Citation Guidelines
When doing archival research, it is crucial to document your sources well so that you and future
researchers can find them at a later date. Because archival material is not catalogued like
regular published sources, citing your sources properly ensures they can be located again.
Remember to write down information regarding folder and box labels so that the material can
be relocated later.
According to the Guide to the National Archives of the United States, “except for placing the
cited item first [in a note], there is no general agreement on the sequence of remaining
elements in the citation. . . . Whatever sequence is adopted, however, should be used
consistently throughout the same work” (761).
The particular style you use for footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies, dates, page and volume
numbers, punctuation, and capitalization will depend on the style manual (e.g., The Chicago
Manual of Style or Modern Language Association). Whatever style you use it is essential that all
the needed elements are included in the citation. Generally, the more information you include,
the better. Start with the specific and work to the general (e.g., from item, to folder title, to
box number, to record series title, to record series number, to repository name.)
Material in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives which may be found in other places
(e.g., publications) should be cited in the usual form, i.e.,

Whitman College Pioneer, (February 7, 2013), p. 3.

Fifty Plus News, (Summer 2012) 32:1, p. 7.

Columbia, (Spring 2012), pp. 20-27.
Where most of the sources are in the Archives, the initial citation may state, “All sources are
located in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives, unless otherwise noted.” Record
series numbers and boxes may then be cited in a short form, e.g., Box 2, WCMss144.
If a bibliography is included, full citations with folder titles (if applicable), box numbers, and
record series should be used. The following forms are suggested for:
Periodical, Pamphlets and Other Publications

Ruth Kirk, "The Olympic Seashore," Western Outdoor Quarterly Vol. 26 No. 2, Folder 24, Box
8, William O. Douglas Collection, WCMss48, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.
Unpublished Minutes, Reports and Articles

Bill Gulick, Inquiry Club, November 1, 1961, Bill Gulick Papers, WCMss46, “Only in
Mexico,” Box 18, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.

Board of Trustees Minutes, October 18, 1985, Box 17, Whitman College Trustee and
Overseer Records, WCA78, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.

Stephen B.L. Penrose to Prof. L.P. Wyman, Ph. D., January 13, 1904,
Correspondences 1896-1906, U-Z, Box 11, Stephen B.L. Penrose Papers, WCA38,
Whitman College and Northwest Archives.
Letters
Photographs

Beta Theta Pi Photograph, Spring 1918, Box 14i, Whitman College Photograph
Records, WCA80, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.