Hello. I have started exploring my families history and I am new to Roots Magic. Mostly working with available information from Ancestry and so far using what I have learned from this forum and help files have managed to enter a lot of census data. I would like to cite some original military paper records of my fathers that I have to document his military service, but can't seem to find an existing suitable source template. I realize you can modify/create source templates, but would prefer to use an existing template for now. Would an "Artifact, privately held" template be appropriate for a document of this type or am I overlooking another template? Would appreciate any advise. Thank you.

Help With Source Template Selection
#1
Posted 30 June 2017 - 05:58 PM
#2
Posted 07 September 2017 - 04:10 PM
Sorry to see nobody has responded to you since you posted last June. :-(
Are the paper records copies of the official records provided him by the US military, or other non-official items?
"Artifact, privately held" is certainly a generic enough source type that you could use for pretty much any family heirloom, including military records. There's also "Miscellaneous Documents, Unpublished." Again, it's a generic item, though it also references film data and roll number in the template for some reason that I can't fathom.
If you're talking about his official service file there are a couple of them, though they point to copies of the filmed records. This is what you would get if you sent a request to NARA for copies.
Good luck! It's hard to pick a pre-existing template sometimes. Right now, I'm wrestling with records for the Azores (small Portuguese islands in the mid-Atlantic). They have filmed church records. But, there are no pre-existing templates that I like so I've decided to make one up, and then share it with others in the custom source templates page. But, making one just the way I like it is like pulling teeth. :-)