Mennonite Library and Archives

Citation of Archival Records from the Mennonite Library and Archives
21 April 2009

There are a variety of footnote and bibliography formats you might be using. We don't intend to specify any particular format, but your references to MLA archival materials should include several components so that each source document can be quickly found in the archives based on your citation. Your full citation should include the following seven components:

• the document itself (e. g. "John Smith to John Jones, 31 Dec 1931")
• the name of the record group or record series in which an item is found (e. g. "C. H. Wedel Papers" or "Bethel College Archives, E. G. Kaufman Presidential Papers")
• the folder number (found on the folder label)
• the folder title (Please use the title found in the guide or finding aid to the particular collection with which you are working. When the folder title is complex, the title found on the folder label will be only an abbreviation.)
• the box number
• the record group or series number (e. g. "MLA.MS.131" or "MLA.III.1.A.1.g") (The MLA archival record groups are arranged in what is basically a large outline, which determines the record group numbers, as you can see from the second example above.)
• an indication of the fact that the source is found at the Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas.