Foreign documents that have been digitized and translated

By Findingproof on Wed, 08/16/2023 - 11:39

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So I am struggling with this one a lot.  I was given a link to a database with to access Lutheran records in Lithuania.  The records are kept at the archive there and I used to purchase copies from there until the President of IAGL Online indexing told me of their having digitized and indexed a large amount of records. So the records were at the parish, went to the archives, and then digitized.  Many have been indexed but not all.  To add to that, Owen McCafferty, IAGL's president, referred me to a translator in Poland who did both full translations and extracts of the documents I requested help with.  I am struggling with how to cite these.

Here is a link to one that is indexed: https://index.germansfromlithuania.org/records/birth/51112

Here is the information I have for a citation for this one: 

    1. Citation: August Reinert Birth Record: 1894. “Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach.” Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. "Duplikat aktov graždanskogo Sostojanija o rodivšichsja, brakosočetavšichsja i umeršich Serejskogo Evangeličesko-Reformatskogo Prichoda na 1891 - 1901. 63/196/0/1/41 – 51." As found on IAGL Online Indexing Project (germansoflithuania.org: https://index.germansfromlithuania.org/records/birth/51112 ) Accessed August 2, 2023.
    2. This information is found on the index sv "Citation" Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. "Duplikat aktov graždanskogo Sostojanija o rodivšichsja, brakosočetavšichsja i umeršich Serejskogo Evangeličesko-Reformatskogo Prichoda na 1891 - 1901. 63/196/0/1/41 – 51." 
    3. When I ran this through Purdue Owl for Chicago style (which I know is not Evidence Explained but was a starting point to help me get started), this was added to the citation: “Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach.”

Here is a link to one that is not indexed: https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/43ada59ac372b0be0c69de5b514871e789a654246748fe5626ae140d1cad1ee2 

This is the information I have for a citation for this one: 

    1. Henriette Merner (Reinert) Death Record: 1904. “Skan - Szukaj W Archiwach.” Przejdź do Szukaj w Archiwach. https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/skan/-/skan/43ada59ac372b0be0c69de5b514871e789a654246748fe5626ae140d1cad1ee2 . Accessed August 2, 2023

This is the main page from which I am finding the documents: 

https://index.germansfromlithuania.org/ 

This is the information I have for the translator: 

Translations by Krysztof Nierzwicki email: krznisz@wp.pl Translation received Aug 11, 2023. Referred by Owen M McCafferty II, President and Chairman International Association of Germans from Lithuania (IAGL), www.germansfromlithuania.org, 646-413-0835, owen@germansfromlithuania.org 

My document will rely heavily on this database and all other records will fall into one of the two categories of indexed or not indexed.  Any help with making sure I do these citations correctly will be appreciated. 

 

TIA for any help with brainstorming this one and getting this figured out. I really appreciate it.

Submitted byEEon Fri, 08/18/2023 - 08:54

findingproof, I understand your struggle and I know you will be disappointed with this answer. But it's the one I have to give you and the one that will best help you in the long run. 

Everyone hates citations. For serious researchers working with the endless variety of historical records that have to be cited in enough detail that their reliability can be appraised, citations are even greater challenge. If we seek formulas to copy, we will stay confused and stressed-out. The only way to master that challenge is to learn the principles of citation—not formulas, but fundamental principles of why things are cited this-way-or-that.

Your draft citations present a number of issues that need to be addressed, starting with the difference between a reference note and a source-list entry (bibliography entry).  That point is fundamental to everything we cite—especially for the complexities created by using online delivery methods for images of original documents held by archives.

EE covers the difference between a reference note and a source-list entry at 2.4. But it would help you immensely to study all of EE’s Chapter 2, Fundamentals of Citation.  If we do not learn those fundamentals, then we will struggle with every citation to original documents that we try to create. 

Purdue Owl is a useful site for students, whose citation needs are basic; but it does not address most of the issues encountered by serious users of historic records. Nor does Chicago, whose two chapters on citation focus on the bare essentials needed for publication—not the analytical and evidentiary considerations that historical researchers must apply when they access records.

Whether we use a record from an archive in Lithuania, Romania, Poland, France, the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, or Mexico, the elements we need to cite are the same.  The variances are not geographic. They are not "foreign" vs. my-own-country. The factors that complicate our citations (and, consequently, the essentials we need to learn) are these:

  • When citing original documents, variances result from (a) the type of record and (b) the record-arrangement structure used by the office or archive where we obtain the record.
  • When citing online materials, variances result from (a) whether we are using an image of the original or a database extract; and (b) the organization or record-delivery scheme of the website. 
  • When citing images of original documents that we obtain online, we have two things to cite (a) full details for the original document; and (b) full details for the website.

Again, it’s not the country that matters and it’s not the language that matters.  The same basic principles apply everywhere.  Conversely, there is also no one-size-fits-all formula I can give you, because of these variances.

I wish that I could give you more-explicit help as you navigate through this learning curve; but EE does not have a staff to do lengthy tutorials. (Actually, EE has no staff at all.) Through this forum, as time permits, I try to assist EE users who encounter situations that EE does not cover.

For those who do not have EE,  the answers to many questions are already addressed here in one of our forums, our blog, or our QuickLessons.  For example, using the search box to query for “death records” generates several dozen hits for discussions about death records, archival record-delivery services, translated records, etc. 

The QuickLesson at the link below should help you, as a starting point. Yes, it says “Ancestry.com” but, again, it doesn’t matter whether you acquire your record from a website operated by a Lithuanian archive or Ancestry; the citation principles are the same.

Best wishes, Elizabeth