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What is a "long-form" birth certificate? It's the document you see at top, which the White House released on Wednesday morning to squash any rumors that President Obama was not, in fact, birthed on American soil, as opposed to a Certification of Live Birth, or "short-form" birth certificate (above), which Obama's campaign released in 2008 when these inane "birther" questions first started cropping up.

But what's the difference between the two documents? Well, the long-form certificate looks nicer, and it has handwritten signatures, but beyond that, not a whole lot. Both are issued by a state's health department, in this case Hawaii's, to prove a person's birth there, and both require the person's permission to be released publicly. The long form is "generally an image of the original record, and contains all the legal (non-medical) information, including hour of birth and name and signature of attendant," says Zoe Tobin, a deputy press secretary at the New York City Health Department. The shorter form, on the other hand, is a "computer-generated abstract of the facts of birth printed on security paper." Basically, the shorter form is more efficient because it can be drawn from a database rather than photocopied from the original certificate.

Is there any time you need a long-form birth certificate? You can use a short-form birth certificate for most purposes, including obtaining a driver's license or passport. But there are particular times when the long form is required, such as "for foreign adoptions or applications for dual citizenship," says Tobin. Also, genealogy experts really like them, presumably because they're weird and very detail-oriented. (In case it wasn't already clear, you also don't need one to be president.)

Then why all the fuss over Obama's birth certificate? Both documents serve as legal proof of the president's birth in Hawaii, but as the president himself said, there is a "segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest." For the rest, hopefully, this is over.

So was he born here? Really now?

Paul Schrodt is a freelance writer and editor covering pop culture and the entertainment industry. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Men's Health, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles magazine, and others.

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