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Cite Your Findings
The end goal of citations is to allow researchers to access and verify information. Similarly to citing a book or journal article, there are a few key elements to include in all archives citations, including:
- Author/Creator (individual, organization/institution, department/committee)
- Date
- Title
- Source (repository, collection, accession number, box number)
Even though researchers (specifically those outside of RU) might not be able to view cited archival items, it is important to note where these items are stored and managed in the world. Archives are finicky, and sometimes require archivists and researchers alike to make educated guesses about the items. These nuances are covered in detail within many different style guides. Use the tabs below to explore three of the most common styles used by students.
Copyright & Fair Use
Click here to view Roosevelt University Library's Statement on Copyright, as well as learn more about fair use and Creative Commons. Click here to read an introduction to archives from the United States Copyright Office.
Copyright gives an intellectual work some attributes of private property, allowing the creator to control how the work is used and to make money from it if others are willing to pay for its use. On the other hand, we want society as a whole to benefit from new ideas and information, and so copyright protection is limited. Copyright protects only the form in which ideas and information are expressed. Copyrights expire after a certain period of time and the law allows certain limited uses of copyrighted material by others, without the creator’s permission. The most important such use is “fair use[.]"
-- Copyright and Fair Use: A Guide for the Harvard Community (2023)
Citation Styles
For more information and a more detailed list of examples, visit the APA Style Guide.
Reference List Format:
Creator’s surname, creator’s initials. Item’s date. Title. Collection name (Accession Number, Box Number, Folder Number). Archive name, Location. URL or DOI, if applicable
Parenthetical citation: (Creator's surname, year)
Narrative citation: Creator's surname (year)
- If the archived item was created by a group or organization, replace the Creator's surname with the group name.
- Use square brackets to indicate information that does not appear on the document.
- Use “ca.” (circa) to indicate an estimated date.
- Include the URL or DOI if you viewed the artifact online.
Examples:
Office of the Registrar. 1964. Graduate Division Bulletin. Bulletins, 1945-2008 (Box 3, Graduate Division 1963-1965). Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
Parenthetical: (Office of the Registrar, 1964)
Narrative: Office of the Registrar (1964)
Chicago College of Performing Arts. 2015. Faculty Recital Fandango. Music Conservatory, Sound Recordings (CCPA Box 18, Archives CCPA CD 1093). Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
Parenthetical: (Chicago College of Performing Arts, 2015)
Narrative: Chicago College of Performing Arts (2015)
For more information and to learn how to use the Author/Date Chicago style, please see the "Manuscript Collections" section of The Chicago Manual of Style (2024), pages 910-915.
Note Format:
Item's Title or Description, Date, Accession Number, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection name, Archive name, Location. URL or DOI if applicable.
Bibliography Format:
Creator’s surname, Creator’s First Name. Collection name. Archive name, Archive Location. URL or DOI if applicable.
- Quotation marks are used only for specific titles, but not for generic names.
- Both the day-month-year date style, as well as the American month-day-year style, are acceptable.
- A note citation of a letter is as follows: Writer's Name to Receiver's name (ex: Eleanor Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, 1942), but the word "letter" is not needed.
Examples:
Note example:
Graduate Division Bulletin,1964, Box 3, Graduate Division 1963-1965, Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
Bib format:
Office of the Registrar. Bulletins, 1945-2008. Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
Note example:
Faculty Recital Fandango, 2015, CCPA Box 18, Archives CCPA CD 1093, Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
Bib format:
Chicago College of Performing Arts. Music Conservatory, Sound Recordings. Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
For more information, visit the online MLA Style Guide, or check out a copy of the MLA Handbook from the library.
Works Cited Format:
Creator. Title. Collection, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
- In the Location element, list the library or institution where the collection is held as well as any box, file, and manuscript numbers.
- It is normal to not have contributor, version, (sometimes) publisher information. Skip any elements that are empty.
- When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).
Examples:
Office of the Registrar. Graduate Division Bulletin, 1964. Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Bulletins, 1945-2008, Graduate Division 1963-1965, Box 3.
In-text (end of sentence) citation: (Office of the Registrar, 43)
In-text (parenthetical) citation: According to the Office of the Registrar, Roosevelt University offered "upper-level psychology courses to both undergraduate and graduate students" (43).
Chicago College of Performing Arts. Faculty Recital Fandango. 2015, Music Conservatory, Roosevelt University Archives, Chicago, Sound Recordings CCPA Box 18, Archives CCPA CD 1093.
In-text (end of sentence) citation: (Chicago College of Performing Arts, 2:38-2:52).
In-text (parenthetical) citation: In Faculty Recital Fandango, Chicago College of Performing Arts professors use guitars to impersonate types of animals, creating a jungle-influenced soundscape (2:38-2:52).
Into the LibGuide-Verse
Do you have more questions about citations? Head over to our Citation LibGuide to explore even more styles.