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I am looking at QCM on p. 105 (3rd ed.).
My question is about my father's birth certificate (deceased), which is privately held by mother. I have a photograph of this document.
I am trying to write a citation for this, and have so far come up with the following:
Source List:
New South Wales, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages. Certified copy of birth certificate. 22 January 1997. Privately held by name of person, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Town, State of person. 2018.
Full Reference Note:
Name of person, certified copy of birth certificate, 22 January 1997; citing registration no. 4041 (1933), district Hornsby; privately held by name of person, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] town and state of same person. 2018. Photograph of original document held by my name.
Because of the 100 year privacy rule, this certificate can only be obtained by the person to whom the birth relates to &/or their parents. There are other caveats in place for a solicitor, power of attorney, guardian etc to also obtain the same.
Could you give me your opinion about the above entries. Is it usual/unusual or not required to add the; citing registration no. 4041 (1933), district Hornsby. I feel if I do not add those details, my reference note does not provide any details about my fathers actual birth. I added the note: Photograph of original document held by my name, as I want to be clear what I actually have in my possession.
For a birth certificate,…
For a birth certificate, privately held, Robyn suggests:
1. Name of person, certified copy of birth certificate, 22 January 1997; citing registration no. 4041 (1933), district Hornsby; privately held by name of person, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] town and state of same person. 2018. Photograph of original document held by my name.
Hmhh. Let’s ask a couple of questions here.
To state the obvious, you have two basic things to identify here.
The QuickCheck Model on p. 360 provides a basic template for citing a birth certificate.
1. Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, birth certificate 107-53-001504 (1953), Edward Devine; Office of Vital Statistics, Dover.
The substitution of your data would generate this for layer 1:
1. [AGENCY NAME], birth certificate no. 4041 (1933), district of Hornsby, [PERSON'S NAME]; …
EE 3.25 provides a basic template for citing any privately held artifact:
1. Betty Block tea towel, Block Family Collection; privately held by Wilma Washington, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, 2000.
The substitution of your data would generate this for layer 2:
1. …; certified copy dated 22 January 1997, privately held by [NAME], [ADDRESS for PRIVATE USE], [CITY, STATE], 2018.
In this case, you’re adding a third layer to indicate that you hold a photograph. Combined, the citation would be this:
1. [AGENCY], birth certificate no. 4041 (1933), district of Hornsby, [PERSON'S NAME]; certified copy dated 22 January 1997, privately held by [NAME], [ADDRESS for PRIVATE USE], [CITY, STATE]; photograph held by [NAME], [ADDRESS for PRIVATE USE], [CITY, STATE], 2018.
Incidentally, when a template carries an instruction within editorial brackets, that is an instruction, indicating that something needs to be substituted there. Those capitalized words that are placed within the brackets should not be part of the actual citation.
Examples in EE include:
The phrase [NAME] is an instruction telling users to substitute the name of the person. The phrase [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] is an instruction telling users to insert the owner’s actual address in that spot, but that the address is only for private use—i.e., it's not to be included in a published citation because of privacy issues.
Dear Editor, Once again…
Dear Editor,
Once again your detailed instruction for what I am trying to cite, has been extremely helpful. Previously I did not even understand that the phrase [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] was not to be included. Thank you for spelling that out so clearly.
I have revised my entries, and after looking at the document once more, I come up with:
Source List:
New South Wales. Principal Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages. Birth Certificates. Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, Sydney.
Full Reference Note:
New South Wales Principal Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, birth certificate 4041 (1933), registration district: Hornsby, name of my father; Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, Sydney; certified copy dated 22 January 1997, privately held by name of my mother, Town, State; photo of original document held by my name, Town, State, 2018.
Short Note:
New South Wales birth certificate 4041 (1933), RD: Hornsby, name of my Father.
I have been trying to add more bookmarks in the ADE version I have of your book, to enable me to go back & study the examples provided for various records. This was the first time I have needed to cite something that is privately held - and I can clearly see now, that I made a complete mess of it :-).
Thanks again, for explaining everything so clearly.
Robyn
Robyn, citing a published…
Robyn, citing a published book or article is easy. Past that, everything gets complicated—which is why most citation managers don't handle all the unpublished manuscript material used by genealogists and historians!
“Because of the 100 year…
“Because of the 100 year privacy rule, this certificate can only be obtained by the person to whom the birth relates to &/or their parents.”
My understanding is that this rule only applies while the person is still alive.
My nephew recently obtained a copy of his deceased father’s birth record in Western Australia. He had to provide his own birth certificate and a copy of his father’s death certificate. Those two certificates proved that (a) this person was his father and (b) his father was deceased so he had no trouble getting a copy of his father’s birth certificate. He wouldn’t have been able to get a copy if his father was still alive or if he didn’t have proof his father was deceased.