As with published materials, archival sources used in research need to be cited, whether you simply make reference to a source, quote directly from it, paraphrase it, or reproduce an image in your work. The form that your citation takes is determined both by where it appears in your paper and by the citation format required by your professor or research discipline. See the drop-down menus at left for examples of citing archival sources using APA, MLA and Chicago citation styles.
Regardless of which format you use, citations of archival materials typically include six key elements:
1. Title: usually the title given by the archives to a file or item; in the absence of a title provide a short description
Workmen thatching roof on new house
Letter from H. K. Banda to R. P. M. Carlson
2. Name of fonds or collection: the name given by the archives to the fonds or collection
Willie A. and Lucile S. Whitten Photography Collection
E. Reginald Townsend and Evelyn Diggs Townsend Papers, 1905-2002
3. Reference code: the equivalent of a library call number used to find a book
Indiana University Libraries' code for Liberian Collections materials begins with IULC (IULC022)
Indiana University Libraries' code for H.K.Banda Archive materials begins with AS1
4. Box number: the number of the box in which the archival record is physically stored
5. Folder number: the number of the folder in which the archival record in physically stored [in the absence of a folder number, a brief description]
Box 27, Folder 45
5a. File number: the number of the digital file in which the digitized record is stored
[Please contact the collection curator for the file number]
6. Repository and location: the name of the archives or library and its geographic location
Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
6a. Worldwide web location: the URL/permanent link to the archives or library collection
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/nuer/
** The information in this guide about citing archival sources borrows heavily from a guide created at Dalhousie University.