Personal artifact or provincial-level vital record?

By ChrisFB on Fri, 05/20/2022 - 14:35

Forums

Hello. My niece had a baby in February. As the mother, she completed the Registration of Birth form to be submitted to the province. She took a photo of that signed form before submitting it and sent it to me. I'm waffling as to whether I cite this as a personal artifact or as a provincial-level vital record.

On the one hand, the form is not issued by the province; hence, there is no certificate number and there is always a very slim chance that my niece made a minor change after taking the photo. So, personal artifact make sense. On the other hand, the mother is the ultimate source! :) This completed form will be the basis of the entry into the provincial system and, in 100 years, will be the exact document provided when anyone requests the birth registration form.

Thanks for any and all help!

Submitted byEEon Fri, 05/20/2022 - 16:53

Interesting twist, ChrisFB!

You will be citing the photograph, not the mother. Your photograph is very much a personal artifact. It has not been filed and recorded. You have no idea what happened to the document that went in. Ostensibly, it was filed and recorded, but you have no file data to cite it.