Funeral Programs and Cards

By Anonymous on Wed, 06/14/2017 - 19:14

Forums

Dear Editor;

I have received an email from the Librarian/Archivist of a small local history museum. The email contains several first generation images of original Funeral Programs and Cards that are part of the archives of the local history museum. The Librarian/Archivist performed the digitization himself. To create the references, would one use the QuickCheck Model for "PRIVATE HOLDINGS: ARTIFACT" (p. 105) and show the Librarian/Archivist as the compiler? How would I account for seeing the image and not the original, or is that not important?

Submitted byEEon Thu, 06/15/2017 - 09:01

History Hunter, we would use "Private Holdings: Artifact" for instances in which we (or some other individual) holds the original artifact in private possession. The essential details for citing that situation are different from citing an image copy of something held in a public facility anyone can visit and search for themselves. Ideally, the museum staffer who sent you the image copy identified the file, box, and/or collection in which the item is archived. If not, you have two options:

  1. The best approach would be to email the staffer back and ask. (Too many staffers of courthouses and archival facilities assume that family researchers "just want a copy" and don't realize that most try to apply sound research principles.)  
  2. Use one of EE's several models for citing imaged materials provided by libraries, archives, and agencies—e.g., 4.11, 4.14, or 4.15. To this, you might add a statement that the staff person did not identify the file in which these documents are maintained.

Submitted byHistory Hunteron Fri, 06/16/2017 - 08:44

Dear Editor;

I'll have to use option 2, since the local history museum is very small and has just started the process of cataloging their archives of Funeral Programs and Newspaper Obituary clippings. I know the archivist and I'm sure he will let me know the assigned reference numbers, when they are available. For the moment, the best I can do is to note the information that unambiguously identifies each item and to document the repository (museum name and address).

I'll take a look at the sections you noted under option 2 and select the one that seems the best fit. Would you be able to provide me with a reference to an example of adding comments, such as one to document the lack of a file reference?

Submitted byHistory Hunteron Fri, 06/16/2017 - 11:45

Dear Editor;

I looked at the suggested sections of Evidence Explained and none really seemed to fit. However; I've tried to "shoe-horn" the data into the something patterened after EE 4.15.

Josie Mabel Reierson Funeral Program, 8 November 1997, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Naicam, Saskatchewan; unindexed digital image supplied by Naicam Museum, naicammuseum@gmail.com; to <addressee>, [EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] 6 June 2017.

where:

  • <addressee> is the addressee name used in the email.
  • [EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] is printed by the genealogy program in place of the actual email address of the addressee

Note that the date is that of the funeral and the church name is where the funeral was held and also the author of the program.

Could you give me some feedback on this, please?

 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 06/18/2017 - 09:08

A splendid job, History Hunter. For the original record, you stated the basic who, what, when, where. For the image, you've identified the provider, it's "address," the person to whom it was provided, the date it was provided, and where it is now found.

The only tweak EE would make would be to remove the capital letters from "Funeral Program." As in ordinary writing (in English) words are not capitalized unless they are part of a formal title.  If the funeral program itself carries a title that reads "Josie Mabel Reierson Funeral Program," then you would use the capitalized words, but you'd also put the whole thing in quotation marks because you would be quoting the exact title on that record.

As for an example of added comments, EE has many of them; but their wording will vary according to the circumstances. You should choose the wording that best describes the situation.

Submitted byHistory Hunteron Sun, 06/18/2017 - 12:31

Dear Editor;

Thank you for your kind words. I think I am beginning to understand how to construct the reference notes.

I have an actual title shown on this particular funeral program, so I'll use the quoted text form. However; sometimes, because of formatting, it's a judgemt call as to what constitutes the complete title. In this instance, what I consider to be the complete title spans three lines and reads;

Funeral Service in Loving Memory of
JOSIE MABEL REIERSON
1898 - 1997

Would it be correct to show with an added comma (as follows), since the noted birth and death years seem to be part of the title and yet somehow conceptually separate from the rest?

"Funeral Service in Loving Memory of JOSIE MABEL REIERSON, 1898 - 1997," 8 November 1997, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Naicam, Saskatchewan; unindexed digital image supplied by Naicam Museum, naicammuseum@gmail.com; to <addressee>, [EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] 6 June 2017.

where:

  • <addressee> is the addressee name used in the email.
  • [EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] is printed by the genealogy program in place of the actual email address of the addressee

Submitted byEEon Mon, 06/19/2017 - 13:27

Yes, History Hunter, you may correct the punctuation.  As stated in EE 12.26 Titles, Punctuation & Capitalization:

"... titles often do not follow standard rules of punctuation or capitalization. Many typesetters omit punctuation marks at the ends of lines when they set a title on the cover or the title page. If you convert that layout to a citation without adding the punctuation, the result would be poor grammar or syntax. In other cases, the author may have used personal preferences rather than standard conventions. You may silently correct punctuation and capitalization problems in your source citation. Simply use correct procedures for the language in which you are writing."
 
We might nit-pick one point: The phrase "unindexed digital image" implies that there's some master index at the museum from which this has been omitted. Based on what you describe a couple of messages above, "digital image of uncatalogued item suppplied by ... " would possibly be more precise.