Genealogy Standards: Millenium Edition
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Genealogy Standards - Board for Certification of Genealogists
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www.turnerpublishing.com
Library of Congress Caologing-in-Publication Data
The BCG genealogical standards manual
p. cm.
Includes index
ISBN 0-916489-92-2
1. Genealogists—Certification. 2. Board for Certification of Genealogists (Washington, D.C.)—
Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Board for Certification of Genealogists.
(Washington. D.C.)
CS8.5 .B38 2000
929’.1--dc
21 00-023694
Copyright © 2000 Board of Certification of Genealogists
P.O. Box 14291
Washington, D.C. 20044
Published by Turner Publishing Company
with permission of ncestry.com
All rights reserved.
Board for Certification of Genealogists is a registered service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, a District of Columbia not-for-profit corporation. The following are service marks fo the corporation, used under license by board-certified associates after periodic competency evaluations: Certified Genealogist, CG; Certified Lineage Specialist, CLS; Certified Genealogical Records Specialist, CGRS; Certified Genealogical Instructor, CGI; and Certified Genealogical Lecturer, CGL. Other service marks for former categories that have been consolidated, including CALS and CAILS, may remain in use for the remainder of current five-year certification periods.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages for a review.
9781618589583
First printing 2000
10
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH STANDARD
TEACHING STANDARDS
GENEALOGICAL DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
APPENDIXES
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
WHEN STANDARDS Apply
Genealogists adhere to principles of competence, regardless of whether the results of their studies are communicated orally (in lectures and courses) or in writing (published in print or electronic format, privately circulated among family members or correspondents, reported to clients or employers, or placed in one’s own research files). These standards of competence extend to all phases of a research project:
Collecting the information;
Evaluating the evidence; and
Compiling the results.
They also apply to all phases of teaching activities:
Lecturing;
Presenting classroom sessions; and
Preparing written instructional materials.
They apply, also, to participation in the kinds of continuing education that raises the skill levels of individuals and of the field as a whole.
THE BCG GENEALOGICAL STANDARDS MANUAL
Since its foundation in 1964, the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) has promulgated—in lectures and publications—attainable, uniform standards of competence and ethics that have become generally accepted throughout the field. The present publication is designed to clarify, codify, and organize the standards and make them readily accessible to all. It is organized in four sections, the first three of which address standards for researchers, teachers, and ongoing skill development. The fourth section consists of a series of appendixes that provide information about the Board and example reports and compilations. The last section is a subject index to the text and to concepts illustrated in the examples.
The Manual, which originated as a proposal brought to the trustees by Thomas Jones and a series of drafts submitted by Helen Leary, is the result of more than three years of concentrated work by trustees, officers, and associates of BCG. Their names are listed below—in recognition of their heroic dedication to the realization of this manual and their unwavering support of the standards it reflects.
Mary McCampbell Bell, CALS [now CLS¹], CGL
Bettie Cummings Cook, CG
Joan Ferris Curran, CG
Donn Devine, CG, CGI
Kay Haviland Freilich, CG
George B. Handran, CG
Marty Hiatt, CGRS
Kathleen W. Hinckley, CGRS
Henry B. Hoff, CG, FASG²
Kay Germain Ingalls, CGRS
Thomas W. Jones, CG, CGL
President, 1999-
Lynn C. McMillion, CAILS [now CLS]
Brenda Dougall Merriman, CGRS, CGL
Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
Joy Reisinger, CG
William Bart Saxbe, CG, FASG
Elisabeth Whitman Schmidt, CALS [now CLS]
Kip Sperry, CG, FASG
Beth A. Stahr, CGRS
Additional information about the Board is provided in Appendix A. Its code of ethics is included in Appendix B.
Helen F. M. Leary, CG, CGL, FASG
Editor
February 2000
RESEARCH STANDARD
THE GENEALOGICAL PROOF STANDARD
The ultimate goal for all genealogists is to assemble (and perhaps share with others) a reconstructed family history that is as close to the truth as possible. In order to achieve that goal, we adhere to an overall standard by which we measure the credibility of the statements we make about ancestral identities, relationships, life events, and biographical details.
This credibility standard is called the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). We use the GPS, also, to assess the reliability of genealogical statements other people make, whether they relate to our families or to their own.
Meeting the Genealogical Proof Standard is a five-step process:
We conduct a reasonably exhaustive search in reliable sources for all information that is or may be pertinent to the identity, relationship, event, or situation in question;
We collect and include in our compilation a complete, accurate citation to the source or sources of each item of information we use;
We analyze and correlate the collected information to assess its quality as evidence;
We resolve any conflicts caused by items of evidence that contradict each other or are contrary to a proposed (hypothetical) solution to the question; and
We arrive at a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.
Meeting the GPS does not require—or ensure—proof beyond the shadow of a doubt, but an objection that something else could have happened
is insufficient to discredit our own or another person’s conclusions. Genealogists recognize, however, that any statement about ancestors, even if it meets the GPS, is not absolute or