Upgrade StorageCiting medieval manuscripts?
I'm trying to cite medieval manuscripts, but am having trouble setting the right style.
Generally speaking, the citations should take the form:
City of Library, Name of Library, Manuscript shelfmark, folio numbers.
For example:
London, British Library, Sloane MS 1754, fols. 1r-21v.
The "manuscript" and "document" document types aren't right: they give quotes where they don't belong and don't include shelfmarks, etc, etc.
Is there a default type that I should be using (but haven't yet found), or is there a way to modify Zotero to include it? I've added a longer description of what these citations ought to look like below; it's taken from the style guide of the journal of the Medieval Academy and is standard for medieval studies.
Thank you!
(Description from here: http://www.medievalacademy.org/?page=StyleSheet)
Manuscripts and archival material
Both in the text and in the notes the abbreviation “MS” (plural “MSS,” no period) is used only when it precedes a shelf mark. Cite the shelf mark according to the practice of the given library. Folio numbers should include a recto/verso reference, abbreviated and written on the line, not as a superscript. The abbreviation of “folio” is “fol.” (plural “fols.”). Do not use the plural form for inclusive references within a single folio: fol. 22rb—va.
The first reference to a manuscript should give the place-name, the name of the library, and the shelf mark:
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 4117, fols. 108v–145r.
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. lat. 6055, fols. 151r–228v.
Subsequent references:
BnF lat. 4117, fol. 108r. [If the context allows, “lat. 4117” may be sufficient.]
Vat. lat. 6055, fol. 151r.
References to archival material should give the place-name, the name of the archive, the institution, and the shelf mark:
Venice, Archivio di Stato, S. Lorenzo di Venezia, B.21.
Generally speaking, the citations should take the form:
City of Library, Name of Library, Manuscript shelfmark, folio numbers.
For example:
London, British Library, Sloane MS 1754, fols. 1r-21v.
The "manuscript" and "document" document types aren't right: they give quotes where they don't belong and don't include shelfmarks, etc, etc.
Is there a default type that I should be using (but haven't yet found), or is there a way to modify Zotero to include it? I've added a longer description of what these citations ought to look like below; it's taken from the style guide of the journal of the Medieval Academy and is standard for medieval studies.
Thank you!
(Description from here: http://www.medievalacademy.org/?page=StyleSheet)
Manuscripts and archival material
Both in the text and in the notes the abbreviation “MS” (plural “MSS,” no period) is used only when it precedes a shelf mark. Cite the shelf mark according to the practice of the given library. Folio numbers should include a recto/verso reference, abbreviated and written on the line, not as a superscript. The abbreviation of “folio” is “fol.” (plural “fols.”). Do not use the plural form for inclusive references within a single folio: fol. 22rb—va.
The first reference to a manuscript should give the place-name, the name of the library, and the shelf mark:
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 4117, fols. 108v–145r.
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. lat. 6055, fols. 151r–228v.
Subsequent references:
BnF lat. 4117, fol. 108r. [If the context allows, “lat. 4117” may be sufficient.]
Vat. lat. 6055, fol. 151r.
References to archival material should give the place-name, the name of the archive, the institution, and the shelf mark:
Venice, Archivio di Stato, S. Lorenzo di Venezia, B.21.
Once again, thanks for all your hard work. I appreciate it. Zotero is amazing.
I am trying to figure out a workaround for the question that was asked above about citing manuscripts:
So, I, too, am trying to cite manuscripts. I find that I can use Zotero to organize my citations, but when I go to write, I cannot get Zotero to display the way I want to (puts in quotations, doesn't have a field for page #s).
I have used various fields in "Manuscript" to at least get the information inputed. For example, I use Archive for the name of the Archive (obviously), but then I use Location in Archive to identify the shelf mark. I use Title for the name of the Document, and Author for the person who wrote it (mostly letters for me). Then I use Extra for the folio numbers. Here is an example:
Title: Letter to Governor
Author: Soror Magdalena de Santo Agostinho
Date: 11 November 1732
Archive: HAG
Location in Archive: Livro das Monções do Reino, No. 88
Extra: fls. 914r.
That is the information that I need. I can do all kinds of searches, organize the docs in different ways, it works well.
BUT . . .
Now that I want to write, can I modify Chicago Style so that when it sees that it is a Manuscript, it outputs the citation the way I want it
HAG, Letter to Governor, Soror Magdalena de Santo Agostinho,
Livro das Monções do Reino, No. 88, 11 November 1732, fls. 914r.
That is, just for Manuscript, can I have Chicago output in this order with this punctuation?
Archive, Title, Author, Location in Archive, Date, Extra
I think this is not possible, but if it is, it would be a great workaround for manuscript citation.
Thanks,
Dan
You could look what we do for legal documents (cases and legislation) and imitate that.
General instructions are here: https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/citation_styles/style_editing_step-by-step but as I say, this is a complex style to modify in the first place and it's a significant change, so this isn't for the faint of heart.
Additional fields to support historical documents (e.g., for box number) are planned.
[City of Library], [Name of Library], [Shelfmark], [Folio].
To borrow the original poster's example:
London, British Library, Sloane MS 1754, fols. 1r-21v.
The Medieval Academy of America style guidelines also included in that post above illustrate the format for initial and subsequent citations very well.
When comparing multiple manuscripts containing the same (or similar or overlapping) text, however, you will usually need to include multiple manuscript citations in a row. Additionally, if the text which appears in the manuscripts has been edited (editing a medieval text essentially means that the text has been published in modern book form, usually with a complex editorial explanation following several different standards for editions and a concurrent critical apparatus which explains the variants between manuscripts), if you have also consulted editions alongside manuscripts, then you'll want to cite the editions as well as the manuscript(s). These can be cited using Zotero's book or book section formats.
If I have three manuscripts and two editions that need to be cited in one footnote, then the footnote will look like:
[City of Library], [Name of Library], [Shelfmark], [Folio]. [City of Library], [Name of Library], [Shelfmark], [Folio]. [City of Library], [Name of Library], [Shelfmark], [Folio]. [Edition]. [Edition]. [Discursive note regarding the differences in the 2 editions and the manuscript traditions, if needed]. [Citation for short article that discusses something relevant to the discursive note].
What I've been doing is adding the editions as the basis for the footnote and including the manuscript information in the prefix field. It's not ideal, and it's not working very well, but a template for manuscript citations would go a long way towards using Zotero for citing manuscripts alongside books and articles.