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I have my uncle's typed "AAF Officers' Qualification Record" from World War II; this document is signed in ink by my uncle. The form itself seems similar to a DD-214, listing his training, duty stations, next of kin, etc. How do I cite a privately held military personnel record?
Mary, have you tried EE 3.25,
Mary, have you tried EE 3.25, "Basic Format, Family Artifacts"? This is part of the "Privately Held Materials" section of the chapter on Archives & Artifacts.
Thanks for clarifying this.
Thanks for clarifying this. I kept vacillating between citing it as a military record or as privately held material.
Mary, the document itself is
Mary, the document itself is both a military record and a personal artifact. Many records have this dual nature. From a citation standpoint, the difference is custody. Given that the document is privately held, it would not be possible to cite it using a format needed for a military record that is held by an archives, For that kind of document, we would have to identify the file, the collection, the series, the record group, etc., in order to locate it again. For documents that are privately held, we need a different set of data for the "custody" issue.
I'm trying to understand the
I'm trying to understand the dual nature of some records. Since I personally obtained US Navy Personnel records from the military, would I cite those as military records using 11.32 Compiled Service Records, even though they were not from the National Archives? This document contains the personnel file, including enlistments, service records, misconduct reports, and discharge papers, of one US Navy officer. I'm thinking these could also be cited using 3.13 Basic Format: Artifacts. Which would be more appropriate?
Hiztorybuff: You do not say
Hiztorybuff: You do not say where you obtained the Navy Personnel records, only that they were not from the National Archives.
Provenance is a critical issue. Records held in a specific repository need to be cited to that repository, in a way that they can be retrieved at that repository—which means that your citation needs to identify the record by whatever file ID, collection ID, and record group names/numbers that repository uses. For example:
If your file did come from the NPRC-MPR, have you seen our existing thread on citing those files? https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/wwi-military-personnel-records-st-louis
I did see the thread you
I did see the thread you mentioned AFTER I posted this question. My records did come from the NPRC-MPR and I found your citation recommendation to be very helpful. My records were Navy records from WWI.