University of Guelph Library
Other Libraries & Respositories of Information
Archival resources, rare books, manuscripts and can be accessed from many different respositories and libraries via the Internet. A selection of these resources that may be helpful, including search engines for archives and manuscript collections.
Canada
- Library and Archives Canada
- Archives of Ontario
- Archives Canada
- ARCHEION
Ontario's Archival and Information Network - Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
University of Toronto - Inventory of Canadian Digital Initiatives
Maintained by National Library - Canada's Digital Collections
Maintained by Industry Canada - Archives nationales du Québec
- Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet
Maintained by University of Saskatchewan
United States
- Rare Books and Special Collections Reading Room
Library of Congress - NARA
National Archives and Records Administration - National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections
Maintained by the Library of Congress - Special Collections
National Agricultural Library - ARC: the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators
International
- UNESCO
Archives portal - British Library
- National Museums of Scotland
- National Library of Scotland
- ARCHON
National Archives of the United Kingdom)
Citations
Information on archival citations and managing your bibliographies using RefWorks is available for those using letters, files, photographs, or non-standard bibliographic entries in archives.
The primary resources in Archival and Special Collections are different than those from other parts of the library. Our collections contain unpublished documents like administrative records and personal letters; visual material such as posters and photographs; even a few physical objects.
Because archival items, such as artwork and manuscripts, are unique, it can be difficult to give standardized and exact citations. Given this uniqueness, though, it is even more important to cite the materials you use so that others can locate them for their own research.
Different disciplines have different citation styles that dictate the elements of information required in each citation and the physical layout of references. The styles commonly used in the humanities are the Modern Language Association of America's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, The Chicago Manual of Style, and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Most books from Special Collections can by cited according to the same rules you would use for any published book. For archival sources, you will need the following information about each source you use:
- Repository (Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library)
- Collection name
- Series (sub-collection) or subseries, if applicable
- Folder title (or filing unit) — this includes the call number, box and file number where applicable
- Item itself — title, section, page, date, as necessary
By filling out your request slip with all of these details and keeping the yellow copy, you will have a record of what you have used and all the information you need to compose your references.
Sample Citations of Archival Materials
The same elements listed above will appear in footnotes/endnotes and your bibliography. But notice that footnotes/endnotes contain information from the specific to the general, whereas bibliography or works cited entries progress from the general to the specific.
Footnotes / Endnotes
Bibliography
Letter
C. F. Fowler to A. A. Thornbrough Esq., 10 February 1960, Massey-Harris Business Correspondence, Massey-Harris-Ferguson Collection, XA1 RHC A0420 Box 4, File 24, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.
Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library. XA1 RHC A0420. Massey-Harris-Ferguson Collection. Massey-Harris Business Correspondence.
Manuscript
E. J. Oliver Manuscript Cookbook, ca. 1916, Una Abrahamson Canadian Cookery Collection, XM1 MS A117059, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.
Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library. XM1 MS A117059. Una Abrahamson Canadian Cookery Collection.
Poster
It's All True, by Jason Sherman; directed by Richard Rose, 1999 [poster], Tarragon Posters, Tarragon Theatre Archives, XZ3 MS A180133, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.
Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library. XZ3 MS A180133. Tarragon Theatre Archives. Tarragon Posters.
Photograph
L. M. Montgomery seated and holding Stuart, [photograph], ca. 1916, L. M. Montgomery Collection, XZ1 MS A097113, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.
Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library. XZ1 MS A097113. L. M. Montgomery Collection.
Sound Recording
Opening speeches of the Guelph Spring Festival and Edward Johnson Exhibit, May 1, 1968, [sound recording], 1968, Guelph Spring Festival Audio-Visual, Guelph Spring Festival Archives, XZ1 MS A727009, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.
Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library. XZ1 MS A727009. Guelph Spring Festival Audio-Visual. Guelph Spring Festival Archives.
As a general rule, keep in mind that more information is always better than less. References are important both to credit your sources of information and to give your readers the means to find those sources.
Managing your Citations in RefWorks
Refworks selection page
To manage your citations you can create a personal account for RefWorks, a Web-based bibliographic management service that collects, stores and organizes your citations. RefWorks saves you time because it can create a formatted bibliography in virtually any citation style.
Selected archival citations can be downloaded from the TRELLIS catalogue using "public view" and saved as a text file. When you use RefWorks, the archival citations in your saved file can be imported into a named folder of your choice. By using the filter import "Endeavor Voyageur" and the database "University of Guelph (Public View)," these citations can be incorporated ith other citations from journal indexes and other sources. RefWorks makes creating bibliographies easy and organized.
For more information about RefWorks consult the Library's RefWorks page, which provides additional information.