Abstract verses Extract
by Lisa South, Certified Genealogist
The following article was written in the
December 2, 2005 OneGreatFamily newsletter. Since Lisa
is no longer writing for us, we are featuring some of
our favorite articles written by her.
One of my ancestors, William Keeling, had 4,000,000
deeds recorded in the Courthouse - OK, that's a lie, but
the number was staggering. Like all genealogists, I
prefer an original copy of any document, but sometimes
that is not reasonable or possible; the number of pages
of a document may be so voluminous that making a copy is
cost prohibitive and/or would make keeping the records
too cumbersome. When you decide not to make a photocopy
of the original you are faced with the decision of
whether to abstract the records or to extract them. Here
are a few guidelines that might help.
To extract means to copy something word for word,
although it may be just a section of larger records.
Most records should be extracted. Examples of these are
vital records, church records, tax lists, and
immigration records.
To abstract means to make an abridgment or summary by
copying down only the essential information from a
document. The original records may be many pages, but
the important data is so scattered throughout the
document that an abstraction would be best. Some of the
records that may fall into this category are land,
pension, and court records.
When you abstract a record, get all the important
facts. If you are not sure if something is important or
not, include it. Keep everything in first person; it
helps avoid misinterpretation if you are consistent
throughout. If you are careful and precise in your
abstraction, you can feel confident about your
information without all the expense and volume that
would be required to make a photocopy of that
document.
Every abstract and extract should include a complete
reference to its source. Many forms are available online
or at genealogical supply stores to help make
abstraction or extraction easier. I'm sure most of you
have used a census extraction form, but there are also
forms for land records, cemetery records, etc. I love
the census extraction forms, but prefer to
make my
own for everything else, because I know the way I like
those records abstracted - so if you don't find a form
you like, make your own!
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