Sources, documents, records, data, facts, information, evidence. They’re similar terms and can be easily confused. Of all these the most important is evidence. Knowing how to define, classify and use genealogical evidence is an essential skill for all family historians.
Building blocks
All family history research is based on three main building blocks: Sources, Information and Evidence.
Last month we talked about sources and how to classify them as Original, Derivative and Authored. We discussed that sources themselves aren’t information, they’re containers from which information is extracted. In considering information, we discussed how to classify each information item as Primary, Secondary or Undetermined. We highlighted the ability to have higher confidence in primary information and the need to corroborate secondary and undetermined information. This month we’re going to address evidence.
A definition of evidence
How do we define what ‘evidence’ means in genealogical terms? Let’s start with a dictionary definition:
“One or more reasons for believing that something is or is not true.”
Cambridge Dictionary. URL: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary.english/evidence, accessed 19 February 2023. That’s pretty good, but it isn’t specific to family history research. I searched online across all sorts of organisations looking for a formal definition of genealogical evidence. The only organisation I found which offers a definition is the US-based Board of Certification for Genealogists (BCG):
“A research question’s
