Citing search of entire website

By cryptoref on Sun, 01/10/2021 - 09:12

Forums

I've got a statement i'm making

In the Northumberland area there are numerous David Cockburn records in Tynemouth, North Shields, Wallsend, Wooler, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and others.

That obviously needs a source but it isn't for a single database or record it is from the entire website. So this is my attempt to cite the search.

FindMyPast, search terms, name >David Davidson Cockburn, birth year > 1803 +-10 years, location > Northumberland radius >100 miles, (https://www.findmypast.com : 1 December 2020), 130 results.

Source list

FindMyPast. Indexed databases. https://www.findmypast.com : 2020.

I certainly don't want to list all of the databases that went into the search :)

 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 01/10/2021 - 10:05

Cryptoref, remember the basic pattern for every publication we cite:

Author (if any), Publication Title (publication place : date), specific item.

Above, you have this:

[No author], Publication Title > specific item > specific item > specific item (publication place : date), specific item.

 

Submitted bycryptorefon Sun, 01/10/2021 - 11:20

Yeah i do get my order out of whack

FindMyPast,  (https://www.findmypast.com : 1 December 2020), 130 results, search terms, name >David Davidson Cockburn, birth year > 1803 +-10 years, location > Northumberland, radius >100 miles.

still leaving the source list as

FindMyPast. Indexed databases. https://www.findmypast.com : 2020.

and it's ok not to reference any of the individual databases, that's assumed (which is what scares me the whole point of citations is to remove assumptions).

 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 01/10/2021 - 18:07

Cryptoref, there's just one point left to nitpick. An extraneous comma appears between FIndMyPast and the open parenthesis. As a memory crutch here:

  • The purpose of parentheses is to link "something additional" (a descriptor, etc.) to what came before it.
  • The purpose of a comma is to splice or separate things.

If we put a comma before the parentheses, the two punctuation marks cancel each other out, purpose-wise.