Citing microfilm at a library

By Anonymous on Mon, 03/14/2016 - 09:56

Forums

If I am citing a microfilm of a newspaper, which microfilm is held at a library, should I put a semicolon between the microfilm name/box label and the library? Here is my citation. Should there be a semicolon before "Greenfield Public Library"? Note, the original newspapers are not at the library (the library did not know their whereabouts).

A trivial question perhaps but cannot find the specific answer in EE. Thank you.

           1.  “Born,” Gazette and Courier, Greenfield, Massachusetts, 28 January 1884, p. 3, col. 3; microfilm image, Gazette & Courier Jan 1882–Dec 1888, Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, Massachusetts.

 

Submitted byEEon Tue, 03/15/2016 - 10:59

Ann, your punctuation works fine because the microfilm seems to be film held by the library as a preservation copy. If the microfilm were published, then that second layer of the citation would cite the publication—in which case your reference to the library where you used it would be non-essential.

Incidentally, there are a couple of ways in which you might tweak the citation:

  • When we need to add the town, state, or both in which a newspaper is published, the convention is to put the location in parentheses rather than set it off by commas.
  • In your second instances of "Gazette & Courier," the newspaper name needs to be italicized and the abbreviated months need the traditional periods. If you are quoting the wording exactly as it appears on the box (hence the lack of punctuation for the abbreviations and the absence of the traditional comma between the newspaper name and the dates), then the words you are quoting should be in quotation marks.

Thank you -- this is very helpful! Especially bullet #2 -- I was not sure how to cite the box label. Bullet #1 I knew but had mis-typed it and forgot to correct. My apologies.

Ann

Submitted byOhiogirl48@gmail.comon Mon, 11/14/2022 - 17:22

What are the elements needed to cite an obituary in a newspaper that is microfilmed and stored at a public library?