
The goal of properly citing research sources is to enable researchers to locate the exact item that is being referenced.
The most basic information needed for citing a source from the MNHS collections includes:
Do not include a location number or call number in your citation. These may change if a collection is moved, updated, or re-cataloged.
The examples below have been created in the MLA citation style with the order of elements as follows:
Creator. Title or description. Date. Collection. Subcollection, series, or subseries. Box, folder, page number. Repository where the original is held (Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN).
Please refer to the finding aid and/or catalog record for collection details.
Enstrom, Louis. Cat in Doll Bed. ca. 1915. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN. Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company.
Chimp with a Graflex Camera. 1937. Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative Collection. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Hennepin County (Minn.) Department of Public Works, Transportation Planning Section. Lake Minnetonka. Map. [ca. 1:32,000]. Hopkins, MN: Hennepin County Department of Public Works, Transportation Planning Section, 1992. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.
Colton, J. H. (Joseph Hutchins). Colton’s Minnesota and Dakota. Map. [ca. 1:2,500,000]. New York: Johnson & Browning, c1855. Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.