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Hi,
I have a project where I need to include digital images of the original records. I therefore have to find out how to include the file name in the citation.
Let's say I went to Statsarkivet in Oslo, Norway, and made a paper copy of the record cited in EE, 2nd edition, page 364, scanned that copy to make in into a digital image named "Otto Pedersen 1855 vaccination.jpg", which I then finally sent to my client along with other images and my report. Would the following citation then be correct?
1. Fet Clerical District (Akershus County), vol. M I 10A, Section F, Vaccinerede [Vaccinations], unpaginated, entry 94, 3 August 1855, Otto Pedersen; microfilm, NOR 1-168, Statsarkivet, Oslo, Norway; digital image, named "Otto Pedersen 1855 vaccination.jpg", with citation appended, supplied by Lene Dræby Kottal, Odense, Denmark, 21 December 2015.
I will be copying several pages from the same church book and also from other types of records, so that I actually end up with a privately held collection of digital images. However, I have not been able to figure out whether I must cite these images as above or as part of a collection. I will only be keeping these files myself for 3 months after delivery. I make the collection and hand it over to my client, who can then save or delete the files as he chooses.
Any input on these issues will be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Lene D. Kottal
Lene, why would you need to
Lene, why would you need to cite yourself as creator of digital images that were made for you personally at the Statsarkivet, where you would have used the original? The normal practice is for you to cite what you used. That would be either the original register—or, if you were not allowed to see it but were given an image copy by the staff, it would be the photocopy supplied by the staff. Why add another layer to the citation?
If you now give a copy to someone else, then—yes—that person would identify you as part of the provenance of what that person received.
If you are preparing a research report with image copies attached, then the common approach would be (at the point in which you discuss the document in your text) to cite the document from the Statsarkivet in the report and insert a cross-reference saying, "See Attachment 1" (or Attachment 2, etc.). Then the attached document (whether the photocopy or a digital image) would carry a label that has the same citation you used in your report.
Thank you for your response.
Thank you for your response.
I usually also have to translate the records and then I cross-reference the file name in the translations appendix of my report. However, this particular client does not want translations. The translations are based on the image copy and not the original, but since I have taken the photo of the original myself, I have treated the image copy as an original. Of course I can do exactly the same without including the translation.
When writing the current report, I was suddenly in doubt as to whether I had done it correctly, but your answer removes that doubt.
Thank you!
Ah, yes, Lene. Where
Ah, yes, Lene. Where standards and best practices are involved, we do frequently second-guess our natural instincts.