Finally, the day has arrived! Library and Archives Canada's years-long project to digitize service files from WWI has finally reached my grandfather and granduncle, George Washington and Herbert Austin Smith!
Instead of writing a post about what I've found in those files, I'm writing about citations. Why? Because I would rather not publish uncited posts anymore.
In the seven chapters of Dr. Jones' Mastering Genealogical Documentation that I have read so far, he has cited examples of online images of materials not previously published, but he has not addressed them specifically, so I skipped ahead to Chapter 15 - Citing Online Images of Previously Unpublished Material(2).
In this chapter, Dr. Jones lays out four options for citing these images; two that he does not recommend because they do not meet genealogy standard 5(3), one that does meet the standard but would be unnecessarily long except in limited circumstances, and one that he recommends in most cases, which I will try to use here.
Library and Archives Canada, "Personnel Records of the First World War," (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : viewed December 18, 2017) Online Research>Military heritage>First World War : 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database>search for Smith, Herbert Austin; PDF, p. 57
I'm sure, especially with the addition of the waypoints, that any reader would be able to find Uncle Herb's file, but does this citation aid the reader in evaluating the record? Because it does not address the creation of the underlying original documents, I think that it doesn't.
There is another arrangement of citation elements that Dr. Jones suggests that contains more information about the original record.
Who - The Ministry of the Overseas Forces of Canada
What - Personnel File of Herbert Austin Smith
When - The file has entries from 1915 to 1964
Wherein - PDF, 57
The online publication information is used to answer Wherein - Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : Online Research>Military heritage>First World War: 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database: 18 December 2917).
Citation:
The Ministry of the Overseas Forces of Canada, World War I Personnel File of Herbert Austin Smith (1915-1964):PDF, 57 "Personnel Files of the First World War," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : Online Research>Military heritage>First World War : 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database : 18 December 2017).
I like that this citation lets the reader know who created the original record but some of the other elements feel awkward to me. I think I'll use the first one for now and revisit it as I work through Mastering Genealogical Documentation.
Again, if you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. please let me know.
_____________
(1) Troopship photograph ca. WWI, privately held by Anna C. Matthews, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY, 2017. The original album passed from the photographer, George W. Smith to his wife, then to his daughter and is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Anna C. Matthews. The photographs in the album were taken between 1912 and 1917. There is no caption in the album for this photograph.
(2) Jones, Thomas W. "Citing Online Images of Previously Published Material." In Mastering Genealogical Documentation, 155-162. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2017.
(3) Board for Certification of Genealogists [BCG], Genealogy Standards, Kindle edition (Nashville, Tenn.: Ancestry, 2014), location 291 of 1013, for standard 5, "Citation elements."
In the seven chapters of Dr. Jones' Mastering Genealogical Documentation that I have read so far, he has cited examples of online images of materials not previously published, but he has not addressed them specifically, so I skipped ahead to Chapter 15 - Citing Online Images of Previously Unpublished Material(2).
In this chapter, Dr. Jones lays out four options for citing these images; two that he does not recommend because they do not meet genealogy standard 5(3), one that does meet the standard but would be unnecessarily long except in limited circumstances, and one that he recommends in most cases, which I will try to use here.
Library and Archives Canada, "Personnel Records of the First World War," (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : viewed December 18, 2017) Online Research>Military heritage>First World War : 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database>search for Smith, Herbert Austin; PDF, p. 57
I'm sure, especially with the addition of the waypoints, that any reader would be able to find Uncle Herb's file, but does this citation aid the reader in evaluating the record? Because it does not address the creation of the underlying original documents, I think that it doesn't.
There is another arrangement of citation elements that Dr. Jones suggests that contains more information about the original record.
Who - The Ministry of the Overseas Forces of Canada
What - Personnel File of Herbert Austin Smith
When - The file has entries from 1915 to 1964
Wherein - PDF, 57
The online publication information is used to answer Wherein - Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : Online Research>Military heritage>First World War: 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database: 18 December 2917).
Citation:
The Ministry of the Overseas Forces of Canada, World War I Personnel File of Herbert Austin Smith (1915-1964):PDF, 57 "Personnel Files of the First World War," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng : Online Research>Military heritage>First World War : 1914-1918>Canadian Expeditionary Force>Personnel Records of the First World War database : 18 December 2017).
I like that this citation lets the reader know who created the original record but some of the other elements feel awkward to me. I think I'll use the first one for now and revisit it as I work through Mastering Genealogical Documentation.
Again, if you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. please let me know.
_____________
(1) Troopship photograph ca. WWI, privately held by Anna C. Matthews, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY, 2017. The original album passed from the photographer, George W. Smith to his wife, then to his daughter and is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Anna C. Matthews. The photographs in the album were taken between 1912 and 1917. There is no caption in the album for this photograph.
(2) Jones, Thomas W. "Citing Online Images of Previously Published Material." In Mastering Genealogical Documentation, 155-162. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2017.
(3) Board for Certification of Genealogists [BCG], Genealogy Standards, Kindle edition (Nashville, Tenn.: Ancestry, 2014), location 291 of 1013, for standard 5, "Citation elements."
Anna, I agree that it's important for the citation to include who created the original record. But I also worry about citations that are longer than photo captions, in some cases. It's a dilemma but including more info, as you've done, makes the most sense.
ReplyDeleteHi, Anna. I'm trying to craft a citation for a relative's CEF digitized file. Where did you find the "Ministry of Overseas Forces of Canada" portion at LAC?
ReplyDelete