Nabb Research Center Citation Information

Also see: Citing sources for Physical Collections | Digital Collections

Citing Primary Sources for Proseminar or other student classes:

Sometimes deciding how to cite a primary source, particularly unpublished material, may be a bit confusing. Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writer of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations provides considerable help. You may find it useful to examine citations in the William and Mary Quarterly, a scholarly journal with rigorous editorial standards. Whatever you do, keep two rules in mind: provide sufficient information for a reader to easily locate the source and be consistent. The following examples offer generic formats to use for endnotes (N) and bibliographical citations (B) regarding primary sources found at the Edward H. Nabb research Center for Delmarva History and Culture.

Documenting sources for the biographical sketch

Inventories

For Inventories found in County Court Records:

N      Decedent, Probate Inventory, year(s), liber and folio numbers, Office Recorded, Location.

William Scott, Probate Inventory, 1678-1725, EB14, 390-391, Register of Wills, Somerset County Courthouse, Princess Anne, Maryland.

For Inventories found in Maryland Prerogative Court Records:

N      Decedent, Maryland Prerogative Court Inventories, year(s), liber, folio.

Robert King, Maryland Prerogative Court Inventories, 1686-1698, 6, 87.

Wills

For Wills found in County Court Records:

N      Decedent, Will, county will book, year(s), liber and folio numbers, Office Recorded, Location of Courthouse.

William Cottman, Will, Worcester County Will Book, 1800-1819, EB15, 345, Register of Wills, Worcester County Courthouse, Snow Hill, Maryland.

For Wills found in Prerogative Court Records:

N      Decedent, Maryland Prerogative Court Wills, year(s), liber, folio.

Thomas Hampton, Maryland Prerogative Court wills, 1802-1810, 44, 153.

Deeds

N      County Land Records, years, liber and folio number, Office Recorded, Location of Courthouse.

Somerset County Land Records, 1825-1827, GH3, 15, Clerk of the Court, Somerset County Courthouse, Princess Anne, Maryland.

Land Patents

N      Colonial Land Office, Patent Records, years, liber, folio.

Maryland Land Office, Patent Record, 1672,1677, 15, 245.

Judicial Records

N      Individual involved in case, title of Legal Proceeding, Year(s) case heard, Courthouse where case heard, Location of Courthouse by County, City, State/Colony (microfilm, specific number of microfilm reel, Library, Location if Library).

William Custis, Order, 1671/72, Accomack county Courthouse, Accomack, Virginia (microfilm, CR 55, 286, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland).

If transcription of case is available and used, follow the following format:

N      Individual(s) Involved in Case, Title of Legal Proceeding, year(s) case heard, in Name of Transcriber, Title of Judicial Records Transcribed (title should include County/State and Years), then in parentheses the place of publication; publisher, year of publication, followed by a comma and page number.

Thomas Hampton, Order, 1708, in Frank V. Walczyk, trans., Somerset County Maryland Judicial Records, 17071711, Part I, 1707-1708 (Coram, NY: Peters Row, 1997),183-84

Archives of Maryland

N      Name of Editor (first then last) of specific volume cited, ed., Full Title of Volume Cited, then in parentheses list city of publisher: name of publisher, and date volume being cited was published, comma after closed parentheses followed by volume number in roman numerals: page(s) from which information was derived.

Bernard Steiner, ed., Archives of Maryland: Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, 1715-1716 (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1910), XXX:244.

If using the Archives of Naryland Online edition, follow this example:

Archives of Maryland: Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, 1715-1716, XXX:244. Maryland State Archives Website.