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I am working with images of church records found at Ancestry, and I am hoping for some feedback on my citation attempt. The images are of church books in Norwegian, with several listed in one filmstrip. All books in the filmstrip have targets starting with FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, NORTHWOOD, IOWA, but the books are from different congregations of the church. The books have different sections for baptisms, confirmations, marriages, etc. Here's what I have settled on:
Layer 1:
Trinity Congregation, First Lutheran Church (Northwood, Iowa), “MINISTERIALBOG FOR Trefoldinghuds Menighud, Northwood, Worth Col, Iowa, Begyndt den 1st Feb. 1894,” Ägteviede [Marriages], double-page 51, 1910, entry 3, marriage of Olaf N. Sather and Clare E. Hanson;
Layer 2:
“U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969,” database with images Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60722/ : accessed 9 January 2025) > Congregational Records > Iowa > Northwood > First Lutheran Church > image 301 of 1664;
Layer 3:
citing Congregational Records, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60722/images/41742_314982-00495?
Image 281 is a target that reads and provides the following information: First Lutheran church, Trinity Congregation (United Church) – Ministerial Records, 1894-1918
Image 282 is the title page for the book and reads: Ministerialbog, for Trefoldinghuds Menighud, Northwood, Worth Co., Iowa, Begdyndt den 1st Feb. 1894
My questions:
- I have taken the author from the target, as it provides more information than the book's title page. The title page doesn't say anything about First Lutheran Church, but I think it's an important piece, as this church appears to have had several congregations. Is this acceptable?
- I have quoted the title from the book, as it conveys that the records are in another language, which is important for context. However, I'm wondering if I should use the title from the target for consistency.
- There are no volume numbers. The books are distinguished by the name of the congregation and starting and ending dates. This particular book has the starting date, but the ending line is blank. I think having the start date in the title is sufficient for identification, but would it be better to use the range listed on the target?
Thanks for your feedback.
Jenn
Jenn, in answer to your…
Jenn, in answer to your questions:
1.
Trying to determine the administrative structure of a church from yesteryear can be iffy. That is one reason why the "citing ..." layer exists. The safest approach to avoid misassumptions or errors, when we do not know the creation information for the original, is the one recommended by EE: cite what the images themselves tell us in the layer for the original; then use the "citing ..." layer to report what the provider tells us.
In this case, I can see your need to place something in the author/creator field, not just in the first full citation but also because that identification is needed in shortened citations. Another way of handling it would be the approach demonstrated at 13.12 Authors: Unknown: i.e., placing the author/creator information in square editorial brackets to show that you have added it from outside knowledge.
2.
When we identify the original record and it has a title, we identify it by its own title, in quotation marks. If we want to quote the target board, then we do that in the layer for the image provider that created the title board.
If the original record does not have a title, then following EE4 §3.6's instruction for titles, we choose our own words to create a generic identifier that does not carry quotation marks. For that task, the target board details would be studied along with the filmed images to determine what we are using. But we would not take words from the target board and put them quotation marks in the field for the title of the original record.
3.
One might argue that "Ministerialbog, for Trefoldinghuds Menighud, Northwood, Worth Co., Iowa, Begdyndt den 1st Feb. 1894" is clear enough to identify the book without adding a closing date. In less clear situations where we feel an ending date is needed—e.g., a situation in which several registers exist with overlapping dates and users could be misled by considering only the beginning date—an alternative would be to get the ending date from the last page of the volume and then, at the end of the title, add square editorial brackets to say something such as [ending 8 March 1897].