c-AllCourses-Writing11-Notation

FOOTNOTING FOR HISTORIANS:

A Guide for the Perplexed

Introduction: Purpose of Footnotes/Endnotes

Despite an impatience on the part of many readers with source citations (what are generally called footnotes), they fulfill a critical function. One must always remember that history is not just written for those with a casual or even a passionate interest in the subject matter. History is also in part an ongoing dialogue/debate between historians of the past, present, and future. For that dialogue to go forward, it is important for the participating scholars to know just where information comes from and to communicate that fact to others. Without this knowledge, it would be hard, if not impossible either to challenge or build on the work of earlier historians without replicating their entire search process—the academic equivalent of reinventing the wheel!

Over the course of time, scholars have developed several methods for conveying information about sources without actually inserting it in the text. For example, many works in the early modern period placed such information in the margins. Eventually, however, it became customary to place the notes at the bottom of the page, hence our term "footnotes". It is these footnotes that many readers find obtrusive.

On the other hand, the placement of source citations can be done in such a way that it will make them less obtrusive to the general reader. Instead of placing them at the bottom of the page, where they not infrequently constitute a distraction for people interested only in the text, they can go at the end of the text, in which case, they become known as “endnotes.”

There has long been something of a debate between the supporters of footnotes and endnotes. Those who advocate footnotes argue that they must be on the same page as the statement in the text; that it is too difficult to keep flipping back and forth between the text and a later page. On the other hand, I for one have always thought that making it a wee bit harder for professionals to access the notes is a small price to pay for increasing an essay’s readability and therefore (hopefully) the size of the reading audience. Book authors who place their notes at the end of chapters or even at the end of the book make what is (in my opinion) a wise choice.

Unfortunately, an author does not always have that choice. Where to place notes is frequently decided by the publisher of the book or, if it is a journal article, the editorial policy of the journal in which the article appears. On the other hand, students in this class will have both options.

The system I have outlined here is largely based on the Chicago Manual of Style. In recent decades, many students have learned the most frequently used alternative method of citation known as the Modern Language Association or MLA style, rather than the older, traditional method more often used by historians. MLA was designed primarily for people engaged in language studies, including English. Even if this is the form of notation with which you are already familiar, you are NOT to use it in the paper you are submitting in this class. In doing a historical paper, you should be learning and using historical techniques. One such technique is the production of footnotes/endnotes that utilize the accepted historical format.

One final, but very important rule: Be Consistent. If you choose to place titles in italics, always place them in italics; if you choose to underline titles, always underline; etc., etc., etc.

Technical Advice: How to Create Historical Footnotes/Endnotes in WORD

In the days before word processing on a lightscreen (there was such a time!), one of the most tedious task was to redo footnotes. As the writer inevitably cut and pasted the text, he or she had to rearrange footnotes manually, renumbering each one into the new order. Now, word processing handles this process quickly and easily. To create footnote/endnotes in WORD, follow the following steps. (Other word processing programs follow similar steps.)

1. Place the cursor at the point in the text where you want the footnote/endnote to appear
2. Look at the menu on the top of the page
3. Click on "Insert"
4. On the drop down menu, click on "Reference"
5. On the side menu, click on "Footnote"
6. A menu will come up entitled "Footnotes and Endnotes"
7. Footnotes is the default setting. If you want endnotes, click on it.
8. Click on the down arrow next to "Number Format"
9. On the drop down menu, select the Arabic numerals (i.e. 1, 2, 3). Do not use Roman numerals (i.e. i, ii, iii) for footnotes/endnotes. They may look cute, but their use is far more confusing for most readers.
10. Click on "Insert" at the bottom of the "Footnotes and Endnotes" menu. The footnote/endnote will appear.

To move back and forth between the footnote/endnote number in the text and the actual footnote/endnote, double click on the number. Alternatively, one can scroll down to the bottom of the page for footnotes or to the end of the text for endnotes.

(While I have not worked in other word processing programs, to the best of my understanding, they have similar methods for footnoting/endnoting material.)

Three Types of Citation

When it comes to historical writing, it is critical to understand the different ways in which notation may be used. This section explains how footnotes/endnotes take three forms. Students should be aware that the distinctions made here and the names given to the different categories are my own. Nevertheless, they demonstrate how a careful approach to notation may considerably enhance one's writing. It is strongly recommended that students undertaking a writing assignment for Dr. V attempt to utilize all three forms of citation!

1. Reference footnotes/endnotes

These consist of no more than simple references to one or perhaps several sources of information that have been consulted in composing the text. The majority of citations used by writers tend to fall into this category.

2. Bibliographical footnotes/endnotes

These are citations that either summarize or comment upon the bibliography available to those working on the subject. Such citations are particularly useful in article-length compositions where there is not adequate space in the text to examine the nature of the sources.

3. Information footnotes/endnotes

These citations permit the writer to add information that might be useful to the reader, but would break the flow of the narrative if inserted directly into the text.

Actual footnotes/endnotes are often some combination of the above categories. To illustrate my point, I have slightly amended the opening paragraph of an article I published some years ago. In this example, Footnote 1 is simply an information footnote, supplying the reader with added information that I think would have broken the narrative flow. Footnote 2 combines both extra information about the Black Prince with a bibliographical component. Footnote 3 is purely bibliographical.

Example:

On April 3, 1367, as the sun rose over northern Castile, largest of five kingdoms that shared the Iberian peninsula [1], two of the century’s greatest armies faced each other across a field awaiting orders that would propel them into one of the century’s greatest battles. From across the Pyrenees, by way of the neighboring kingdom of Navarre, came the invaders, an Anglo-Gascon force, battle-hardened in the Hundred Years War and commanded by England’s most famous soldier, Edward Plantagenet, known widely as the Black Prince (d. 1376). [2] Eldest son of Edward III (1327-1377) and heir to the English throne, the prince had entered Spain to restore his country’s ally, Pedro I “the Cruel” (1350-1366; 1367-1369) [3], to the Castilian throne from which he had been unceremoniously ousted a year earlier.

[1] The Christian kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Portugal, and Navarre and the Moorish kingdom of Granada.

[2] Most historians attribute this sobriquet, not mentioned in historical sources until long after Edward’s death, to a penchant for wearing black armor. See, for example: Henry Dwight Sedgwick, The Life of Edward the Black Prince, 1330-1376 (New York, 1993): 27. The best medieval account of the prince’s life is to be found in a lengthy poem by an anonymous author known only as the Chandos herald, the most reliable surviving manuscript of which resides in Worcester College, Oxford. A critical edition from the turn of the century used in the preparation of this article contains not only the original text in meter, but also a useful prose paraphrase. While the introduction to that edition is overwhelmingly linguistic rather than historical in nature, the inclusion of voluminous endnotes, often cross-referencing to other chronicles, more than makes up for this. See: Life of the Black Prince by the Herald of Sir John Chandos [hereafter Chandos herald], ed. Mildred K. Pope and Eleanor C. Lodge (Oxford, 1910). In addition, a somewhat freer English translation of the work can be found in Richard Barber, The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince (London, 1979), a new version of which has recently come out with Boydell and Brewer.

[3] The most widely-used edition of the Pedro’s chronicle, the one cited in this article, is Pedro Lopez de Ayala, Crónica del Rey Don Pedro Primero [hereafter Ayala], in Crónicas de los Reyes de Castilla [CRC] 1, Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles [BAE] 66 (Madrid: Ediciones Atlas, 1953), pp. 393-614. For a more recent edition, see: Crónica del rey don Pedro, ed. by Constance L. Wilkins and Heanon M. Wilkins (Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1985.) In Pedro the Cruel, 1350-1369 (Leiden, 1995), Clara Estow has contributed a fine full-length biography of the king. Another useful book for the study of the reign, one that reprints a number of key documents is J. B. Sitges, Las Mujeres del Rey Don Pedro I de Castilla (Madrid, 1910). For my own assessment of Pedro and his highly impolitic policies, see: L. J. Andrew Villalon, "Pedro the Cruel: Portrait of a Royal Failure," in Medieval Iberia: Essays on the History and Literature of Medieval Spain, ed. Donald J. Kagay and Joseph T. Snow (New York, 1997), pp. 205-216.

Examples of Historical Footnoting

Printed Works

Single Book:

Author, Title (Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication).

or

Author, Title (Place of Publication, Date of Publication).

Examples:

Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978).

John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York: The Viking Press, 1976).

Note: The author's name should be given as it appears on the title page of the book, including initials. The title must be underlined or in italics. You may either include or omit the publisher. In the collections I have co-edited, we do not require the publisher. On the other hand, many outlets, in particular historical journals, do require it.

Single Book with page number(s):

Author, Title (Place of Publication, Date of Publication), page(s).

Examples:

Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 3-33.

John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York: The Viking Press, 1976), pp. 3-33.

Note: The abbreviation for page/pages (p./pp.) can be, but does not have to be included.

Single Book with multiple authors:

Authors, Title (Place of Publication, Date of Publication).

Examples:

Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu, In Search of Dracula: A True History of Dracula and Vampire Legends (New York, 1972).

Carlton J. H. Hayes, et. al., History of Europe (New York: The McMillan Company, 1956).

Note: When there are two authors, both of their names should be given in full. When there are three or more authors, give the first name mentioned, followed by "et. al.", a Latin abbreviation that means "and others."

Journal Article :

Author, “Title of article,” Title of journal, volume, number (Date), pages.

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "Putting Don Carlos Together Again: the Treatment of a Head Injury in Mid-Sixteenth Century Spain," Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. XXVI, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), 347-65.

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "San Diego de Alcala and the Politics of Saint-making in Counter-Reformation Europe," Catholic Historical Review, Vol. LXXXIII, No. 4 (October, 1997), 691-715.

Note: The title of the article should be placed within quotation marks. The title of the journal should be in italics or underlined. The date might be the season or the month of publication. Rarely will it be only the year, but if that is the case, then give just the year.

Article (also called a “chapter”) in a collection:

Author, “Title of article,” in Title of collection, Name of editor(s), Title of collection (Place of publication, Date), pages in collection.

Author, “Title of article,” in Name of editor(s), ed(s)., Title of collection (Place of publication: Publisher, Date), pages in collection.

Examples:

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "Pedro the Cruel: Portrait of a Royal Failure," in Medieval Iberia: Essays on the History and Literature of Medieval Spain, ed. by Donald J. Kagay and Joseph T. Snow, Iberica Series, vol. 25 (New York, 1997), 201-16.

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "Seeking Castles in Spain: Sir Hugh Calveley and the Free Companies' Intervention in Iberian Warfare (1366-1369)," in Crusaders, Condottierri, and Cannon: Medieval Warfare in Societies around the Mediterranean, L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, eds. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2003), pp. 305-328.

Note: The title of the article should be placed within quotations marks. The title of the collection must appear either underlined or in italics. Since there are two co-editors, both of their names should be listed. The volume is either "edited by" or their names are followed by "eds." meaning editors.

Article (also called “chapter”) in a multi-volume collection:

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "The Battle of Najera and the Hundred Years War in Spain," in The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus, edited by L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, 2 Vols. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005), 1: 3-74.

Note: The title of the article is placed in quotation marks, the title of the collection must appear either in italics or underlined. If there are two editors, both names are given; if there are three or more, the first one named is given, followed by "et. al."

Encyclopedia Article:

L. J. Andrew Villalon, "Machiavelli," in Encyclopedia of the Reformation, ed. by Hans Hillerbrand, et. al., 4 Vols., (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 2: 481.

Note: The use of "et. al." indicates multiple editors. The encyclopedia contains four volume; the entry in question appears in volume 2.

Document in a documentary collection:

“The Speech of Urban: The Version of Guibert of Nogent,” in The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed. by Edward Peters, Second Edition (Philadephia, 1998), 33-37.

"The Speech of Urban: The Version of Guibert of Nogent,” in The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, Edward Peters, ed., Second Edition (Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), pp. 33-37.

Repeat Citations:

In the course of writing a paper, it is often necessary to cite a work or a document more than once. For example, each direct quotation from a source must be cited individually. What is more, if different pieces of information are taken from a single source, each piece of information should also be separately cited.

On the other hand, it is not necessary or even desirable to supply a complete citation each time the source is used. There are acceptable ways in which to abbreviate repeat citation.

Example 1:

1. Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 33.

2. ibid.

Note: In Example 1, the first reference to the source should be a complete reference. The second reference is to the same page in the same source; hence, all one needs to put in the footnote is "ibid."

Example 2:

1. Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 33.

2. ibid., 35.

Note: In Example 2, the second reference is to the same source, but a different page.

Example 3:

1. Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 33.

2. John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York, 1976), 80.

3. Tuchman, 35.

Note: In Example 3, there is an intervening source between the first and second references to Tuchman's book. One can not use "ibid" for the second Tuchman reference, because in this case "ibid" would refer to the preceding source, i.e. the book written by John Keegan. Consequently, it is necessary to refer back to Tuchman by using her name and the page number.

Example 4:

1. Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 33.

2. Barbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World before the War, 1890-1914 (New York, 1962), 55.

3. John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York, 1976), 80.

4. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, 35.

Note: In Example 4, several works by Tuchman have been used. Consequently, in subsequent footnotes/endnotes, the author must distinguish between them by including a short title.

Example 5:

1. Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (New York, 1978), 33.

2. Barbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World before the War, 1890-1914 (New York, 1962), 55.

3. John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York, 1976), 80.

4. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, 35.

5. ibid.

6. ibid., 36.

Note: In Example 5, note 1 gives the complete reference; note 4 i refers back to that reference and includes both the author's name and a short title; note 5 refers to the same work and the same page as note 4; and note 6 refers to the same work, but a different page.

Citing Sources from the Web

Although the rules for citing print sources were worked out long before the arrival of the World Wide Web, scholars are currently wrestling with the question of how best to cite web sources. The main problem lies in the fact that print sources have a solidity that web sources lack. A web source can literally be here today and gone tomorrow. Even if the web source remains in place, it may not be the same. Any electronic source can be altered over time--witness the material in my website. To help compensate for this problem, scholars are increasingly adding to their citations to the web, the date and perhaps even the time when they accessed the material. The following are some suggestions of how one might cite websources

Examples 1:

Review of Niccolo Machiavelli, The Art of War, translated, edited, and with a Commentary by Christopher Lynch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) written by L. J. Andrew Villalon for the De re militari website URL:
http://www.deremilitari.org/REVIEWS/Machiavelli_Art_Lynch.html, (accessed 4/15/08.)

Examples 1 (alternate):

Review of Niccolo Machiavelli, The Art of War, translated, edited, and with a Commentary by Christopher Lynch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) written by L. J. Andrew Villalon for the De re militari website URL:
http://www.deremilitari.org/REVIEWS/Machiavelli_Art_Lynch.html, (accessed 9 p.m. 4/15/08.)

In the alternate version, the writer has also recorded the time of day when the source was accessed. While this may seem to be "overkill," in the end, it is the author's choice.

Citing Major Genealogical Sources

A. Personal Interviews, Conversations, Letters, Emails

The following are variations on what is really a common theme—communication between yourself and another individual. Together, they should cover citation to what will probably be one of the student’s most widely-used sources, i.e. his or her relatives.

Interview with George Washington conducted by L. J. Andrew Villalon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776.

Conversation between George Washington and L. J. Andrew Villalon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776.

Phone conversation between John Adams and L. J. Andrew Villalon on July 4, 1826.

Letter of Benjamin Franklin to L. J. Andrew Villalon sent in Summer, 1789 (?).

Email of Thomas Jefferson to L. J. Andrew Villalon sent from Monticello, Virginia on July 4, 1826.

If, as in the fourth example, a letter does not identify the place from which it was sent or the precise date when it was sent, do the best you can. If you are not certain about any part of that information, but have a good guess, then enter your guess followed by a question mark.

B. Social Security Death Index

Full Citation: To be used when first referring to the source in respect to each particular person.

U.S. Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index," database, RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.) (Accessed 9 p.m. 4/1/09), entry for Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

The abbreviation ssn refers to Social Security Number.

Short Citation: To be used for all subsequent references to the same person:

"Social Security Death Index," RootsWeb.com database entry for Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

The shortened form as given above is the official form that appears in several genealogical handbooks. On the other hand, I think it is actually longer than necessary. In arriving at an abbreviated form, two factors must be weighed against one another: (1) being as brief as possible while (2) supplying enough information to identify the source. Here, I would argue that the "shortened form" can be shortened even further without loss of specificity. My alternative would be:

SSDI, Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

After all, SSDI is a commonly-recognized abbreviation making it unnecessary to spell out "Social Security Death Index" on subsequent occasions. If the writer wishes to clarify this still further, then the first full reference can indicate that thereafter an abbreviation. will be used:

U.S.Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index (hereafter abbreviated SSDI), "database, RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.) (Accessed 9 p.m. 4/1/09), entry for Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

Secondly, unless the writer is using several databases to access the SSDI, there is probably no need to specify the database each time.

The exception would come when a writer did use several databases to access the census; for example, both Rootsweb and FamilySearch provides a search function. If one is using both of these databases, a distinction would have to be made in the shortened footnote/endnote:

SSDI, RootsWeb.com database, Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

SSDI, FamilySearch database, Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

When referring to another person found in the SSDI, the full footnote should be repeated in the first reference:

U.S. Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index," database, RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.) (Accessed 10 p.m. 4/1/09), entry for Luis J. Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

If, in an earlier note concerning a different person, you have already indicated that "Social Security Death Index" is to be abbreviated thereafter as SSDI, then you can give this initial note for another person as follows:

U.S. Social Security Administration, SSDI, database, RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.) (Accessed 10 p.m. 4/1/09), entry for Luis J. Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

C. Federal Census Records

Full Citation: To be used only when first referring to the source in respect to each particular person.

1880 US Federal Census, Population Schedule, Athens Boro, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Enumeration District 4, p. 20, dwelling 196, family 222. Ely E. Hyatt. Database: Ancestry.com, Census Records. (Accessed April 1, 2009). Derived from the original in the National Archives, microfilm roll T-9_1104.

This has been simplified somewhat from the "approved" model given in several works on genealogical citation.

Most of the information for drafting the citation comes from the original image. On the other hand, information on where in the National Archives the originals can be located appears on the compiled database page, not on the original image.

Short Citation: To be used for subsequent references

1880 US Federal Census, Ely E. Hyatt.

Always spell the person's name as it is given on the census you are citing.

If the spelling differs from census as it does in the case of Eli Hyatt (Ely E. Hyatt, Eli E. Hyatt, E.E. Hyatt), then that fact should be noted in the first census citation dealing with the individual.

D. Draft Registration Cards

Full Citation: To be used only when first referring to the source in respect to each particular person.

U.S. Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index," database, RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com.) (Accessed 9 p.m. 4/1/09), entry for Jose Villalon, ssn 159-03-3852.

Draft Registration Card, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) (Accessed 4/1/09), entry for Jose Andrés Villalon, Gary, Lake County, Indiana, June, 1917.

Draft Registration Card, database, Ancestry.com, ( http://www.ancestry.com) (Accessed 9 p.m.), entry for Lewis Carleton Matthews, Norfolk, Virginia, September, 1918 (?).

The information supplied in these sample citations should be sufficient to inform readers how they can locate the draft registration cards. It identifies the database that was used in finding the card, the individual as his name appears on the card, and where that individual was living when the card was issued.

If (as on the Matthews card) no county is given, then the citation will contain only the city name.

Also on the Matthews card, the date is given as September, 1918 (?). The question mark results from the difficulties involved in reading the on-line version of the card.

Short Citation: To be used for subsequent references

Draft Registration Card, Jose Andrés Villalon.

Draft Registration Card, Lewis Carleton Matthews.

E. Passenger Lists

Full Citation:

“Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945,” database, Immigration and Emigration Records,” database, Ancestry.com. (http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40) (accessed March 22, 2009), entry for Jose A. Villalon, 18 years/6 months old, arrived September 13, 1907 on the Brighton.

Short Citation:

“Philadelphia Passenger Lists,” Jose A. Villalon, arrived September 13, 1907 on the Brighton.

The full citation must be used at the first mention of the source. In subsequent citations, if it is the same database being used (for example, Immigration and Emigration Records,” Ancestry.com), then these do not need to be repeated in the short citation. Subsequent citations can also omit the date accessed and the age of the individual upon arrival.

E. National Park Service Civil War Site:

Full Citation:

The American Civil War: Forging a more Perfect Union, National Park Serivce, U.S. Department of the Interior, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (Accessed April 1, 2009), entry for Jacob G. Frick, Colonel, 27^th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry Militia (Emergency, 1863).

If, as in the case of Frick, the soldier served in several different units, the citation may be designed to show that fact:

The American Civil War: Forging a more Perfect Union, National Park Serivce, U.S. Department of the Interior, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (Accessed April 1, 2009), entry for Jacob G. Frick, Lieutenant Colonel, 96^th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry; Colonel, 129^th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry; Colonel, 27^th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry Militia (Emergency, 1863).

If service in multiple military units is indicated by the citation, then the units should (if possible) be listed in the order in which the soldier served in them.

Short Citation:

NPS, American Civil War, Jacob G. Frick.