Citing and referencing: Archival material

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Archival material

Collections of archival materials published in books

In Chicago’s author-date system, published collections of archive material are referenced in the same way as other published books. Details of specific sources can be introduced in the text. In the case of references to letters, these details can include the full name of the recipient of the correspondence along with the author’s name and the original date.

Note that citations can refer to dates that are not contemporaneous with an author’s lifetime, because they represent the year that a source was published and not necessarily when it was written.

Rule for Citation

Edited books, diaries, and collections of letters

(Author’s Surname Year of Publication, Page or Pages)

Example of Citation entry

Edited books

(Machiavelli 1967, 55)

For a diary in an edited publication

(Larkham 2011, 13)

For a letter in an edited collection

(O’Neill 1991, 60)

Rule for Reference list

Edited books

Author's Surname, Author's Given Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Edited by Editor's Full Name. Place of Publication: Publisher's Name.

For a diary in an edited publication

Author's Surname, Author’s Given Name. Year of Publication. Title of Diary. Edited by Editor’s Full Name. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

For a letter in an edited collection

Author’s Surname, Author’s Given Name to Recipient’s Full Name, Year of Publication. In Title of Collection. Edited by Editor’s Full Name. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Example of Reference list entry

Edited books

Machiavelli, Niccolò. 1967. The Art of War. Edited by Edward Dacres and Peter Whitehorne. New York: AMS Press.

For a diary in an edited publication

Larkham, Thomas. 2011. The Diary of Thomas Larkham, 1647–1669. Edited by Susan Hardman Moore. Woodbridge: Boydell.

For a letter in an edited collection

O’Neill, John. 1991. "John O’Neill to Thomas Jefferson, October 30, 1805". In To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson: Letters to a President. Edited by Jack McLaughlin. New York: Avon Books.

 

A primary source quoted by a secondary source

Consulting and referencing primary sources is always preferable. However, if such material is only available in a secondary source then introduce the primary source in the text and note that the source is “quoted in” the secondary source in the citation. Include the secondary source only in the reference list.

Rule for Citation

(quoted in Surname of the Author of the secondary source Year of Publication)

Example of Citation entry

In The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay published in 1960 (quoted in Holland 2010) Hastings Ismay states that …

Rule for Reference list

Surname, Given Name of the Author of the secondary source. Year of Publication. Title: Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Example of Reference list entry

Holland, James. 2010. The Battle of Britain. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Unpublished documents in a physical archive

In Chicago’s author-date system, references to specific archival documents are commonly presented within the text. Citations name the collection and include information that can assist interested readers to locate the document. You can usually find these details in the item’s finding aid or catalogue record. The reference list entry includes the collection title and the repository name and location.

Remember that you need to supply enough information for the reader to track down the source. Be consistent in the format you choose and if you want more advice then ask your tutor or at the library.

Rule for Citation

(Name of Archive, Location)

Example of Citation entry

Alvin Johnson, in a memorandum prepared sometime in 1937 (Kallen Papers, file 36), observed that ...

Rule for Reference list

Name of archive or Surname, Given Name of the person identified with the archive. Type of archive. Name of Repository, Place of Repository.

Example of Reference list entry

Kallen, Horace. Papers. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York.

 

Archival materials in a database

References to unpublished archival material in Chicago’s author-date system generally focus on the name of the manuscript collection or repository, rather than the author of the specific item. Citations also name manuscript collections, and do not require a date. Specific items are commonly introduced within the text and reference the author, the title and the date. Other details, such as the type of document, can be narrated where relevant.

References to archival material consulted online include a URL. The Chicago Manual of Style does not require that access dates be included in references to formally published electronic and online sources. However, students may be required to include them for assessment tasks.

Rule for Citation

(Name of the manuscript collection or repository)

Example of Citation entry

In a memorandum entitled “Carrier Pigeons in War”, dated 9 January 1946 (Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War), Thomas Haddon recommends …

Rule for Reference list

Name of the manuscript collection. Name of the repository. URL.

Example of Reference list entry

Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War: Intelligence, Strategy and Diplomacy.
The National Archives, U.K. http://www.secretintelligencefiles.com.
ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/Content/swwf.cab176/0009/010?t0=0&q0
=pigeon&o0=and&pf=1873&pt=2015&pfrr=False&cnf=1873&cnt=1953&cnrr
=False&cvf=1873&cvt=1953&cvrr=False&sid=177840061&st=False&sy
=False&rc=true.

 

Archival materials on a website

The Chicago Manual of Style does not require that access dates be included in references to formally published online sources. However, students may be required to include them for assessment tasks.

Note in this example that Diana Prince (Wonder Woman’s alter ego) has signed the source. As the actual author is unknown, we can cite Prince as a pseudonym and such details about the item can be discussed in the text.

Rule for Citation

(Name of Archive)

Example of Citation entry

Richards’ contribution to science was recognised in a 1951 comic feature entitled "Wonder Women of History" penned under the pseudonym Diana Prince, the superhero Wonder Woman’s alter ego (American Memory).

Rule for Reference list

Name of Archive. Name of Repository or Website. URL.

Example of Reference list entry

American Memory. Library of Congress. https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/awhbib:@field(NUMBER+@band(ppmsca+02933)).