Photographs are located in multiple parts of Special Collections, some are in the vertical files, some are in manuscript collections, and some are in the photograph collection. There are also digital copies of many of our photographs accessible online via multiple platforms. In order to cite a photograph properly, you will need to know where you found it. If you can't remember, email, call, or stop by the reading room to ask for help!
The boxes below will help you determine how to cite your photograph based on where it lives in our collections. In most cases, you will need to create a "title" or brief description of the photo; in some cases, the photo may have a title visible in the image or noted in the metadata (if you found it online or via a finding aid for a manuscript collection). Some photographs have exact dates, some have just a year, some have approximate dates (i.e. "circa 1940"), and some are undated. Adjust the citation elements as needed to reflect the information that is or is not available for your particular photograph.
The majority of our photographs are located in the photograph collection and are identified with a Photograph Location Number (sometimes referred to as a Photo ID #). Examples of Photograph Location Numbers: C-F04189, L-F00312, C-D00031, C-L00112. You will need this number in order to write a proper citation. Sometimes the leading zeros between the second letter and the number are left out (ex. L-F00312 is the same as L-F312), and it is up to you whether or not to include them.
General Citation Format:
[Title], [Date], Photo [Photograph Location #], Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Example 1: An image from the photograph collection with an approximate date
Aerial view of Campus, circa 1940, Photo C-D00077, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
If you are citing a photograph that you found in a manuscript collection, use the following format:
[Title], [Date], [Image # if present], [Folder #], [Box #], in [Collection #] [Collection Name], Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Your item may or may not have a date, image number, or folder number, so those elements are optional.
Example 1:
West End Settlement building, 22 October 1914, Image # 27.L-W.gp.2.62, Image Box 20, in MSS 27 John Henry Hauberg papers, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Example 2:
Photograph of Sister Ingeborg Nystul seated outdoors, circa 1960s, Box 1, in MSS 86 Sister Ingeborg Nystul papers, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
If you are citing a photograph that you found in a vertical file, use the following format:
[Title], [Date], in the [Name of vertical file] vertical file, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
You may need to create a descriptive title for the photo, and it may or may not have a date (or may have only an approximate date).
Example 1:
Front View of House-on-the-Hill, undated, in the Augustana College--House-on-the-Hill vertical file, Special Collections, Rock Island, Illinois.
If you are citing a photograph that you found online via one of our digital collections, you may need to do a little detective work to figure out where the physical copy of the photograph is located. There should be information about the photograph provided in the details below or next to the image on each of our digital platforms (this information is called metadata). Look for an photograph location number (may also be called an image ID #) and/or a collection name and number (MSS #).
For your citation, use the appropriate format for the original source location (i.e. photograph collection, manuscript collection, or vertical file), but add an element at the end to indicate where you found the image online. This element should be formatted in accordance with the rules of whatever citation style you are using.
Example 1:
2 Young Men in Uniform-Red Cross Canteen?, 1918, Image number 27.L-RI.gp.2.42, in MSS 27 John Henry Hauberg papers, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm/ref/collection/aug_hauberg/id/2130. Accessed 12 September 2019.