Date field on Vital Record source

[Justin J. Rebbert]

When creating a Vital Record source, there is a Date field. Should this be the date of the event being recorded, or the date the record was prepared?

I have a certificate of baptism for a great-aunt. The certificate says the baptism took place July 27, 1919. The certificate itself is dated May 15, 1933. I assume that this was a hand-prepared duplicate made at the family's request in 1933.

[dfilpus]

The date in the Source entry should be the date the document was created. This helps find the source in a repository, since many repositories are sorted by the creation date of the document. The information in the Source entry should be useful for locating the source original itself.

In this case, the date of the Source should be the date the original was created, not when it was copied. A note to the source should indicate that this is a copy of the original, and give the copy date. If the date of the original is not known, then use the date of the copy, and note that fact.

[Justin J. Rebbert]

Thanks for the info and the tip. I have one question about that, though: You say to use the date of the copy if the date the original was created is unknown. For a vital record certificate such as this, though, should it not be assumed that the original creation date is the date of the event itself?

[dfilpus]

In modern record keeping, a birth certificate usually is created the day of the event. In the past when home birth was common, the birth certificate may not have been filed with the county until days after the event. The document often was filed by the date of fiing, not the date of the event.

[Justin J. Rebbert]

I have a follow-up question to this...

Another field in the Vital Record source is called "Register". What is supposed to go in this field? On my birth certificate, there is a "Date registered" but, according to the answer to my original question, this info goes in the "Date" field. So what is "Register" for?

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Justin J. Rebbert

Another field in the Vital Record source is called "Register". What is supposed to go in this field?

In some countries Vital Records are filed with a specific section of the government - e.g. England's General Register Office. "Register" or "Civil Registry" is the common term for these.

In the U.S., Vital Records are filed with either a state-level office or the county Clerk of Court (depending on the type of record). If your research is in the U.S., you may not need this field.

HTH

[Justin J. Rebbert]

If I understand you correctly, then what you are describing sounds more like a registrar than a register.

My birth certificate says, in large print at the top, "State of Arizona", which I put in the locality field. After an empty area, in regular-size print, it says, "State of Arizona," followed on another line by, "Department of Health Services -- Office of Vital Records".

In small print at the bottom, it says, "This is a true certification of the facts on file with the Office of Vital Records, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, Arizona," etc.

It is signed by the Assistant State Registrar.

Should I leave "State of Arizona" as the locality field, and put "Office of Vital Records" or "Department of Health Services -- Office of Vital Records" or "Office of Vital Records, Arizona Department of Health Services" in the register field?

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Justin J. Rebbert

If I understand you correctly, then what you are describing sounds more like a registrar than a register.

A "Registrar" is usually a specific individual/position, where as the "Register" is a branch of the government. Using the England example from my last post, the Registrar General is the head of the General Register Office.

Should I leave "State of Arizona" as the locality field, and put "Office of Vital Records" or "Department of Health Services -- Office of Vital Records" or "Office of Vital Records, Arizona Department of Health Services" in the register field?

I would probably enter it as it appears on the bottom of the document: "Office of Vital Records, Arizona Department of Health Services". This includes the most details while also being in a format that is more common in sources (vs. the format with the -'s).

You may also want to add the city (Phoenix) that the Office is located in with the Place - again, the more details you have the better.