Church record citation when place names have changed and archives have re-organized

Good evening!

Several years ago I visited an archive in Ukraine where I had the pleasure of reviewing church registers. I now am preparing my first citation to one of those records and a few questions are coming to mind. I’ve drafted a citation as follows:

Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Catholic Church (Trybuchowce, Husiatyn, Galicia), bishop’s copies of birth registrations, book 5, page 180, second entry - Maria, daughter of Joannes Procak and Anna Babij (13 January 1902); Греко-католицькі повітові управління Тернопільського краю Галицького намісництва, з 1921 року Тернопільського воєводства, fond 487, opys 1; Державний архів Тернопільської області, Ternopil, Ukraine. When the record was accessed in 2011, it was in sprava 548 (births 1874–1908), arkush 124 verso. The Archive has since re-organized the collection somewhat and the record will now be found in sprava 567.

Note the Ukrainian archival terms are expressed from the largest unit to smallest, i.e., fond, opys, sprava, arkush (individual page).

Question 1 – The location of the church (which was the parish seat) is the place name used at the time the records were created. Is this appropriate? This village has since merged with a neighbouring village and is now Lychkivtsi, Husiatyn, Ternopil, Ukraine.

Question 2 – I’m kicking myself for not photographing the front of the register book. However, my notes do contain the following Latin entry, which I believe might have been written on the cover:  Copia e libro metricali natorum ecclesiae parochialis rit. Gr. Cath. Trybuchovensis sub titulo s. Protectionis B. Mariae Virginis Tom V. Roughly translated: Copies of birth metrical records for the Greek Catholic parish of Trybuchowce named Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Book 5. Since I can’t be certain of the exact title of the register book, is my notation of “... bishop’s copies of birth registrations, book 5 ...” appropriate?

Question 3 – Within the past few years, the Archive re-numbered the spravy within its Greek Catholic collection. Birth records from 1874–1908 were in sprava 548 when I visited and are now in sprava 567 per the latest documentation available on their website. Is there any point in my referencing the old sprava?  I am tempted to simply use “… fond 487, opys 1, sprava 576 (births 1874–1908), arkush 124 verso;” but am somewhat tentative now to specify the arkush on the off chance that too was re-numbered for some reason.

Thank you for your time!

Submitted byEEon Thu, 11/12/2020 - 16:57

ChrisFB, you've done well. Our suggestions are these:

Question 1: EE would use the original location. Remember that the field in which you are entering the data is the author field. The author was not then the Protection ... church of the village of Lychkivtsi in Ukraine. As you describe it, the author was the Protection ... church of the village of Trybuchowcet in Galicia. The field in which you identify present whereabouts of the record book is the field in which you would give the new village name and country name.

Question 2: Yes, we learn from experience! In this case, EE would apply 2.22 for a register whose exact title we do not know: describe it, but do not put the title in quotation marks because you are not quoting anything.

Question 3: EE would not alter the sprava designation to update it to what you found at the website. EE would use the data you originally captured, then reword your note to indicate that the sprava ID appears to have been revised. Many times, when we use online catalogs, we find something that appears to be the same as what we used but is, in fact, a closely related item with sometimes significant differences.  Before we change the original data to the new data, it would be best to contact the archives and confirm that they are now one and the same.

 

Submitted byChrisFBon Mon, 11/16/2020 - 19:36

I apologize for the tardy reply. Where does the time go??

Thank you very much for your feedback. I do appreciate it and will incorporate your suggestions. Glad to know that I'm on the right track!