Referencing archive materials using Harvard style

On By brookeslibrarynewsIn Special collections

The important thing when writing bibliographies is that references are:

  • Correct
  • Complete
  • Consistent

For courses at Oxford Brookes that use the Harvard referencing style, we strongly encourage using Cite Them Right or Cite Them Right Online for guidance on compiling your references. Each type of information source has its own referencing guidelines, so be sure to check Cite Them Right carefully to make sure you include all the needed information.

What to do when Cite Them Right doesn’t include the type of material you’re using?

This might happen when using archival material. Cite Them Right only seems to mention archival collections under guidance on manuscripts, so for other material, you’ll have to get (slightly) creative to make sure you provide enough information for someone reading your work to locate the source.

For example…

If I find an event programme in the archive, I’ll combine the Cite Them Right way of referencing the publication type… :

The International Association for the Study of Popular Music (1997) The 9th conference. Popular music: intercultural interpretations. Kanazawa, Japan, 27-31 July [Event programme].

…with the information about how to find it, which should include:

  • the reference number (for Brookes Archives and Special Collections, this is known as Doc Ref), and
  • The repository or archive which holds the material

So the full reference in this case (using Harvard style) would be:

The International Association for the Study of Popular Music (1997) The 9th conference. Popular music: intercultural interpretations. Kanazawa, Japan, 27-31 July [Event programme]. Paul Oliver Archive of African American Music, POAAAM/1/2/4/1, Oxford Brookes University Special Collections, Oxford.

The in-text citation for this source might read:

Oliver delivered a keynote about the intercultural crossover of African American and Native American music (The International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 1997).

Remember, if in doubt, your librarians will be happy to help!

— Saffron Shore, Academic Liaison Librarian for the School of Arts

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