Archival document: how to cite in Chicago Style – notes and bibliography (17th ed.)?

Create a spot-on reference in Chicago 18, 17 and 16

Select a source type:

Book Website Journal article Video (online)

Archival document Blog post Book Book chapter Complete reference Conference paper Copyright certificate Court case Dictionary Dictionary entry Disc Dissertation / Thesis Encyclopedia Encyclopedia article Extended abstract of dissertation Image Journal article Law / Act Newspaper article Patent Podcast Preprint Press release Religious text Report Social media post Software Standard Video (online) Video game Website

General rules

Citing archival documents and materials according to the requirements of Chicago Style is mainly done by means of notes: they include all data pertaining to the appropriate document: author, title, date of creation, city and name of archive, collection, and details of location in the archive (such as call number, folder, box, etc.). For an archival document available online, the URL address is also given.

A bibliographic reference, in contrast, contains only the name of collection or the author of the document, the name of archive, and the city where it is located.

The title of the archival document is put between quotation marks if it is exact and corresponds to the title stated on the document. All descriptive titles are given without the quotation marks.

Template of reference in a bibliography:

Collection / Author. Name of Archive, City.

Template of full note:

Author, "Title," date of document, document location in the archive, Collection, Name of Archive, City, number of the cited page (if available), URL.

Template of short note:

Author, "Title," date of document, Collection, number of the cited page (if available).

Examples of references in a bibliography

White House Press Releases. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7338580.

World War II Foreign Posters, 1942 – 1945. National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44266478.

Examples of notes

1. Jeff Skov, Pool Report: Golf and Autographing Cookbook, 1 April 1975, box 9, White House Press Releases, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7338580.

2. "Giant of the Air," n.d., 44-PF-172j, World War II Foreign Posters, 1942 – 1945, National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD, accessed 29 December 2020, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44266478.

3. Skov, Pool Report: Golf and Autographing Cookbook, 1 April 1975, White House Press Releases.

4. "Giant of the Air," n.d., World War II Foreign Posters, 1942 – 1945.