Citation for a digital image provided by MN Historical Society Copy Service

Badger, you've done well. EE's only suggestion would be to eliminate the final layer "citing death certificate no. 13047, Saint Louis County" and place that data after the name and date for the deceased. That data is all part of what the database delivers, rather than being something extra that was provided by the Copy Service.

Clear, concise, but thorough.

Hello, I think I have a similar situation. I've been working on a citation to the death certificate of my 2nd great-grandmother, which I received as a digital image (attached) via email from the Ohio History Connection after ordering through their "Ohio Death Records Index" online. 

I have the revised 3rd edition of EE and really thought I was starting to get the hang of it, using 9.41 as a starting point (v1 below). Then I decided to check the EE forum, just to make sure I had the format right. I came across the above post by BadgerGenealogy and revised my citation (v2 below) but now I'm confused. Do I use v2 because to order the certificate I had to first access the index on the Ohio History Connection website? I have another death certificate, also ordered from Ohio History Connection but received as a photocopy. How would the citation to the photocopy differ from the citation to the digital image - would it then be v1 (except with "photocopy via mail" instead of "digital image via email") because the photocopy was physically mailed to me? Please advise.

Reference Note (v1)

Ohio Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, death certificate (uncertified), (file no.) 26699 (reg. no.) 947, Susie Wright (1956); Ohio History Connection, Columbus; digital image provided by Ohio History Connection via email, 20 September 2022, certificate identifier 1956056226-1956056227.

Reference Note (v2)

"Ohio Death Records Index," database, Ohio History Connection (http://resources.ohiohistory.org/death/search_dc.php : accessed 19 September 2022), Susie Wright, 6 April 1956, death certificate (uncertified), no. 1956056226-1956056227, Montgomery County; digital image provided by Ohio History Connection, Death and Vital Record, Research Services, email, 20 September 2022. Certificate no. is shown on the image itself as (file no.) 26699, (reg. no.) 947.

Hello, Findinganyroots,

Thanks for reopening this conversation. This is an issue I've been mulling since Badger made her post above, after which (in my own research) I've worked through variations of this with databases/processes provided by other states.

As a result, I'm going to modify Badger's format and suggest a combination of your two versions above. This format works with all the sites I've used thus far:

Ohio Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, death certificate (uncertified), State file no. 26699, Montgomery Co. Registrar no. 947, Susie Wright, 6 April 1956; image copy obtained via "Ohio Death Records Index," database, Ohio History Connection (https://resources.ohiohistory.org/death/search_dc.php : accessed 19 September 2022), certificate identification no. 1956056226-1956056227.

In brief:

• Layer 1 provides a full citation to the original image, created with details that can be gleaned from the image itself.
• Layer 2 (in gray) identifies the database and website through which the image is obtained, clearly separating the database's identification number from the identification numbers on the original document.
• The format is the same that we would use if we obtained the record through a database at Ancestry, FamilySearch or any other commercial site. One format should work for all, regardless of whether we obtain it from a commercial site or a government site. The process of obtaining the image does differ (an order from Ohio History Connection vs. an immediate download from Ancestry or FamilySearch), but the mechanical process of obtaining a document from a physical office or virtual site is a dynamic variable that is normally not part of a citation.
• With this format, a user of this citation has sufficient information to obtain their own copy from the website or through the Ohio DVS should the website cease to offer image copies.