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Citations for Archival Materials

This guide will detail how to cite archival material located in the CSUDH Archives for MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.

Looking for information on how to cite a book, journal article, newspaper or magazine article, or other printed material found in CSUDH archives collections?

Please consult the CSUDH Library Citation Guide.

We invite CSUDH students, faculty, staff, visiting researchers, and community members to explore primary sources in the Gerth Archives & Special Collections!

We are now accommodating in-person visitors Monday-Friday, 9:00am - 4:30pm. 

LIB South 5039, 5th floor

archives@csudh.edu

(310) 243-3895

About Archival Material Citations

Just like with printed material such as books and journal articles; using direct quotes or paraphrasing from archival material requires citations for sources. Please see the pages on how to cite archival material using MLAAPA, and Chicago citation styles for more examples.

Regardless of what style you are required to use for your research, all archival material citations will contain the following basic elements:

Title

Title of the file or item. If material is untitled, provide a short description.

Name of Collection

Name of the collection that the file or item being cited is a part of. 

Collection Number

Online Archive of California: To find the collection number, open the finding aid on OAC. You can find the collection number located at the top next to “Collection Number.”

ArchivesSpace: If using the ArchivesSpace public database to search for a finding aid, the collection number is located at the top next to “Collection Identifier.”

Box Number, Folder Number

The number of the box and folder where the material is physically stored.

Repository

The name of the archives and where it is geographically located.