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Quick Guide to Special Collections and University Archives

Citing paper documents

Taking accurate notes about material you viewed and plan to revisit or cite is crucial to be able to retrace your research and provide accurate information for your readers.

Your own notes should be thorough but when citing an item it is necessary to have all the required elements in the correct format.  Most publications use APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago Manual of Style.

Important information for your notes and citations:  

  • The collection: Name of the collection that the document resides in
  • The document: The creator or author, specific item title, page, section, date.
  • Box and file number: The majority of materials found in archives, that are not books, are housed in some sort of container and within the container the various items are separated into files.
  • Repository: The name of the archives. (e.g. Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)

 

See below for how to cite the following paper document in APA, MLA, and Chicago style: 

Document Elements (not all elements will appear in citation but will aid in your note taking) 

Collection: University of Oregon Athletics, University Archives

Document:  April 19, 1956.  Telegram from K.L. Wilson (U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman) to Art Lichman ( University of Oregon Athletic Publicity Director) regarding a pre-Olympic exhibition meet prior to the 1956 Olympics

Box: Box 24

File: Ref. 4

Archives: University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene, Oregon.

 

APA:

Wilson, K. L.,(1956, April 19). [Telegram to Art Lichman]  University of Oregon Athletics, University Archives (Ref. 4, Box 24) University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene, OR, United States.

For further guidance see:  APA manual or online APA Style Guide on Archival Documents and Collections

MLA:

Wilson, Kenneth L.  Telegram to Art Litchman. 19 April 1956. U of Oregon Athletics, University Archives, U of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Ref.4 Box 24. 

For further guidance see:  MLA Manual and online MLA Guide to Citing Materials from Physical Archives and Collections

Chicago

The following would appear in the Notes.

Wilson to Litchman, telegram,19 April 1924, ref 4, box 24, University of Oregon Athletics, University Archives,  University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives.

For further guidance see:  Chicago Manual of Style (section 14.229: Examples of note forms for manuscript collections )

Citing Digital Documents

When citing a digital replica of a paper object most style manuals suggest adding the URL at the end of the citation.

For example, the digital representation of this telegram

 

would appear as:

APA:

Wilson, K. L.,(1956, April 19). [Telegram to Art Lichman]  University of Oregon Athletics, University Archives (Ref. 4, Box 24) University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene, OR, United States. https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df70n474x

For further guidance see:  APA manual (print) or online APA Style Guide on Archival Documents and Collections

MLA

Wilson, Kenneth L.  Telegram to Art Litchman. 19 April 1956. U of Oregon Athletics, University Archives, U of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Ref.4 Box 24.  https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df70n474x

For further guidance see: MLA Manual (print)  or MLA Citing Artifacts in a Digital Archive

Chicago: 

Wilson to Litchman, telegram,19 April 1924, ref 4, box 24, University of Oregon Athletics, University Archives,  University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives. https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df70n474x

For further guidance see:  Chicago Manual of Style (online)