Citing Archival Materials

 
Remember to always keep in mind citation while researching primary sources.   Due to their nature, it can be often difficult to go back later to find again a document in order to cite documents.   The idea of a citation, of course, is to bring a future scholar (or your instructor) back to the same page of a document in which you have cited an idea, some data or a passage.  With archival collections, this is difficult because there are often no page numbers.  In cases such as these, we must describe the document well enough for someone else to find it again.  For a citation we start with the most specific information and move to the most general.   As a footnote or endnote use this format (this example is for correspondence).
             

 The form that your citation takes is determined both by where it appears in your paper and by the citation format required by your professor or research discipline. See the below for examples of citing archival sources using APA, MLA and Chicago citation styles.

Regardless of which format you use, citations of archival materials typically include six key elements:
 1.  Title: In absence of an official title on a  document, provide a short description of the document 
    Winnebago County Safety Report, January 1987          
    Letter from Morris Douglas to Jessica Harper, February 7, 1892        
 2. Name of Collection: Name of collections consists of the the official title from the catalog and the inclusive dates of collection. For public records, the name of the agency should be included. This informat can be found in the catalog and/or on the label of the box.
    Rod Serling papers, 1943-1971        
    Eau Claire City-County Health Department Minutes of the Board of Health         
3.  Call number: Unique internal number specific to the Archives. Found in catalog, label and often on each folder. 
    Winnebago Series 110        
    Wis Mss 73        
 4.  Box/Volume/Reel number: The number of the box in which the document is physically stored.  
 5. Folder number: the number of the folder in which the archival records is physically stored. When no  
    Box 12, Folder 13        
 6.  Repository and location: The formal name of the archives and its geographic location 
    UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, WI        
    Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI        
 
 

Examples 

        

APA Style

        
 
In Text Example with APA  Enclose the author of the document's surname and date in brackets (and/or the title if the author is unknown or you are citing multiple works by that author with the same date).         
      ... in her letter to  Lorinda Rhoades, her American penpal (Schneider, 1939), Schneider wrote of a growing concern in Germany...      
         
Reference Page Citations with APA Author of document [last name first]. (year month day). Title [description of material]. Name of collection (call number, identifier or box/folder/item number). Name and location of repository      
  Schneider, Suzi. (1939, October 24). Letter to Lorinda Rhoades from Suzi Schneider. Lorinda Rhoades Papers, 1936-1949 (Oshkosh MSS DJ, Box 1, Folder 9). UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.      
         

 Chicago Style 

        
 Footnote or End notes with Chicago  In the notes, first cite the specific archival record, followed by the date (day, month, year), identifier (box/folder/item number), name of collection, name and location of repository      
  Letter to Lorinda Rhoades from Suzi Schneider, October 24, 1939, Oshkosh MSS DJ, Box 1, Folder 9, Lorinda Rhoades Papers,1936-1949, UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.      
         
 Bibliography with Chicago  Cite individual items when you've referenced only a single item from a collection.      
   Schneider, Suzi. Letter to Lorinda Rhoades from Suzi Schneider. 1939. Oshkosh MSS DJ, Box 1, Folder 9. Lorinda Rhoades Papers, 1936-1949. UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.      
         
   If you reference multiple items from a collection, cite the collection as a whole: Collection name, reference code. Repository, location.      
   Lorinda Rhoades Papers, 1936-1949, Oshkosh MSS DJ. UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.      
         

 MLA

        

In-text Citations with MLA

 

 MLA follows an author-page format for in-text citation. You should provide enough information within the text to enable readers to locate the full source in the Works Cited page and to differentiate between multiple works by the same author. Usually the author’s surname is sufficient, and/or the date and/or title when citing multiple works by an author or an item with no known author.      
      ... in her letter to  Lorinda Rhoades, her American penpal (Schneider, 1939), Schneider wrote of a growing concern in Germany...      
         
Reference-page Citations with MLA General format: Author (last name, first name). Title/description of material. Date (day month year). Call number, identifier or box/folder/item number. Collection name. Name of repository, location.      
  Schneider, Suzi.  Letter to Lorinda Rhoades. 24 October 1939.  Oshkosh MSS DJ, Box 1, Folder 9. Lorinda Rhoades Papers, 1936-1949. UW Oshkosh Archives and Area Research Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.