Citation Issues

I've been puzzling this source for some time and hope for input on this topic. The Notification of Birth Record notice that many of us have in our source collection was sent out by the Bureau of the Census and by individual states. These documents look official and give the birth registration number, but they are not an Official Certificate. How to cite?

After reading the first two chapters of EE again, I am now more confused by FTM's source citations, even though they are based upon EE. Am I correct in thinking that the FTM Source citation detail is the same as Source List Entry and that the FTM Source citation text is the First Full Reference Note?  I am having trouble with the entry fields on FTM and correlating them to get the appropriate citations according to EE. I was getting some elements correct, but missing others entirely. How do I add the phrase "accessed 24 Jun 2012" to be included within parentheses after the URL?

I am curious about citing Ancestry's Obituary Collection. Currently I am citing obituaries from this collection as an online database and when available image. For example:

United States Obituary Collection, database and image, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 June 2012), "Carol Anne Ice,", obituary, Kansas City Star (Missouri), 10 March 2011.

Since some of the links in this collection take you to an image of the newspaper, could you cite this similar to a newspaper citation? Something like:

Hello,

Although I've always prided myself on documenting my sources, your book introduced me to a whole new level of detail in citations. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge.

Even though your book has great and inspiring examples, I find myself struggling with citing transcribed records. I'm lucky enough to have ancestors from an area where a lot of genealogists have dedicated their time to transcribe or photograph records and provide free online access to their work.

ForceTrainer has raised an ever-timely issue.  Opening up an 885-page book can trigger an image of the old cliché: How does one eat an elephant?  The best way to take that proverbial "one bite at a time," where EE is concerned, would be this:

1. Read the first two chapters. Reread them. Learn them. These are the basic principles that apply to almost everything. Knowing these principles will serve you well through all your research and citation issues.

I've often wondered if I am citing images from Find A Grave correctly. Here is an example:

Findagrave.com, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 14 March 2011), entry for Claudia J. Esselstyn (1861 - 1862), Find A Grave Memorial #7,407,189, Aztalan Cemetery, Milford, Jefferson, Wisconsin. 

Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7407189

Questions:

I'm new to the world of genealogy research, and I found out about Evidence Explained through Family Tree Maker.  Since I wanted to do all of this right the first time I picked up a copy of Evidence Explained so my citations would be to a set standard.

One question I have is about the use of the word "stamped" when citing census records.  What exactly does this mean?  For example, on the 1880 census that I cite, the word "Page" is stamped, but the page number itself is handwritten.  Should I have "stamped" or "handwritten" after the page?

As I work my way through my piles of papers tracking down where they came from and creating citations I am in a quandary over this one. I have a copy of a "Common School Teachers' Term Report" I received the report from my mother, who copied it in the mid 1980's on a trip to Minnesota. I surmised that it came from the Stearns County History museum. This morning I phoned them to ask if these records came from them and what they were called for my citation. I was asked to send copies so they could look it up. I sent the copies and received the following for my citation:

As there are more than one loosely-termed "National Archives" in the world, what would the appropriate citation be where the Website Source has not specified which National Archives the record was found in, nor have they provided page or document #'s, etc?

The second edition of EE gives several examples for citing FamilySearch images, see pages, 53, 469, 500-01 and 598-99. It seems that FamilySearch has finally settled on the name FamilySearch. In the examples on 500-01 the phrase "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was added before the title of the website. The example on p 598-99 omits the above phrase. I am curious as to the reasoning behind adding the "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".