How Do We Handle Document Labels?

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We’ve all heard the advice: full citations should appear on every photocopied or scanned document and every page of a research report. It also matters where, exactly, we place that label.

To avoid altering the face of a photocopy, some researchers place the source label on the blank back side. Many archives do also. We all know what happens, then, as that photocopy goes into circulation. Someone in the circulation chain fails to copy the reverse of the record. From that point on, the document has lost its identity. It's a nameless face, like those old photographs we find in archival collections or an old-timer's shoebox.

When a document has been scanned, some researchers use the scan's cryptic digital-file name—even the URL for an online image— as a quick substitute for a real source label. Let's ignore the obvious for a moment (the identification is not sufficient) and look at the problem that lurks behind that one. As the file is distributed electronically, others in the chain are likely to change the file label to suit their own filing system. Once again, we've lost even those skimpy clues to the original source.

The generally accepted "best practice" today is to use the margin of the image—the front side of the document—to add a citation in full Reference Note format. That way, the document is never separated from its ID. If the margin doesn't give us adequate space, we have technological tools to help us. We can use a photocopier’s reduction feature to decrease the image and enlarge the margin just enough for a source citation. If we're working with a digital scan, we usually find a size-adjustment feature in our image editing software, along with an annotation tool that allows us to type a full citation into the margin of the digital image.

Other problems occur when researchers type their handwritten research notes or reformat notes they had entered into their laptop or mobile device while on site at a repository. To save time, they may identify the archive or library on just the first page of the report. Or, when an abstract runs onto a second page, they may identify the abstract only at its beginning. Once the notes are reduced to hard copy, those sheets of paper will inevitably become shuffled and individual sheets will stray into other files. Even if the data remain in electronic form, any reorganization will likely separate one note from another, creating mystery objects out of some valuable notes.

As the old saw goes: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!