Archival Citation Lesson Plan

Introduction:

In this exercise, students learn the basic process of identifying and recording collection information necessary for the creation of bibliographic citations.

Primary source learning objectives / outcomes (Society of American Archivists, Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy ):

1. Cite primary sources in accordance with appropriate citation style guidelines or according to repository practice and preferences (when possible).

Activities:

Guide students through the following two-part workflow:

1. Record your research notes on an item of interest.
   1. When you locate an item of interest, fill out a citation slip. Be sure to fill out all fields, including the series. Use the box label and the folder label to help you. Refer to the finding aid if you are unsure of any information.
   2. Place the citation slip next to the item of interest and take a photograph of the slip and item together. Now you have a record of the item and its location in the collections.
   3. Upload your photograph to Tropy, Evernote, or the online tool of your choice. Add annotations so that you remember why you found this item interesting.
2. Create a formal citation.
   1. Check your finding aid for the preferred citation for this collection. Copy this and save it in your research notes.
   2. Using our handout, add the item details, box, series, and folder number to the preferred citation information. Note that each style guide (MLA, APA, Chicago) formats archival citations uniquely.
   3. Show the citation to the instructor or librarian for approval.

Evaluation Methods(s):

To be determined by instructor

Handout: How to Cite Materials from Archival Collections

Your main goal when citing archival materials is to enable a reader to locate the item you’re citing. For this class, we will use The Chicago Manual of Style’s notes and bibliography, a standard citation style for historical research.

In practice, the structure of an archival citation can be ambiguous. The APA Publication Manual does not offer examples for unpublished sources. The Chicago Manual of Style does not include series, box, and folder numbers in its examples of notes citing archival materials, but it is best practice to include that information anyway—and to do so consistently across all citations.

Gather the Elements of a Citation

1. In the finding aid, look for the “preferred citation” information under “Information for Users.” Record the preferred citation in your notes for that collection.

For example, SCRC Collection MS2093, “Student Protest Collection, 1965-1980,” has the following preferred citation: Student Protest Collection, Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University.

2. For any citation, you will also need the following information:

1. 1. Author/creator
   2. Document title/description where no title is given
   3. Document date or [n.d.], if no date is available
   4. Series #, box #, folder #

Use your citation slip to record anything not visible on the document itself, then take a photo of the item and citation slip together.

Assemble the Above Elements as Prescribed for Chicago Manual of Style Notes and Bibliography

Note:

Author Name, Document Title/Description, Date, series #, box #, folder #, Collection citation as given in finding aid.

Bibliography entry:

Collection name. Repository name, university/institution, city, state.

Some Typical Item Descriptions

Letter: Joe Letterwriter to Joseph Recipient

Memorandum: Memorandum from Joe Letterwriter to Joseph Recipient

Photograph: Photograph of Joe Letterwriter and Joseph Recipient

Citation Slip: