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Dear Editor;
In your response to "Citing newspapers sourced from Ancestry.com" you provided a possible citation (for which I've included the missing page number);
Ottawa (Ontario) Journal, 6 March 1958, p. 30, cols. 1–2, “Deaths: Murison, Thomas Baird”; imaged “Ontario, Canada, The Ottawa Journal (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1885–1980,” Ancestry(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/50019 : accessed 10 June 2021).
In a subsequent post in that topic, you stated that the use of cols. 1–2 reflected the span of the section called "Deaths."
I must admit that I'm still slightly confused by the explanation.
Based on the explanation; I presume that "Murison, Thomas Baird" is not considered to be an article title, but an element of an untitled article. Had it been set on its own line, I assume that it would have been considered a title and the column number would have been adjusted to point to it. Is this correct?
If so; is the "rule": Page and column numbers are assigned based on the lowest level title?
My apologies for not…
My apologies for not including the following observation in my post.
I note that there is a title given to the section, which includes the whole page, but it is not used in the citation. Should I assume that the use of “Deaths: Murison, Thomas Baird" was because "Deaths" is the first identifiable title that "encloses" the item-of-interest. As such, one does not need to give the entire "trail-of-breadcrumbs" from the page to the item-of-interest?
History-Hunter has asked: …
History-Hunter has asked:
“Is the ‘rule’: Page and column numbers are assigned based on the lowest level title?"
H-H, EE would state this rule:
Page and column numbers reflect what is needed to find and understand the source.
In the case at hand, each issue of the newspaper carried a column labeled ”Deaths.” As I’m using it here, the word “column” does not refer to a physical column on the page the item is found on. I’m using it in the traditional sense for a “newspaper column”—i.e., a specific feature that appears regularly in that newspaper. (A column in a newspaper might also be, say, “Musings from Moundville,” or “Tales from the Past,” or “Cook’s Corner,” or “Hospital News,” etc.) These featured columns carry a title, so that people look for them under that title every time they pick up an issue of that paper.
That “Deaths” column of that particular issue of the Ottawa Journal actually spans two physical columns. The featured column titled “Deaths,” begins in physical column 1. The specific paragraph or item within that titled “feature” in which you are interested has its own subtitle in column 2: “Murison, Thomas Baird.” To combine a title with a subtitle, we cite them both and separate them with a colon. This is the same principle we use when citing book titles or journal-article titles. For example:
When we cite an article, whether it is from a journal or a newspaper, we have an option: we may cite (a) the inclusive page (or column) numbers or (b) the specific page (or column) numbers.
Your closing sentence in message two states:
"As such, one does not need to give the entire ‘trail-of-breadcrumbs’ from the page to the item-of-interest?”
What would you consider the “trail of breadcrumbs” that stands between the page number and the column number(s)?
I now understand your logic…
I now understand your logic.
My confusion was why you chose to cite using the "newspaper column" instead of using the "physical column" approach.
My reasoning...
For me; finding the name for the obit was not very difficult, as I had the relevant name and the corresponding "physical column" number. While that approach did not imply the article had something to do with the death of the person, it did accurately locate the article. I could have added "obit," to the citation to compensate. The result would have been a citation of about the same length. So, I wondered why you had chosen the approach you suggested.
I was also thinking ahead to how I would apply your approach to a more challenging situation. I wasn't clear on whether your approach was intended to indicate "the correct way" or an alternative.
My reasoning...
I have other instances in which the "top-most" article title is lengthy and can refer to several pages (e.g. for a list of exam results), each of which may contain one or more levels of subtitles before reaching the item-of-interest. If I were to apply the concept of a "newspaper column," I would have a somewhat lengthy colon-separated hierarchy of titles or essentially a "trail of breadcrumbs" leading to the item. It would seem that using a "physical column" number and including a short descriptor would be more efficient in such cases.
Thank you for confirming that using the "newspaper column" approach was simply an alternative to using the "physical column" approach.
HH, the bottom line is that…
HH, the bottom line is that there is no one-size-fits-all formula. As researchers, we learn the essentials for identifying various types of sources. Then, with each source we find, as we see that it differs in one way or another from a hypothetical "standard model," we adapt it in whatever way we feel will best explain the situation at hand.