Thinking through an Ancestry citation

I have an imaged marriage record found at Ancestry.com.  I am following the templates 9 and 10 and section 11.5 in EE 4th edition.  I’d like some input on how much information is necessary to include.

Here’s the link to my document:

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677/records/239745?

Ancestry cites the original data as “Oregon State Archives. Oregon, Marriage Records, 1906-1910, 1946-1971. Salem, Oregon.”  For context, marriage returns in Oregon are collected by the county and a copy of the record is sent to the state.  

In my first attempt, I came up with:

Marion County, Oregon, "Marriage Returns-1965 (Marion June 1-June 30)," state file no. 005849, Dale Allen Schneider-Shirley Suzanne Diggs, 26 June 1965; imaged, "Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677/: accessed 29 December 2024) > 1965 > Lincoln-Multnomah > image 1221 of 2280; citing "Oregon State Archives. Oregon, Marriage Records, 1906-1910, 1946-1971. Salem, Oregon."

My alternative is:

Marion County, Oregon, Record of Marriage, state file no. 005849, Dale Allen Schneider-Shirley Suzanne Diggs, 26 June 1965; imaged, "Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677/: accessed 29 December 2024) > 1965 > Lincoln-Multnomah > image 1221 of 2280; citing Oregon State Archives, Salem.

Question 1:  Is it better to use the folder label in the image (v. 1) or the title of the document (v. 2)?  At first I thought I should use the folder label, as it seems akin to the volume number in a register, but I'm not so sure it applies to loose documents grouped into folders. It seems to me that the folder label would be relevant if I were reviewing the document in person at the archives, but I'm not so sure I need it for the image.  There is no initial image showing the front of the folder, so I can't even verify that documents are currently grouped based on what the folder label suggests.

Question 2:  Should Ancestry's report of the title of the archive collection be included in the citing layer?  The examples I reviewed didn’t show collection titles, only the location of the originals.  However, if it's specified, shouldn't I use it in quotes?

Here’s my source entry:

Oregon. Marion County. Marriage Returns. Imaged. “Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677: 2024.   

I've spent a lot of time thinking through this and rereading sections of EE.  I would appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Thanks,

Jenn

Submitted byEEon Wed, 01/01/2025 - 17:46

Jenn,

Your citation should begin with the Ancestry database in Layer 1. Layer 2 would be your “citing …” layer in which you report the vague identification that Ancestry provides about the original record set.

You did not use the record at the Oregon State Archives and the images themselves give you no information about the archival identity or arrangement of the record that you see at Ancestry. Therefore,  you do not have enough information to start your citation with the original record.

Template 5 "Complex Website (Multiple Articles or Databases)" would be the template to follow.

QuickLesson 26 at https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-26-thinking-through-an-ancestry.com-citation provides much greater detail about the options and when to choose each.

Submitted byjmguimondon Sat, 01/04/2025 - 15:24

Thank you for the feedback.  So the citation should be:

"Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677: accessed 29 December 2024) > 1965 > Lincoln-Multnomah > image 1221 of 2280, imaged Record of Marriage, state file no. 005849, Dale Allen Schneider-Shirley Suzanne Diggs, Marion County, 26 June 1965; citing "Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon."

Source:  

"Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971." Database with images. Ancestry https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677: 2024.

Ancestry's source citation is

Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Marriage Records, 1906-1910, 1946-1966. 

The original data data source is just the same information in a different order.

I have have not used title provided by Ancestry because it's database contains entries outside the date range listed in the title.