National Library of Ireland - Catholic Parish registers online

By Anonymous on Wed, 06/15/2016 - 12:09

Forums

Last year the National Library of Ireland put all of its Catholic parish records online at http://registers.nli.ie/   I'm not sure how to cite the records I am finding.  Of course I started with my trusty copy of EE and the quick check model for Image Copies: Digitized Online,  but I'm still fumbling.  It seems like the NLI should be the lead element and not the church, since I'm not looking at a single parish's website.  Is this correct?  Here is what I came up with for the baptismal record for Jeremiah Broderick, baptized 3 May 1870.  http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634901#page/112/mode/1up

National Library of Ireland, "Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI", digital images, National Library of Ireland (http://registers.nli.ie/), County Limerick; Diocese of Limerick, Abbeyfeale Parish. Baptisms, 4 August 1856-30 December 1880, Microfilm 02426/02, Page 112, Baptism of Jeremiah Joseph Broderick, 3 May 1870, accessed 15 June 2016.

How close am I to a solid cititation?

Thanks,

Kathleen

Submitted byEEon Thu, 06/16/2016 - 11:25

Kathleen, you have options here:

  • If you are or were citing information created by NLI itself, then NLI would be the appropriate focus because that entity would be the creator of the information you are/were citing. 
  • In citing images, you have a choice as to whether you want your focus to be on the website—as an umbrella for many specific collections—or whether you wish your focus to be on the creator of the record you are citing, which happens to be imaged at that website. EE has many examples of both.

Submitted byEEon Fri, 06/17/2016 - 16:07

Kathleen, amid deadlines yesterday I did not have the time to answer all parts of your query. Now that you've had a day to think about the other issues, I'll address your last question.

When we cite a source that's digitized online we almost always have to deal with layers, with each layer representing a different source or different version of the source. We need to be careful that elements from one layer don't get mixed up with elements from another. In the citation you drafted, your information covers three layers:

  • The website provider
  • The original register
  • The provider's source-of-the-source data

Think about your draft (below) from this standpoint:

National Library of Ireland, "Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI", digital images, National Library of Ireland (http://registers.nli.ie/), County Limerick; Diocese of Limerick, Abbeyfeale Parish. Baptisms, 4 August 1856-30 December 1880, Microfilm 02426/02, Page 112, Baptism of Jeremiah Joseph Broderick, 3 May 1870, accessed 15 June 2016.

Where would you divide the layers? The access date would be the date we access the website, but it's attached to your identification of the page and specific entry in the original book—not the website. In the middle of the citation, we see the identification of the parish and the book, but the page number within that book and the specific entry on the page are separated from the ID of the book itself by the ID of the microfilm that you actually didn't use.

So, let's try rearranging the elements--assuming that you want this Catholic database to be the main focus of your citation.

National Library of Ireland, "Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI", digital images, National Library of Ireland (http://registers.nli.ie/vtls00063901#page/112/mode/1up :  accessed 15 June 2016), Abbeyfield Parish (County Limerick), Diocese of Limerick, "Bapt  Aug 4 1856–Dec 30, 1880; Marr Nov 5, 1856–Nov__, 1880," page 112; digitized from NLI microfilm 02426/02.

You also notice a couple of other differences above.  Comparing this to the full URL that you gave, can you see why EE would make these alterations?

A possible alternative...

The images I've seen, to date, are from completely imaged registers. So; I wonder if something like the following might also be considered:

Templemore Parish (County Tipperary [Diocese of Cashel and Emly], Ireland), Baptismal Register, 10 January 1836–28 October 1849, n.p., Joseph Brophy and Bridget Fermoyle (married 20 Feb 1844); imaged, National Library of Ireland (NLI), Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI (https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632698#page/176 : downloaded 28 February 2022); digitized from NLI microfilm 02492/02.

The "[Diocese of Cashel and Emly]" could likely be dropped, since Templemore Parish only occurs in that diocese and is not really a geographical designation. I just found it helpful to know that information.