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I am attempting to cite transcribed parish register from Christ Church in Middlesex County, Virginia and I just get confused on how to do this properly. The book is found on-line at family search at the following link: The Parish register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va., from 1653 to 1812 (familysearch.org)
This is the citation that I have:
National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, "The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, VA. From 1653 to 1812," transcribed, Familysearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/556813-the-parish-register-of-christ-church-middlesex-county-va-from-1653-to-1812 : accessed 3 September 2023), pg. 64, christening entry for Zacharias Gibbs, the son of John and Mary Gibbs, baptized 01 Feb 1704; Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia.
It's confusing when I need to give credit to who transcribed it, where I viewed it and where do the records really exist (source of the source). Is this format correct?
Hello, jmcavanaugh. Let's…
Hello, jmcavanaugh. Let's see if we can simplify this for you. You have two things to cite:
Each of these go in a separate layer, separated by a semicolon. Your identification of the book's specific page and content should go in Layer 1 with all the info about the book. Your Layer 2 will not include any details about the book itself.
Thank you! So based on your…
Thank you! So based on your feedback I changed it to the following:
National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, transcriber, The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va. From 1653 to 1812 (Maryland: Baltimore Genealogical Publshing Co., 1964), p. 64, christening of Zacharias Gibbs, son of John and Mary Gibbs, 01 Feb 1704; digital images, Familysearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/556813-the-parish-register-of-christ-church-middlesex-county-va-from-1653-to-1812?offset= : accesed 3 September 2023).
(The editor is away for a…
(The editor is away for a few days so I thought I'd jump in and give my opinion)
I like the changes you made. My own version would be slightly different (changes in bold):
The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va. From 1653 to 1812, transcription (Richmond, Virginia: National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1897; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964), 64, christening of Zacharias Gibbs, 01 Feb 1704; digital images, Familysearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/556813-the-parish-register-of-christ-church-middlesex-county-va-from-1653-to-1812?offset= : accesed 3 September 2023).
Let's first look at the role of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They are mentioned on the title page as the publisher, not the transcriber. The transcriber is unidentified. So I dropped the Dames as transcriber and added them as publisher. Since we'd then lose the important fact that we're looking at a transcription rather than, say, a facsimile production of the original images, I added "transcription" after the title. We actually have two publishers: the Colonial Dames who originally published the book in 1897, and the Genealogical Publishing Company, who reprinted it in 1964. See EE 12.79 for details.
In the parentheses of the publication, we put the place where it was published before the colon. For the reprint, that's Baltimore, Maryland, not just Maryland. After the colon, we put the name of the publisher. The publisher is "Genealogical Publishing Company" not "Baltimore Genealogical Publshing Company." I would drop the p. in the page number to fit Chicago Manual of Style that Evidence Explained is based on. Unless there are two Zacharias Gibbs christened on 1 February 1704, I would not include the parents in the citation. The contents of the source go in the main text, not in the citation. The title of the website as shown on the website is FamilySearch, not Familysearch.org.
Since this is a published source that can be viewed in many different locations, you could even drop the whole second layer. I personally include the second layer like you did in my research notes, so I can easily find the book again. I would then drop the second layer for publication in a journal or book, to save space.
Very helpful, thank you! I…
Very helpful, thank you! I get so tripped up on these citations but practice makes perfect so I'll keep pushing on.
I agree! Thinking the issues…
I agree! Thinking the issues through, whether by ourselves or with the help of this forum, is a great way to improve our citation skills. I'll never be perfect, but I'm a lot better than I was 10 years ago :-)