Referencing archival records for school students

The records on the student research portal are digitised copies of authentic archival records. This means that they are primary sources.

Primary sources like archival records provide you with valuable evidence from the time period that you are researching. They can be used to back-up and expand upon your historical claims and arguments. Learning to locate and analyse primary sources is an important skill for you to develop as a student researcher.

You should reference archival records as primary sources according to the guidelines found on this page.

How to reference archival records

An archival record is just one item in a series of items created or maintained by an agency or person. As far as possible, archives are kept in the same sequence and filing system in which they were created and maintained. A correct citation lets the reader know the origin as well as the location of a given record.

The citation for an archival record should, at a minimum, include:

  • the name of the institution holding the record
  • the series number of the record series to which the record belongs
  • the control symbol (or item number); and
  • a full stop to complete the citation.

An archival record may be referenced as an abbreviated citation or an expanded citation.

Abbreviated citations

When preparing footnotes or captions we recommend that you use the following abbreviated form of citation:

  1. The abbreviation 'NAA' (for National Archives of Australia) followed by a colon, for example 'NAA:' 
  2. The series number, followed by a comma for example 'A6180,' 
  3. The control symbol (also referred to as the item number) for example '19/3/75/5'
  4. A full stop.

The complete abbreviated citation would be: NAA: A6180, 19/3/75/5.

Finding the details for an abbreviated citation

All of the records available in our student research portal are held by National Archives. This means that the name of the institution holding the record will always be abbreviated to NAA. 

All other information needed for an abbreviated citation can be found in the details box on the student research portal page for the record. This includes the series number and the control symbol, which are listed under the citation heading as a citation value link.

If the citation value link does not include a control symbol – and instead reads NN (no number) – then the title of the record page in the student research portal may be used instead of the control symbol.

Learning resource record page identifying the record, website text about the record, the record webpage title, and the citation information.

A student resource record page highlighting the details for citation of the primary source record and the secondary source of information such as the record webpage title and text describing the record.

Expanded citations

Sometimes it may be appropriate to give a more detailed citation for an archival record found in the student research portal. For example, if you are a secondary student, we recommend that you use an expanded citation in your full bibliography. 

An expanded citation includes the same elements as the abbreviated citation, with the addition of the following:

  1. The full title 'National Archives of Australia' for example, National Archives of Australia:
  2. The name of the agency (or person) that created the record (the creator), for example, Australian Information Service, Canberra; 
  3. The series number, series title and contents date range: A6180, Photographic negatives and prints, daily single number series, 01 Jul 1971 -
  4. The control symbol, item title and contents date range: 19/3/75/5, Demonstrations – Victoria – Women's rights demonstration in Melbourne to mark International Women's Day, 8 March 1975, 1975-1975.

The expanded citation, separating the main elements with a colon (:) then semicolons (;) would be: 

National Archives of Australia: Australian Information Service, Canberra; A6180, Photographic negatives and prints, daily single number series, 01 Jul 1971 - ; 19/3/75/5, Demonstrations – Victoria – Women’s rights demonstration in Melbourne to mark International Women's Day, 8 March 1975, 1975-1975.

Finding the details for an expanded citation

You must leave the student research portal to find the additional details required to write an expanded citation.

To do this, click on the citation value link in the details box for the record. This will take you away from the student research portal to the item details page for the record on RecordSearch. This is where the item title and content date range for the item can be found.

An example of an Item detail page on RecordSearch highlighting the Item title, Content date range and Series value link.

To find the series title and the contents date range for the series that the record belongs to, click on the series number value link on the item details page. This will take you to the series details for the series:

An example of a Series detail page on RecordSearch highlighting the Series title and Content date range.

An example of a series detail page on RecordSearch .

Referencing the website text under a record

In the student research portal, written text that outlines the origin and context of a record can be found under the record itself. This text was written by National Archives to support your exploration and analysis of the archival record. This text is an example of a secondary source.

If you refer to or quote from this text written about a record, you should reference it according to your school's guidelines for referencing secondary sources including information found on a website.

For example: National Archives, 2023. International Women's Day Rally, Melbourne. Viewed 21 November 2023: International Women's Day rally, Melbourne | naa.gov.au