Citation
Users of archival services are expected
to cite the documents they use in their works. This does
not only add credibility
to the work itself, but can also act as a preservation measure.
Thus, good citation minimises the handling
and re-handling of documents.
When writing down a citation for an archival record, the
following information is often included:
- Places of custody,
- Document Reference,
- Internal Reference, and
- Extended Reference (not always necessary)
Place of Custody
The Place of custody identifies the
archival repository where the document in question is held.
Thus in the Maltese
environment,
if the document forms part of the National Archives holdings,
the reference starts with NAM.
Document Reference
The Document Reference is
the means by which the particular document is identified
from the other documents. It often consists of two
parts, the series code and the piece number.
Thus, for a letter from the Chief Secretary to Government
Collection, the reference would look like:
CSG/03 (CSG - is the acronym given to the record of
the Chief Secretary to Government, while 03 - is the
series number assigned by the Archives to all incoming
letters).
The piece number is the number assigned to the piece
(which can be a letter, a memo and in some cases a
volume or a box). Therefore a full reference might
look like:
NAM: CSG 03/31
Which means:
A 'letter in' forming part of the Chief Secretary to
Government record group held at the National
Archives of Malta. The piece number then identifies
the letter which, if one checks against the catalogue,
is: A letter by Archbishop Mattei to Governor Maitland
asking for an audience.
Internal Reference
The internal reference provides the exact location of the
information referred to within a piece. If the piece
number were a volume, it would be very helpful for the
reader
to cite the page number rather than simply the piece
number. It is important that the reader can identify
that the number
refers to a piece. Abbreviations like p or pp for page
or
pages, f or ff for folio or folios, and no or nos for
number or numbers can be used. With old pagination it is important that the use of the
terms recto and verso are used correctly.
Extended Reference
It is very helpful for whoever is reading a referenced work
to have the definition in words of series codes used by archives.
Thus, somewhere in the reference, the full title of a class
should feature, for example:
CSG 03: Chief Secretary to Government, In Letters.
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