State issued vital record vs artifact

By jmguimond on Sat, 01/06/2024 - 16:55

Forums

I have 2 versions of my birth certificate that I am creating citations for as an exercise in understanding citation rules.  I would like some feedback about whether I am formatting the artifact version correctly.

Version 1:  State-issued photocopy of birth certificate with raised seal, supplied to me by my mother (artifact)

Source list

Oregon.  Division of Health.  Birth Records.  Vital Records Unit.  Portland.

Full Reference Note

Oregon Division of Health, Certificate of Live Birth, no. 12345 (1952), Suzy Q. Jones, Vital Records Unit, Portland; certified photocopy of original, issued Mar. 10, 1980, privately held by Suzy Q Jones, [address withheld]; supplied by Mom.

I have gone through EE and searched the forum here for examples.  My guiding principles:

  • This is an artifact, as it was issued to my mother and passed to me. 
  • Source list is based on the creator, not the repository
  • Citation Layer 1:  identify the document, using basic format for government-issued vital record, as all the information is visible on the document
  • Citation Layer 2:  ID where it is held and include the date the document was created/issued
  • Citation Layer 3:  ID who supplied the document

 

Then I put together version 2 and started to question myself.

Version 2:  Short form birth Certificate issued to me (based on EE 9.40)

Source list

Oregon.  Health Authority.  Birth Records. Center for Health Statistics. Portland.

Full Reference Note

Oregon Health Authority, Certificate of Live Birth (short form), no. 12345 (1970), Suzy Q. Jones; Center for Health Statistics, Portland.

 

My questions:

  • Are my guiding principles correct?  It looks a little weird to have different agency names in the source list, but the name changed.  The agency name on the image of the birth certificate is the same as the certification and stamp on the image, so the creator and issuer are the same for the artifact, but different for the computer-printed short form.
  • Should I have included the date the information was recorded?  I left it off because it isn't needed to locate the document, and it is shortly after the date of birth.
  • Does the description of "certified photocopy of original" make sense?  It appears the office photocopied the original and stamped it with a raised seal.  The text states that it is a "true, full and correct copy of the original certificate" and "not valid without raised seal."
  • I used birth records in the source, because that's how the website refers to them.  Should it be birth certificates instead?

Thank you for your input,

Jenn

 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 01/07/2024 - 09:22

Jenn, you've done exceptionally well. Your reasoning is sound. Your understanding of principles is sound. Your bullets 2 and 4 call for more specific responses:

Bullet 2: information from the certificate itself is generally recorded in our research notes. Our reference notes detail the points needed to (a) relocate the record; and (b) evaluate the record.  If there is something significantly unusual about the recording date, then we can always add that to our working citation.

Bullet 4: Website creators do not always identify records correctly. If the document states that it is a certificate, then that would be the better term to use.  For imaged birth certificates that you obtain from a website, your added layer for the website would identify its database by the label that the website applies.