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I am writing a proof argument (for my own files and blog at this point) that relies in part on a diagram of a complex 5-generation network of marriages between the descendants of 3 "founders" across 5 states. I am struggling with documenting this thoroughly and efficiently without overwhelming the resulting diagram and the text of the argument. The diagram shows 19 marriages in 5 generations. I need to document all 19 marriages as well as the 34 parent-child relationships shown on the diagram and frankly I'm stymied. Would it be acceptable to use a public Ancestry tree to document the parent-child relationships (most of which are documented with a variety of indirect evidence) and reference notes to each individual marriage?
Heather, why not use ref…
Heather, why not use ref note numbers on the diagram, with an appendix that provides the corresponding citations? Given that your proof argument would use arabic numbers to document assertions in the narrative, the standard practice for the reference numbers on the diagram would be to use superscript a, b, c, etc., at each fact that needs documentation. For those instances in which the asserted detail is based on indirect evidence, you would need to cite the proof argument in which you have assembled that indirect evidence to make the case, posted online or wherever else it is accessible.
Ahh thank you. I was…
Ahh thank you. I was planning on superscript letters which I am also using in a descendancy diagram showing verified biological relationships. But I hadn't thought about referring to an appendix. That would definitely simplify things. I think sometimes we just get too close to a writing project and can't see all the options. Thanks again.