Citing Primary Sources: Date

• When was the source created?
• When was it published?
• When did I access the source online or in a digital collection?
• Is there more than one date associated with the source?

There may be several dates associated with one primary source.

Published collections of primary sources have two dates: the date of the creation of the source and the date it was published in a book.

For newspaper articles, cite the date of the publication of the article (usually specified on the top margin and the first page of the edition).

Unpublished sources tend to have a single date, typically the date of their creation.

Examples

Footnote or endnote:
John Norman Harris, Letter to L. Delaporte, 29 April 1943, 2011.13 Box 1, File 2. John Norman Harris fonds, Victoria University Library, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Priscilla M. Roberts, ed., World War II: The Essential Reference Guide (Santa Barbara: ABC–CLIO), 2016, 307.

Bibliography:
Harris, Norman John. Letter to L. Delaporte. 29 April 1943.. 2011.13 Box 1, File 2. John Norman Harris fonds, Victoria University Library, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Roberts, Priscilla M., ed. World War II: The Essential Reference Guide. Santa Barbara: ABC–CLIO, 2016.