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ADAC-Genealogy 1.0 — Field Vocabulary Guide (Practitioner Edition)

Audience: Professional genealogists, lineage researchers, local historians, archival staff

This guide is written for domain experts. It keeps plain-language explanations up front and restores complete controlled-term listings in appendices.

A. Practical interpretation

Use record type to describe what the source is.
Use source classification to describe whether the source artifact is original or derivative.
Use evidence classification and information classification to document proof reasoning.
Use legibility and damage types to explain limits in extraction quality.

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B. Complete vocabulary listings and definitions

B.1 Record Type (`sourceCitation.recordType`) — open set

Term	Definition
`birth`	Birth record or certificate.
`death`	Death record or certificate.
`marriage`	Marriage record, license, or certificate.
`census`	Census enumeration.
`immigration`	Immigration, naturalization, or passenger list.
`military`	Military service, draft, or pension record.
`church`	Church record (baptism, burial, confirmation, etc.).
`probate`	Probate, will, or estate record.
`land`	Land, property, or deed record.
`tax`	Tax record or assessment.
`newspaper`	Newspaper article, obituary, or notice.
`directory`	City directory, phone book, or business directory.
`slaveSchedule`	U.S. slave schedule (1850, 1860).

B.2 Source Classification (`sourceCitation.sourceClassification`) — closed set

Term	Definition
`original`	Source created at the time of the event being researched.
`derivative`	Later copy, transcript, abstract, index, or compilation.

B.3 Evidence Classification (`evidence.classification`, `genealogy:person.evidenceClassification`) — closed set

Term	Definition
`direct`	Source explicitly states the researched fact.
`indirect`	Inference/correlation with other sources is required.
`negative`	Absence of expected information is meaningful evidence.

B.4 Information Classification (`informationClassification`) — closed set

Term	Definition
`primary`	Information recorded by eyewitness/participant.
`secondary`	Information recorded with second-hand knowledge.
`undetermined`	Informant knowledge status is unclear.

B.5 Legibility (`genealogy:condition.legibility`) — closed set

Term	Definition
`clear`	Fully readable without difficulty.
`partial`	Partially readable with effort.
`poor`	Mostly unreadable but some text discernible.
`illegible`	Completely unreadable.

B.6 Damage Types (`genealogy:condition.damageTypes[]`) — open set

Term	Definition
`torn`	Physical tear in the document.
`faded`	Ink or print has faded.
`waterDamage`	Water damage causing staining/warping.
`fireDamage`	Fire or heat damage.
`foxing`	Brown spots from oxidation.
`mold`	Mold or mildew damage.
`insectDamage`	Insect damage (bookworm holes, etc.).
`bleedThrough`	Ink bleeding through from reverse side.
`binding`	Text obscured by binding edge/gutter.

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