Citing Materials from Archives & Special Collections

Below are guidelines for citing the various kinds of material you will find in Archives & Special Collections.

For books and periodicals in Archives & Special Collections, you can follow typical citation rules in whatever style is required for an assignment, generally Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, or APA.

For archival, manuscript, or photograph collections, the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition does not require a particular order of elements (14.232-14.242) but does require that all of the following elements be included and that the citation elements be ordered consistently:

Author or creator of the collection
Type of records in the collection
Date span of collection
Manuscript or series number
Name of holding repository
Location of holding repository

Bibliography citation examples:
[Collection Name, date span]. Collection #. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Examples

University of Northern Colorado, Building and Grounds collection, 1889-2013. RG015. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.
23rd Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry order book, 1863-1865. SC010. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Footnote citation examples [when you are citing content from a particular document]:
[Item, date][Box #, Folder #]. [Collection Name, date span]. Collection #. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Examples

Color photograph of Mari Michener and F. X. Roberts, 1992-1997. Box 1, Folder 2. F. X. Roberts and C. D. Rhine Papers, 1900-1997. JM022. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.
Doomsday Book Correspondence, 1991. Box 3, Folder 1. Connie Willis papers, 1970-2018. SC059. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Credit lines for photograph materials:
Full Citation Format

[Photo caption with date if available]. [Photo Collection Name] [Collection #### (space)Photo Number ###]. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Example

Bishop-Lehr Hall exterior, aerial view, 1962. School, College, and University Historic Images RG021_01_04_16_0010B. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Brief Citation Format
[Photo caption] [Photo Collection Name] [Collection #### (space)Photo Number ###]. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Example

Bishop-Lehr Hall exterior, aerial view, 1962. School, College, and University Historic Images. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado.

Policy last updated: 10/10/18