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Summary: Every family historian should own this one!
Review: Elizabeth Mills's Evidence! is the best single source for genealogical documentation. Every genealogist should be required to own it.Information technology has made the exhange of family "research" so much easier in recent years. Everyone wants to be a family historian! Unfortunately, way too many are clueless when it comes to documenting their work. It is all but impossible to go behind the majority of today's internet genealogists and review the proof of their research. In most cases, you may as well start completely over, you can't locate a thing based upon the sources they provide. :( This is an EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT little book and everyone tracing their family history ought to keep one on their desk - and refer to it again and again. I found Mill's book concise, easy to follow, and invaluable for documenting correctly all those tricky sources particular to family history. Buy one!
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Summary: Absolutely essential for any genealogist
Review: Every serious family researcher should be not only aware of, but thoroughly familiar with, the late Richard Lackey's _Cite Your Sources,_ which, on its publication in 1981, quickly became the Bible of genealogical source citation. Many, however, are not aware that Lackey was inspired by an article published more than two decades ago by Elizabeth Mills -- another name that all genealogists should be familiar with. Ms. Mills, one of our field's most popular and influential conference speakers, and for the past fourteen years the very capable editor of the _National Genealogical Society Quarterly,_ has steadily promoted the cause not only of improved genealogical writing but of the rigorous and systematic analysis of material that must precede good writing. This relatively brief and very accessible volume distills and codifies her advice in three main areas: the principles behind source citation, the formats in which citation should be cast, and the fundamentals of evidentiary analysis itself. "Effective citation is an art," she says, but it's an art that anyone may learn who makes the effort to understand the motivation for careful citation and the factors underlying the carefully thought-out formats she recommends. And whatever the source of information -- courthouse land records, family Bibles, cemetery markers, microfilmed census registers, unpublished manuscripts, electronic e-mail, or a videotaped family reunion -- you will find multiple examples of each in this book. Even more important, to my mind, are her thirteen concisely explained points of genealogical analysis, from the distinction between direct and indirect evidence and between quality and quantity, to the importance of custodial history and her reminder that "the case is never closed on a genealogical conclusion." For all these reasons, this book is a must-have for every genealogist (and historian, librarian, and archivist).
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Summary: Specifically written for family history researchers
Review: Evidence! Citation & Analysis For The Family Historian by experienced genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills is a very useful and "user friendly" guide specifically written for family history researchers and genealogists regardless of their experience levels. Evidence! is about the proper form, presentation, and documentation of source citations and drawing sound conclusions from often limited evidence. An absolute "must-read" for anyone devoted to putting together a genealogical history, Evidence! is an essential, core title for personal, professional, academic, genealogical, and community library reference collections.
Rating:
Summary: Specifically written for family history researchers
Review: Evidence! Citation & Analysis For The Family Historian by experienced genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills is a very useful and "user friendly" guide specifically written for family history researchers and genealogists regardless of their experience levels. Evidence! is about the proper form, presentation, and documentation of source citations and drawing sound conclusions from often limited evidence. An absolute "must-read" for anyone devoted to putting together a genealogical history, Evidence! is an essential, core title for personal, professional, academic, genealogical, and community library reference collections.
Rating: 
Summary: Falls short of expectations
Review: I have carried this book with me everywhere I've gone to do genealogical research. Taking the time to properly cite my sources as I gather them has saved me tons of time when going back over my notes. This book is well written, and the appendix with its clear examples is what I use most.
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Summary: Comment on Evidence! by Elizabeth Shown Mills
Review: I keep Ms. Mills's book next to me when documenting family history. As a person who has not done formal research, I did find some of the examples confusing, although there was a pattern to most of them as I tried to follow each type of cite. Not all situations are addressed; however, I was usually able to create a citation for each source. More examples addressing different situations and more samples of electronic citations would be most helpful. Also, consistent typesetting would be helpful (different types of print in different headings in some areas of the book). I appreciate the time and work Ms. Mills has put into the book.
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Summary: Good advice on documentation methodology; lacking in egs.
Review: Mills deserves the admiration and respect she has earned from her years of dedication to the field of genealogy. Her contributions are invaluable. And her knowledge of documentation methodology is exemplary. I wish genealogists were required to read this book before they start their endeavour. But her citation examples leave me dissappointed. I was looking forward to getting this book for the examples. They're not exactly what one would call comprehensive. And many of them, like the late Mr. Lackey's book, are superfluous. I don't know if the publisher pressed her for space or what, but I would like to see several examples for each type of source--given genealogical sources' uniqueness, it's a must. And more, I'm dissappointed at her deviations from long-standing citation practices in the field of history. It is this type of practice that still bars historians from accepting genealogists into their realm of study. As an avid genealogist and recent college graduate in history, I can attest to this personally. Documentation methods in the field of history are long-established and practiced in history departments the world over, as evidenced in the books and writings of scholars and in the many historical journals produced in this country. When will genealogy join the academic community on this matter? I can promise you it won't be on the part of scholars. Anyway, I'm most dissappointed at the lack of comprehensive examples. It is too delicate a matter for the genealogist to have to substitute their own source data into one example, when they probably obtained the info. in quite a different matter, and therefore has to guess what to put. And she sways way off base in regard to established historical practice in her use of semicolons within a single source--how is she going to account for another source for the same note? Every historian knows the semicolon, in documentation, seperates two or more sources within a single note. Things like that leave me hoping for the ultimate, comprehensive, yet unwritten documentation guide for genealogists, that will marry formats unique to genealogy to those of history, and that will include as many variations of citing a source as the researcher may need. But don't let this discourage you. Mills gives many excellent examples, and I commend her for it. I would buy the book again. At this point, with the scarcity of quality bibliographic and documentation manuals for genealogists, it's a must. I still reccommend it for every genealogist.
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Summary: Falls short of expectations
Review: This book is one of the better genealogy citation books on the market. I bought the book merely for examples, especially for help with new databases online. The examples that Ms. Mills gave are often hard to understand and few cover sources found on the internet.
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Summary: Easy reference for proper citations
Review: This is the premier book for easily finding the proper format for citing source documents. This is THE book to show you how to write your references for microfilm, online web sites, email, cemeteries and other sources of information you collect to document your family history. This book has many charts which show you exactly how to reference all of the research material you are likely to encounter as a genealogist or family historian.
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Summary: A good start but falls short on examples
Review: While this work addresses many facets of citing, the examples for actual citations fell quite short of the mark in my opinion. If your research includes extensive sources from the Family History Library, you may be dissapointed. While in theory the book addresses how to create a citation for a source in almost any circumstance, the practicality of constructing that source on your own requires prior knowledge of source styling. This work is wonderful if your sources are all American based, but I found it lacking where I needed it most, citing sources from other countries, especially when citing from filmed records. It is a very good starting point, and will answer many questions for most researchers, but it will NOT solve all your citing problems, and if your research includes many foreign sources you may find yourself still in the dark. I would like to see a revised edition, with many more examples and more attention paid to FHL sources, which are vast and varied.
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