Citations for Archival Records
Within this section
Accessing Building Application Records | Assessment Books 1845 - 1950 | Citations for Archival Records | Demolition Photographs 1900 - 1949 | Records of Councils Absorbed by Sydney City Council | Sydney Reference Collection
Please ask an Archivist if you are in any doubt about the form of citation you should use, for any record.
If you make use of any records held in the Archives, it is important to ensure they are correctly cited, in your notes, on any copies you make, and in your final product. A citation is a reference to an original record which will enable anyone who wishes to verify your research to do so by consulting the same record and checking it for factual information, interpretation and context.
The technique of correctly citing archival records is an indispensable research skill. Without citations, full understanding of the final product of the research (publication, report, project or assignment) is impossible. A citation to the relevant archival record (file, photograph, plan, film, or any other format) should always be given, when you:
- quote from a record
- use a record as an illustration or example
- draw an inference or conclusion from evidence in a record.
We suggest that you make a note of the correct citation of every archival record you consult, as you go. This includes when you make notes from a particular item, and when you obtain photocopies. Making a note of the correct citation on every copy you obtain is particularly important. In this way it should be straightforward to later make correct citations in your final research product.
The conditions of access to the Archives of Sydney City Council specify that due credit for information gained through the Archives must be given to ‘City of Sydney Archives'. If your research product will contain a large number of citations, and if you have also used records from sources other than the Council, we suggest you include a reference to the City of Sydney Archives (and other sources) in a note at the front of your report, project, book etc, and advise your readers that citations beginning 'NSCA' refer to Council's Archives.
Citations to Records in the Archives All Contain the Following Three Elements:
- The code NSCA, a unique program identifier which tags the City of Sydney Archives distinctly from all other Archives and Libraries. This code has been assigned by the National Library of Australia.
- An alphanumerical records series identifier. There are over 1100 records series in the Archives so this identifier could be any number from 1 to 1100+. All have the prefix ‘CRS’ (Council Records Series).
- An item identifier to indicate which of the items in the records series is referred to. An item identifier can be numerical or alphanumerical. Original file numbers or other codes are used as item identifiers wherever possible. An item identifier can indicate a single item, or a range of items from within the series, as appropriate. In addition, it is frequently useful to cite the title of the item, or even of a particular document within the record item, to clarify your source of information.
Some examples of citations are shown below:
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NSCA CRS 34: TC 1234/18
Lord Mayor’s Relief Fund: Town Clerk to Chief Secretary, 22 July 1919. |
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NSCA |
City of Sydney Archives |
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CRS 34 |
Series 34 [Town Clerk’s Correspondence Files 1914-1978] |
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TC 1234/18 |
Item number [in this case, a file of documents] |
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LM Relief Fund |
The title of the item [file] |
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Town Clerk … etc |
The specific document in the item [file] |
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NSCA CRS 57/83
Fitzroy Street from Crown to Bourke, showing reconstruction work in progress, October 1929. |
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NSCA |
City of Sydney Archives |
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CRS 57 |
Series 57 [City Engineer's Photographs of Council Works, 1926-1942] |
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83 |
Item number, numerical sequence given by the Archives |
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Fitzroy St etc |
Descriptive title including date |
Note that in the two examples above, both a colon (:) and slash (/) have been used as punctuation marks to separate the records series and item identifiers. Either is acceptable.
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NSCA CRS 17/1/3 (Assessment no. 886)
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NSCA |
City of Sydney Archives |
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CRS 17 |
Series 17 [Assessment Books, 1845-1949] |
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1 |
Sequence 1 [Bourke Ward assessments] |
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3 |
Item 3 [third assessment book for Bourke Ward] |
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Assessment no. 886 |
The precise entry in the Assessment Book |
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Bourke Ward 1852 |
Description of the item consulted |
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(microfilm copy) |
Note that a copy rather than the original was consulted |
The records series and item identifiers for each record you consult, can be determined from the finding-aids at the Archives. They often are also marked on the archival records.
A partial exception to these rules applies when you make use of information from the Archives which is from the Sydney Reference Collection or which is in published form. The examples shown below illustrate how such citations should be written.
| NSCA: PC 1908, p203. Report by the Inspector of Nuisances for April 1908. |
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This is a citation to the Proceedings of Council for 1908, citing a page number. The Proceedings are published annual volumes and do not require a full citation style. |
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‘$12m Capitol Grant’ Sydney Morning Herald (12 October 1993) in NSCA information folder Capitol Theatre. |
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This citation is for a newspaper clipping found in the system of ready-reference information folders kept in the Archives as part of the Sydney Reference Collection. |
