Citing a digitized Image Copy of a Church Record Book from Archion

By KatharineS on Sun, 01/23/2022 - 18:37

Forums

Hello!

 

I have looked for a birth record for one of my ancestors for about a year and a half and I finally found it on Archion!  I also found records for her parents and brothers and sisters there so I want to make sure that I have a correct understanding of the citation for these records before I gather all of them.  I am not sure I am putting the correct information for the Record component of the Source List Entry for this particular group of records.

 

Source List Entry

Schledehausen Evangelische Kirche (Schledehausen, Niedersachen, Germany). Niedersachen: Landeskirchliches Archiv Hannover, “T 1853-1884.” Browsable images. Archion. https:// www.archion.de/de/viewer/?no_cache=1&type=churchRegister&uid=305827 : 2022.

First Reference Note:

1.  Schledehausen Evangelische Kirche (Schledehausen, Niedersachen, Germany), “Geberts- und Taufbuch der Parochie Schledehausen fur die zeit 1 Januar 1853 bis 41 Dezember 1884” [Birth and Baptism book for Schledehausen Parish for the time 1 January 1853 until 31 December 1884], p. 71, “Maria Louise Buschmann” birth, 4 October 1860; accessed as “T 1853-1884,” browsable images, Archion (https://www.archion.de/de/viewer/?no_cache=1&type=churchRegister&uid=305827 : 23 January 2022), path: Niedersachsen: Landeskirchliches Archiv Hannover > Kirchenkreis Georgsmarienhutte > Schledehausen > T 1853 -1884 > image 74 of 479.

 

In the information box for the entry, Archion lists the "Archiv" as Neidersachen: Landeskirchliches Archiv Hannover.   I don't know if Niedersachsen: Landeskirchliches Archiv Hanover, "T 1853-1884" is clear enough in my Source List Entry as there could be other books named T 1853-1884 within that larger Hannover group of records but for a different district.  Archion used the T to stand for Taufe [Baptisms] and did not put any further identifiers on any of the titles they created for the different books. There are no collection titles like "Parish Records for Schledehausen", just the path and the Archiv listing from the information box.  The district for the church in Schlederhausen is Georgesmarienhütte, as shown in the path for the First Reference Note.  Should I include the district of Georgsmarienhütte as part of the Record in my Source List Entry?  Thank you!

 

Katharine S.

 

Submitted byEEon Mon, 01/24/2022 - 09:36

Katharine S., your URL leads me to Archion’s home page, not to the exact image. From the home page, by injecting “Browse” into the path you give, I can then follow the path down through “T1853–1884.”  I cannot proceed further to explore “T 1853-1884” or the cited image without a subscription to the site. 

Even though I am blocked, there are several points we can discuss.

Layer 1

The format of your First Reference Note appears correct for that type of source.

Layer 2

This is the layer in which you cite the website at which you accessed images of the register. The format for that is this:

“Title of Database,” type of database, Title of Website (URL ) Path: Waypoint > Waypoint > Waypoint, Etc. > image.

The issue here is the entity you have placed in the field for the title of the database:  "T 1853-1884."  That entity is not the title of the database. It is just one waypoint along the path. Often with browsable images, as in this case, the website does not identify a database title. Instead, we are given a “Browse” tab or button.

When we eliminate the “Title of Database” field from your citation, what we are left with is this:

imaged at Archion (https://www.archion.de/de/viewer/?no_cache=1&type=churchRegister&uid=305827 : 23 January 2022), path: Browse > Niedersachsen: Landeskirchliches Archiv Hannover > Kirchenkreis Georgsmarienhutte > Schledehausen > T 1853 -1884 > image 74 of 479.

Source List Entry

In asking about your Source List Entry, you state, “there could be other books named T 1853-1884 within that larger Hannover group of records but for a different district.”

You are right. Other districts could have the same titled books. However, the waypoint “T 1853-1884” is not a book. It is an archival designation and a waypoint ID created by the archives. If it were the name of a book, then it would not be cited in the layer where you cite the website.

Your question here pivots on the same issue that caused you to stumble in Layer 2.  The fact that the website has no formal database title (for this set of images) is also the root of your puzzlement about the Source List Entry. You are trying to put something into that citation field when the website’s structure has nothing to put there. As with all citations, if the "standard format" includes a field for which our particular source has no data, then we simply drop that field from the citation.