[ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] and boldface text

By ttop on Fri, 05/09/2025 - 10:11

Forums

I apologize because I see from searching the forums this topic has been addressed before, but the answer was still slightly unclear to me. In EE 4th ed., I see many examples with the "[ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]" notation in small caps. I am still unclear if this phrase in brackets is guidance to the reader of EE, the person writing the citation, that this is the place where I would include the address if this were being distributed or used privately, or if the recommendation is for me to include the literal text "[ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]" in my publicly published materials. Including that literal phrase seems of limited value to the author or a reader, but I do want to follow the convention if including that phrase is the best practice. I tried to look at all the places in the book where addresses and privacy were mentioned and it still wasn't clear to me if this is intended an instruction to the compiler or a literal part of the citation.

Secondarily, many citations in this edition include boldface text. I don't remember boldface being a part of any citations in the 2nd edition, and so my presumption is that the boldface text is intended to draw attention to the reader of EE about some key aspect of the citation, not a suggestion to make this portion of the citation boldface in the published work. The word boldface does not appear in the book's index and I couldn't find it mentioned in the "Stylistic Matters" where capitalization, italics, and etcetera is covered, so my assumption is that this is a stylistic device in the book, not guidance for making that text bold in the citation. It would be great to learn the true intent of the boldface text.

Submitted byEEon Fri, 05/09/2025 - 12:40

Hello, ttop.  To answer your two questions:

1. [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]

As you’ve noticed, EE’s citation examples (since the first edition in 2007) place this phrase, in its own field, after the name of a cited, living person. Each time it appears within square editorial brackets and is cast in small caps to distinguish it from the regular type of every citation example. It tells the reader that that particular field is to be used for the address of the person, but for private use only—not for publication.

When this phrase is first introduced (EE4 §4.31) readers are told:

The informant’s address is needed for your working files, but you should not publish it or supply it to others (in print, online, or in any other manner) without the authorization of the informant, so long as he or she is alive. If notes or recordings are in the private possession of someone other than yourself, you would extend that person the same privacy rights. After their deaths, the residency information may be historical data useful for research purposes.

EE then gives an example, showing where to put that address in our citation, for private use only. 

First Reference Note

       1. Ardell Graham (212 East Sale, Tuscola, IL 61953), interview by Helen E. Brieske, 14 April 1993; transcript privately held by Brieske, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Salida, Colorado, 2023. Ardell, a now-deceased son of Tillie, spoke from personal knowledge when he related her death.

If that person dies, we may then use that address in notes that we publish or share informally.

This is also discussed in the "construction notes" to Template 7 "Private Holdings":

When citing materials in private possession, the owner’s name and city/state of residence are essential to validate the source. More detailed contact information such as street or email addresses are cited
in our research notes within brackets; we remove the brackets and their content prior to publication or distribution.

Thinking through the alternative that you wonder about—whether “the literal text” of that instruction should appear in every citation—let’s ask ourselves another question: What would be accomplished in our private notes by using the words “Address for private use” instead of the actual address? What would be accomplished by including, in a published citation, the phrase "Address for private use"?  Recording addresses in our private notes only is the default. If the person has passed on or has given permission for their address to be published, we would simply use that address, no?

A bigger issue is this:  There is no wording, absolutely none, in EE’s citation examples, that must be followed literally, dogmatically. In both written and spoken language, our specific words vary according to the need of the moment. Citations are no different. In every citation, we decide the words that are appropriate for that particular source and situation we are citing. EE’s citation models (a) show us the fields that are important to record for each type of source and (b) demonstrate the type of information that needs to be in each field; but they do not dictate wording. We study the example and make the substitutions, as appropriate.

2. Bold face

Bold face is used in EE4 for one purpose: to help users visually distinguish between the layers of multi-layered citations.  It is introduced in the Fundamentals of Citation chapter (Chapter 2) at §2.61 where it is demonstrated and explained—then again at §2.71.  It is used for each template in Chapter 3 that deals with multi-layered citations, where the information blocks are also shaded to corresponded to the layers of the text. Thereafter, as each chapter introduces a new category of records, the first footnote in each chapter states:

* As discussed in Chapter 3, this guide uses shading within First Reference Note examples to differentiate between layers of the citation. This shading is for instructional purposes only. It is not meant to be replicated.

See pp. 138, 183, 214, 238, 288, 334, 388, 419, 476, 581, 635, 673.

 

Submitted byttopon Fri, 05/09/2025 - 14:50

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

I didn't think the literal phrase "Address for private use" would be in the private notes, I thought it might be a placeholder in the EE example to indicate that's where we keep the address in the private notes (and if I'm understanding your response correctly, that is its intent). I didn't think that phrase was particularly helpful to the reader, either, which is part of what prompted my query. 

I appreciate the note about dogmatism. I don't want to be dogmatic about any issue, but as long as I'm investing the effort in making proper citations I'd like to try to follow best practices and avoid any big "category errors," so to speak. This "Address for private use" issue was one area where my instinct (which was to omit this phrase) seemed like it could be misaligned with the examples, so I'm thankful for the clarifications.

- Todd
Seattle