Genealogy’s Shift Toward Actual Source Documents:
Genealogy research is undergoing a significant transformation, with a strong pivot toward using actual source documents—the original records created at the time of an event—rather than relying primarily on derivative sources, indexes, or summaries.
Why the Shift Matters:
• Accuracy and Reliability: Source documents, such as birth certificates, census records, and wills, are less prone to errors and omissions compared to transcriptions or indexes. Each layer of copying or summarizing introduces the risk of mistakes, missing information, or misinterpretation.
• Deeper Insights: Actual records often contain details, marginal notes, or contextual clues that are lost in derivative works. For example, handwritten notes, corrections, and even the physical characteristics of a document can provide valuable genealogical evidence.
• Genealogical Proof Standard: The field increasingly emphasizes the use of sources as part of the Genealogical Proof Standard, which requires researchers to seek out the most reliable evidence available and to distinguish between original, derivative, and authored sources.
Augean is designed to meet the change with its unparalleled media and documentation integration.
Augean supports a wide range of formats, including PDFs, Office Documents (Word/Excel/PowerPoint), Audio, Video, and Images.
No other genealogical tool (to our knowledge) offers such comprehensive format support.
View PDFs
View word documents
See Media ⟶ Word Documents
View video
Add videos to your genealogy. Play each video to see a demonstration.
The media can be displayed next to the event.
Zoom in on the media.
Augean is visually accessible; you can zoom in on the media.
Right Click ⟶ View Media
