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Environmental Design Archives: How to Cite

 

How to Cite Archival Materials

 

Citation formats vary depending on style, assignment requirements, or publisher standards. In general, you will need to gather the following information available for each item to create a proper citation.

 

  1. Author (architect, photographer, or creator)
  1. Title (item title or building name)

Tip: you may have to create your own.
  1. Date it was created (check date on drawing or illustration)

 Tip: If no date is available, note using “n.d.”
  1. If published, publication information (only if you found the image reprinted in a book)
  1. Collection name
  1. Box and folder numbers
  1. Repository

Other notes:

Include any other information or observations that may help you later!

 

Chicago Style Format for Architectural Archival Materials

What goes in the footnote?

Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection number or identifier, box number, folder number, Collection Name, Name of Repository, Location of Repository. Available at: URL if applicable.

Example:

Webster St. Condominiums, Details, 5 January 1987, Box 6, Folder 62, Jack Robbins Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

What goes in the bibliography?

Name of Collection. Name of Repository, Location of Repository.

Example:

Julia Morgan Collection. Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

Oakland & Imada Collection. Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

What if the item is a photograph?

Citing the source for photographs requires the following components, in order: title of photograph (location), date, format, collection, repository. You might also want to record the architect and photographer as creators.

For example:

John Funk, architect, Roger Sturtevant, photographer. Heckendorf House [Exterior] (Modesto, CA), 1939, photograph, Box 2, Folder 23, John Funk Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

What if I accessed the material online?

For archival material accessed online via our digital collections in Calisphere.org or Online Archive of California, please add to your citation: Available at: [insert url].

Example:

Ladera (Peninsula Housing Association), San Mateo County, CA, 1947, blueprint, Eckbo (Garrett) Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley. Available at https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/28722/bk0000m8t55/

MLA Style Format for Architectural Archival Materials

Parenthetical citation: (“title,” date).

Narrative Citation: “title of item” (date).

Reference List:

Author (last name, first name). Title/description of material. Date (day month year). Box/folder/item number. Collection name. Name of repository, location.

Example of APA Style:

Robbins, Jack, architect. Webster St. Condominiums, Details. 5 January 1987. Box 6, Folder 62. Jack Robbins Collection. Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

Zotero: Using a Citation Management System

Zotero is a free citation management system. Available at https://www.zotero.org/

More than a citation manager, Zotero allows you to store and annotate your research!

Collect the above information to input into bibliographic fields.