What is the Title?

By tmphelps on Thu, 02/04/2021 - 11:21

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This question would never have arisen if I hadn't seen the actual register.

I am working with the Parish Register of St. David’s Church (Creswell, North Carolina). The register was microfilmed by the North Carolina State Archives, and the film is available on FamilySearch (FHL microfilm 260514, item 1.) A few years ago I visited the church where the physical register is kept and photographed the contents before FamilySearch digitized the microfilm. When I was writing a document that references the register, I discovered that the FHL microfilm is incomplete: there is one section totally omitted, there is useful material handwritten inside the front cover that is missing, and the publisher's register title page is missing. While I can use the digitized copy at FamilySearch for most of my references, I want to separately refer to the physical register to inform my readers that there is additional information in it that does not appear in FamilySearch.

My question if how should I refer to the physical register, i.e., what do I use as the title? The register is a preprinted blank book supplied by the denomination that could be used by any local parish. The register contains a title page for the physical register book itself, followed by a preprinted title page that the local parish completes. Attached are two photos of the pertinent pages from the actual register. The first image in the digitized microfilm on FamilySearch is the second page in my file, and thus is the title for the register that I suspect most researchers would use in their references. But I also want to create a reference to the physical register. Do I use the title as found in the first page of my file as the title, or that in the second page, or do I somehow need to include both?

Or, as is very common, am I overthinking this?

Thanks,

Tom

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Title Pages.pdf

Submitted byEEon Thu, 02/04/2021 - 16:23

Interesting situation, Tom. If you cite the preprinted title page, your citation will convey an impression that you are citing a published source. EE would use the second page, as the title page, citing it as a manuscript register, then add a layer at the end to say something such as

... ; entries are recorded in a preprinted register published as [basic book citation for the rest of the entry].

 

 

Submitted byHendricksonon Fri, 02/05/2021 - 17:33

I have a similar question. The Tithe Applotment Books are on FamilySearch and I am not quite sure what to use for the title. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-J29M-Z5?cc=1804886

My assumption is that the Irish Church Temporalities Commission is the creator.

In attempting to create a title, I added the handwritten information in with the words Applotment Book and put it in quotation marks as in the example above. The date (1829) in on image 2 on an inside page. Does this work for layer 1?

Ireland, Irish Church Temporalities Commission, "Applotment Book, Parish of Forgney, Diocese of Meath, County of Longford" (1829), unnumbered pages, arranged by unalphabetized townlands, entry for  "Thos." Flood of Rath.

Submitted byEEon Fri, 02/05/2021 - 19:39

Hendrickson, given that this volume is part of a named database, the easiest way to cite it would be to cite the database, path, and waypoints:

"Ireland Tithe Applotment Books, 1814–1844," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-J29M-Z5?cc=1804886 : accessed 5 February 2021) > Longford > Forgney, 1829 > image 3, entries 19 and 20, Patt Muldoone.

Choosing this format means that whichever set of applotment books you use, you'll have just one master source.

Incidentally, I did not read all 19 images looking for Thomas Flood of Rath (your example), hence my use of the Patt Muldoone example on the first page. As a tip for the future, when we cite a register with unnumbered pages, we need to search for some means of identifying the exact page. In a database that contains just 19 pages, it's feasible to count them ourselves and then say "unnumbered p. __." (EE has examples for handling this in different ways at 5.19, 6.8, 6.34, 6.52, 7.8, 9.8, 10.45, 12.14.)

 

 

Submitted byTheCounton Sat, 02/06/2021 - 09:07
Thanks EE. I almost went down that path though I don't tend to lump my sources together. I figured since the title page existed I should be able to emphasize the image. This is certainly easier though.

Submitted byEEon Mon, 02/22/2021 - 09:15

That's a logical thought. Meanwhile, this source is another good example of why flexible approaches for citing historical sources are a good thing in the Internet age where any source can exist in various forms.