Required: No
• Description: Publication date or date range covered by the source

Formats:

• Single date: "1851"
• Date range: "FROM 1840 TO 1860"
• Publication date: "2015-06-20"

Example:

date: "FROM 1850 TO 1855"

repository

• Type: String
• Required: No (but recommended)
• Description: Repository ID where this source is held

Example:

repository: repository-national-archives

description

• Type: String
• Required: No
• Description: Detailed description of the source content and scope

Example:

description: |
  Parish registers for St. Paul's Church, Leeds, covering baptisms,
  marriages, and burials from 1840 to 1860. Includes entries for
  families in the Wellington Street area.

language

• Type: String
• Required: No
• Description: Language(s) of the source

Example:

language: "English"

media

• Type: Array of Strings
• Required: No
• Description: References to media entities (scans, photos) of this source

Example:

media:
  - media-register-scan-page-1
  - media-register-scan-page-2

properties

• Type: Object
• Required: No
• Description: Vocabulary-defined properties for additional source metadata

The following are standard properties from the default vocabulary; archives can define additional properties by extending the vocabulary:

Property	Type	Description
abbreviation	string	Short reference name (from GEDCOM ABBR)
call_number	string	Repository catalog number (from GEDCOM CALN)
events_recorded	string[]	Types of events documented (from GEDCOM EVEN)
agency	string	Responsible agency (from GEDCOM AGNC)
coverage	string	Geographic/temporal scope
external_ids	string[]	External system identifiers
publication_info	string	Publication details: publisher, place, edition (from GEDCOM PUBL)
url	string	Web address where the source can be accessed online

Example:

sources:
  source-parish-register:
    title: "St. Paul's Parish Register"
    type: church_register
    repository: repository-leeds-archives
    properties:
      abbreviation: "StP-Reg"
      call_number: "PR/LEE/123"
      events_recorded:
        - "Baptisms"
        - "Marriages"
        - "Burials"
      coverage: "Leeds, Yorkshire, 1840-1860"

Usage Patterns

Vital Record

sources:
  source-birth-cert-john-smith:
    title: "Birth Certificate - John Smith, 1850"
    type: vital_record
    authors:
      - "General Register Office"
    date: "1850-01-15"
    repository: repository-gro
    description: "Original birth certificate for John Smith, born Leeds"
    language: "English"
    media:
      - media-birth-cert-scan

Census Record

sources:
  source-census-1851-yorkshire:
    title: "1851 Census of England and Wales"
    type: census
    authors:
      - "UK Census Office"
    date: "1851-03-30"
    repository: repository-national-archives
    description: |
      Census enumeration for Leeds, Yorkshire, England.
      Enumeration District 5, covering Wellington Street area.
    language: "English"

Church Register

sources:
  source-st-pauls-register:
    title: "St. Paul's Cathedral Parish Register, 1840-1860"
    type: church_register
    authors:
      - "Church of England"
    date: "FROM 1840 TO 1860"
    repository: repository-leeds-archives
    description: |
      Parish registers for St. Paul's Cathedral, Leeds.
      Includes baptisms, marriages, and burials.

      Coverage:
      - Baptisms: 1840-1860
      - Marriages: 1840-1860
      - Burials: 1845-1860
    language: "English"
    media:
      - media-register-volume-1
    notes: "Well preserved, some water damage to pages 45-50"

Published Book

sources:
  source-smith-family-book:
    title: "The Smith Family of Yorkshire: A Genealogy"
    type: book
    authors:
      - "Elizabeth Brown"
    date: "1985"
    repository: repository-family-history-library
    description: |
      Comprehensive genealogy of the Smith family of Leeds
      and surrounding areas, 1750-1950. Includes source
      citations and family group sheets.
    language: "English"
    properties:
      publication_info: "Yorkshire Genealogical Society, Leeds, Yorkshire. 1st Edition, 324 pages."

Online Database

sources:
  source-ancestry-uk-census:
    title: "UK Census Collection, 1841-1911"
    type: database
    authors:
      - "Ancestry.com"
    date: "FROM 1841 TO 1911"
    repository: repository-ancestry
    description: |
      Digitized and indexed UK census records from 1841-1911.
      Images and transcriptions available online.

      Subscription required for access.
    language: "English"
    notes: "Digital images of original records"

Newspaper

sources:
  source-leeds-mercury:
    title: "Leeds Mercury"
    type: newspaper
    authors:
      - "Leeds Mercury Publishing Company"
    date: "1890-06-15"
    repository: repository-british-library
    description: "Daily newspaper published in Leeds, Yorkshire"
    language: "English"

Oral History

sources:
  source-mary-smith-interview:
    title: "Interview with Mary Smith"
    type: oral_history
    authors:
      - "Jane Researcher (interviewer)"
      - "Mary Smith (interviewee)"
    date: "2020-03-15"
    description: |
      Oral history interview with Mary Smith discussing her
      childhood in Leeds during the 1940s and 1950s. Family
      stories, local history, and genealogical information.
      
      Duration: 60 minutes
      Location: Leeds, Yorkshire
    media:
      - media-interview-audio
      - media-interview-transcript
    language: "English"
    notes: "Recorded with permission, transcript available"

Source Types

Source types are defined in the archive's vocabularies/source-types.glx file.

See Vocabularies - Source Types for:

• Complete list of standard source types
• How to add custom source types
• Vocabulary file structure and examples

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.

Source files are typically organized by type or repository:

sources/
├── vital-records/
│   ├── source-birth-john.glx
│   ├── source-marriage-john-mary.glx
│   └── source-death-john.glx
├── census/
│   ├── source-1841-census.glx
│   ├── source-1851-census.glx
│   └── source-1861-census.glx
├── church-registers/
│   ├── source-st-pauls-register.glx
│   └── source-holy-trinity-register.glx
├── newspapers/
│   └── source-leeds-mercury.glx
├── books/
│   └── source-smith-family-history.glx
└── online/
    └── source-ancestry-census.glx

Relationship to Other Entities

Source
    ├── held in → Repository (via repository field)
    ├── referenced by → Citations (citations point to sources)
    └── documented by → Media (via media array)

Repository
    └── holds → Sources (sources reference repository)

Citation
    └── references → Source (via source field)

Media
    └── documents → Source (media can be scans/photos of sources)

Validation Rules

• title must be present and non-empty
• If repository is specified, it must reference an existing Repository entity
• If media array is present, all IDs must reference existing Media entities
• date should follow standard date formats (YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, or FROM YYYY TO YYYY for ranges)
• Type must be from the source types vocabulary

GEDCOM Mapping

Source entities map to GEDCOM source records:

GLX Field	GEDCOM Tag	Notes
Entity ID	@SOUR@	Source record ID
title	SOUR.TITL	Source title
authors[0]	SOUR.AUTH	Author/creator (first only in GEDCOM)
date	SOUR.DATE	Publication date
repository	SOUR.REPO	Repository reference
description	SOUR.TEXT or SOUR.NOTE	Source text/notes
properties.abbreviation	SOUR.ABBR	Short title
properties.publication_info	SOUR.PUBL	Publication info
properties.call_number	SOUR.REPO.CALN	Call number at repository
properties.events_recorded	SOUR.DATA.EVEN	Events in source
properties.agency	SOUR.DATA.AGNC	Responsible agency
properties.external_ids	SOUR.EXID	External identifiers (GEDCOM 7.0)

GEDCOM Example:

0 @S1@ SOUR
1 TITL St. Paul's Parish Register
1 AUTH Church of England
1 DATE 1840/1860
1 REPO @R1@
1 NOTE Parish registers for baptisms, marriages, and burials

GENEALOGIX Equivalent:

sources:
  source-st-pauls:
    title: "St. Paul's Parish Register"
    authors:
      - "Church of England"
    date: "FROM 1840 TO 1860"
    repository: repository-leeds-archives
    description: "Parish registers for baptisms, marriages, and burials"

Best Practices

Complete Source Documentation

Include as much bibliographic information as possible:

• Full title
• Author(s)
• Date or date range
• Repository location
• Repository catalog number
• Physical description (if relevant)

Consistent Citation Format

Use consistent citation styles within your archive:

• Follow established citation standards (Evidence Explained, Chicago Manual of Style, etc.)
• Document your chosen citation style in archive documentation

Source Characteristics

Documenting source characteristics in notes helps researchers evaluate evidence:

• Primary vs. secondary nature
• Original vs. derivative
• Completeness and condition
• Known limitations or biases

Digital Preservation

Link media entities to sources for digital preservation:

• Scan or photograph original sources
• Store digital copies with source metadata
• Include hash values for integrity verification

Schema Reference

See source.schema.json for the complete JSON Schema definition.

See Also

• Core Concepts - Evidence Chain - Understanding the evidence chain
• Repository Entity - Where sources are held
• Citation Entity - Specific references within sources
• Media Entity - Digital preservation of sources
• Assertion Entity - Conclusions drawn from sources