What am I Citing?

By Anonymous on Sun, 04/12/2015 - 00:11

Forums

What I have in my hands is a photo copy of a page from a compiled book of obituaries from a county in Ohio. The book is photo reproductions of the original newspaper obituaries clipped from a specific newspaper, not transcripions.

My question, of course, is the proper form of citation. One possibility is:

Mildred A. Bleigh and Mary A. Davis, compilers, "Rex Huffman obituary," Athens County Obituaries: January 1, 1970 thru December 31, 1974 (Athens, Ohio: no publisher, no date), p. 239; originally published in Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, 30 October 1972.

Is there a better way to handle this and is there a reference in Evidence Explained to cover this scenario?

Thanks,

Paul

Submitted byEEon Sun, 04/12/2015 - 09:08

Paul, you're almost there.  Bleigh and Davis compiled a book called Athens County Obituaries. They did not write something called "Rex Huffman obituary." That bit detail should not follow their name. It should be attached to the page number because it describes which item on p. 239 you are citing. 

Moving that one item gives us this:

Mildred A. Bleigh and Mary A. Davis, compilers, Athens County Obituaries: January 1, 1970 thru December 31, 1974 (Athens, Ohio: no publisher, no date), p. 239, image copy, "Rex Huffman obituary"; originally published in Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, 30 October 1972.

Note, also, the addition of the words "image copy," so readers of your citation will know that it is not a transcription.

Submitted byPaul Harrison Sun, 04/12/2015 - 09:54

Thank you. That is the refinement that I knew I needed, just wasn't sure what it was. Is this a scenario that is addressed in Evidence Explained, or is it one that we are to LEARN to address by reading EE in its entirety? <g>

Paul

Submitted byPaul Harrison Sun, 04/12/2015 - 10:45

In the process of adapting a Source Template in my software to this situation, it has raised an issue that leads to an additional question. I am comfortable that the following output is adequate to perform its role, except for the Short Footnote. I guess the question becomes one of how obligated are we to clarify in short footnotes, or is the reader expected to find the original citation for clarification.

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Footnote: Mildred A. Beligh and Mary A. Davis, compilers, Athens County Obituaries: January 1, 1945 thru December 31, 1949 (Athens, Ohio: n.p., n.d.), 172, image copy, "Guy Huffman, Former York Resident Dies"; originally published in Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, 30 October 1972.

Short Footnote: Beligh and Davis, Athens County Obituaries, 172.

Bibliography: Beligh, Mildred A. and Mary A. Davis, compilers. Athens County Obituaries: January 1, 1945 thru December 31, 1949. Athens, Ohio: n.p., n.d.

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 While Bleigh and Davis did not refer to their publications as 'volumes', the fact is that they published three of these books in chronological sequence, defined by different date ranges. I have no way of knowing if their titles are offically split into Title and Sub-titles, as I have indicated, but having done so, I have created a confusing Short Footnote, as it does not refer to the 'specific' book due to the absence of the sub-title. One simple solution is to treat it all as the main title so the date range is included in the Short Footnote. What is it that I should truly seek to do to eliminate this confusion, if anything? Best, Paul

Submitted byEEon Mon, 04/13/2015 - 16:00

Paul, if Beligh and Davis had done just one volume, then your short footnote would be perfect.  But if (a) they've done  three books or volumes; and (b) the books or volumes have the same initial words, but end with different dates, then your short footnote could not refer to to them as, say:

Beligh and Davis, Athens County Obituaries, vol. 1: 172.

What you'll have to do is to put the full title there in the short footnote. You do get to reduce the names of the compilers to just surnames. You do get to eliminate the publication data from the short footnote. But they are three separate books. Each volume requires a full citation at its first usage; and a short footnote for any one of them should identify the book in full, so that readers would know which book you are referencing.