State Highway Maps

By Anonymous on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 20:40

Forums

I'm struggling with the citation format for online state highway maps that are not reproductions from previous printed maps.

 

The map in question is the Washington State Highway topographical map located at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Publications/HighwayMap/view.htm. This map is no longer printed in paper format and distributed solely as an electronic map.

 

I studied EE 12.67 & 12.68 (v2012) as well as QuickSheet: Citing Online Historical Resources, but neither addresses this situation. I came up with the following citation, but I feel it’s not in the correct format.

 

FF:

“Washington State Highway Map, Topographical, 2011-2012,” Washington State Department of Transportation, digital image (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Publications/HighwayMap/view.htm: accessed 31 August 2013).

 

SF:

“Washington State Highway Map, Topographical, 2011-2012,” Washington State Department of Transportation.

 

B:

Washington. State Department of Transportation. (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Publications/HighwayMap/view.htm: 2013).

 

Thanks,

Michele

 

Submitted byEEon Sat, 08/31/2013 - 22:05

Michele, you have definitely found an item/media combination that's not covered in EE's 1100+ models. Let's go back to basics. According to EE 2.33, the basic reference note format for a website is this:

Basic format for website (EE 2.33)

"Name of Article/Database/Whatever," type of item, Creator of Website, Title of Website (URL : date accessed), detail you want to spotlight.

You have most of the components to follow this pattern, although the formatting leaves us fuzzy-minded over whether certain items represent a creator or a website title. (If the former, then the latter is missing.) Also, the title you have in quotation marks is not a title I see on the page you cite. (The principle here is this: If something appears in quotation marks, it means you have copied it exactly.) So, how would you fit your components into this framework?

 

It never even crossed my mind to use a website format (and I corrected my generic website template in my genealogy database immediately after posting this). How about this? I have used the title that is listed on the actual map.

The title Washington State Highway Map is the name of the webpage whereby you can access the View Map page and map archives. I also changed the URL to its page. Was that the right thing to do?

FF:

“Washington State Highways 2011-2012,” map, Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Highway Map(http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Publications/HighwayMap/default.htm : accessed 31 August 2013).

 SF:

“Washington State Highways 2011-2012”

 B:

“Washington State Highways 2011-2012.” Map. Washington State Department of Transportation. Washington State Highway Map. (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Publications/HighwayMap/default.htm : 2013).

Thanks,

Michele

 

Submitted byEEon Sun, 09/01/2013 - 08:56

Much clearer, Michelle.

Citing the "home page" rather than the "View and Print the State Highway Map" page is a good choice. Anyone who uses your citation can navigate from there, even if the site administrator tinkers with things.

One question: Where does the quoted title "Washington State Highways 2011-2012" appear on the map or on the cited page?

Submitted bymichelecolsonon Sun, 09/01/2013 - 16:03

"Washington State Highways 2011-2012"is the title on the full topographical or non-topgraphical map. It's on the lower right hand side of the map, so it's not visible on the section maps unless you downloaded that section where it is located.

The names on the cited page were "State highway map with shaded relief " and "State highway map with shaded relief " so I felt this was a better title. What do you think?

Thanks so much for the help on this citation. It seems so much simpler when you help me through it.

Michele

 

 

Submitted byEEon Mon, 09/02/2013 - 09:28

Michele, helping researchers think through their issues is what EE's all about.

Re your para. 1: That's what we suspected, but did not have the time to spend downloading all the many parts of the map. So, what about others who read your identification of the source? What about yourself at a later date after your memory has gone cold? Will others look for that title on the webpage, as a link to click for that specific map, and be flummoxed when they don't find it?

Considering that a citation is a trail of breadcrumbs to be followed when the record is needed again, do you feel your trail is self-explanatory or that a brief explanation in the first reference note might help? If so, you cold just put a semicolon at the end of the citation and say something such as "the map's title does not actually appear on the webpage, but is printed on the map itself."

Submitted bymichelecolsonon Mon, 09/02/2013 - 12:50

I see what you mean. I could change the title to "State highway map with shaded relief ", but then it would not be clear that I downloaded the 2012 map which likely will be available in the archives in future years. I'll do exactly as you suggest.

Thanks again for making me think critically about this, 

Michele