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Hi,
Something has been bugging me for a while, and I haven't been able to come to a conclusion, so I now turn to you for guidance.
The Danish National Archives provide image copies of parish registers. The first images were grey-scale, but now they have color images, too. Both are available at the website, but I prefer to use the better quality. The digital films with the grey-scale images contain all images from one book in one film. The digital films with color images contain one section from each book, for instance Female Deaths; and of these films with color images, only the digital films containing Male Births have images of the cover and title page because Male Births is usually the first section of each book. Some books from large parishes contain only one type of event, and the digital films of these books therefore all have images of cover and title pages.
My issue is how to cite a record from a digital film without an image of the cover and title page. Here is my attempt:
Skeby Sogn [Parish] (Odense Amt [County]), Kontraministerialbog [Parish Register, clerk's copy], Døde Kvindekjøn [Deceased Females] 1834-1846, p. 169, 1838: no. 3; image copy, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/en/billedviser?bsid=449498#449498,80691809 : accessed 7 February 2022).
I am not entirely satisfied with this citation because I am missing the cover and title pages. Furhtermore, there is no book which only covers years 1834-1846. The book covers years 1833-1847, which is seen by looking at the film with the grey-scale images: https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/en/billedviser?bsid=181137#181137,30754133 (p. 169 is at image 134). The book then happens to only contain Female Births from 1834-1846 and therefore that is the name of the color digital film.
I have considered citing the image in the first layer as follows:
"Kirkebøger fra hele landet" [parish registers from the entire country], images, The Danish National Archives, Arkivalieronline (https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/en/geo/geo-collection/5 : accessed 7 February 2022) > County: Odense Amt > Archive: Skeby Sogn > Contents: Kontraministerialbog (1814 - 2003) Ny Scanning i farver - indtil 1892 > Døde kvinder 1834 - Døde kvinder 1846 > image 3 of 8, reference p. 169, 1838: no. 3.
However, I really don't like waypoints. The county part of the waypoint could be omitted in this specific case because there is only one parish named Skeby, but in other cases the county is needed. Furthermore, I prefer that the citation includes the name of the county.
I am looking forward to your input.
Best regards,
Lene D. Kottal
Lene, have you seen EE 7.18 …
Lene, ordinarily if there is no visible title, then EE 2.22 applies—specifically the last paragraph, "Untitled, Unpublished Manuscript, Register, Etc." However, in this case the structure of the website calls for a path citation: "Database," Website Title (exact URL) > waypoint > waypoint > waypoint > image no., ID of item.
Definitely, the piecemealing of the book complicates the citation, but the situation you describe—in which a visibly inferior set of images presents the full book and a visibly improved set fragments the book—invokes the principle: We cite what we use. We may not like waypoints, but if the set of images we use is organized that way, then EE would adhere to the site's organization.
You are right to be uneasy about the impression left by the waypoint "Døde kvinder 1834 - Døde kvinder 1846," given your observation that the book actually covers 1833–1847. You might simply add a note, at the end of your citation, to identify the correct years and the identity of the parish that you want to include. You could also, if you wish, add a longer note explaining the two different record sets and the other problems you see.