Layered Citation and ORA

By DawnSEllis on Thu, 01/15/2026 - 03:28

Forums

I am trying to add the digital layer on to a fairly complex citation generated by ORA.

The original from ORA:

The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110; Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 2 of 3

Seems to me to duplicate information needlessly. I have shortened it to:

The National Archives in Washington, DC; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau; Record Group: 110; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 2 of 3

Then I added the layered portion:

; database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1666/records/3511826?tid=180537488&pid=142643182715&ssrc=pt : accessed 15 Jan 2026) Laurence, Geo, image 202 of 764.

Is this sufficient or too much? 

 

Thanks,

Submitted byEEon Sat, 01/17/2026 - 10:21

Hello, Dawn.  

EE4 covers Military Draft Registrations that we find online at §12.28.  When these records are found online, they follow EE's Universal Template 5 "Complex Website." 

Your proposed citation does indeed include details that you have not used and should not include in your Layer 1. Some of it should be relegated to your Layer 3, which you don't mention—i.e., the layer in which you report what the website tells you about the record and its original location and organization, details you have not verified for yourself because you have not used the original documents onsite.

Please do study EE §12.1 through §12.11. Those sections provide

  • a foundational explanation of NARA records,
  • how they are organized,
  • what elements are needed in a citation to those records, and
  • how to cite the various iterations in which we encounter them (originals, microfilm, databases, online images, etc.).

Also, the new Chapter 3 added to EE4 ("Building a Citation") will help you understand the basic structure and organization of a citation to historical documents.