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Citation of Archived Material

Every book is a separate entity in its own right, with a particular author and title, whereas an archive is almost invariably part of a 'series' of items created or maintained by an office or a person.

Records in the keeping of the Parliamentary Archives are organised according to the particular Parliamentary department, office or committee which created or maintained and kept them. (This is known as the principle of provenance). They are then stored and identified in the original order and context used by that agency. 

The record series is the basic unit in this system. A record series is a group of records created within a recognisable administrative context and having a common system of arrangement and control and similar nature and informational content. Types of record series formats are files, cards, volumes, magnetic recordings, photographs, films, maps and plans. A series may be any size, from a slim single item to a kilometre of files.

Citations therefore have to provide a guide to the location of the item in this original context.

A citation of material from the Parliamentary Archives is comprised of four basic units. These are (with examples in brackets):
  1. Archival Institution (eg NSW Parliamentary Archives)
  2. Administrative Context - the agency which created or maintained the series. (eg Legislative Assembly - Parliamentary Standing  Committee on Public Works)
  3. Record Series - the unique Parliamentary Record Series number, title and date range should be quoted. (eg PRS 54.LA, Witness Registers, 1899 - 1925)
  4. Record Item - where possible the identifying number, title and date range should also be quoted. Any further identifying refinements, such as page numbers, may also be added here (eg Item 3: Volume 3 (1916 - 1925), page 21)

So the complete citation would appear in a footnote thus:
      NSW Parliamentary Archives, Legislative Assembly - Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, PRS 54.LA, Witness Registers, 1899 - 1925. Item 3: Volume 3 (1916 - 1925), page 21

    A citation may also be abbreviated if the material is referred to more than once. The above example would then appear thus:
        NSWPA, PRS 54.LA:3, p.21

      Further advice on the citation of references can be obtained from the Parliamentary Archivist.


      Last modified 26/02/2008 11:12:58   :   Update this page