Poly Archives & Special Collections

Contact us via email for reference requests or to schedule a visit to the archives. Poly Archives at polyarchives@nyu.edu. 

To locate material across this or other collections at NYU Libraries, you can Search our Finding Aids.

• Collection name and RG number
• Box number
• Folder number
• Identification of item (either transcribe the title of the document or describe the item if there is no title)
• Date of item
• Creator of item

Works Cited Guidelines

Author last name, First Initial. (year, month day). [Identification of item].  Collection Name, Poly Archives (Box number, Folder number), Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn, NY.

In-Text Citation with Known Creator/Author

If you know the author of the work you are citing, include the author’s last name and year of the work in parentheses after the quote or paraphrase. Ex. (Author, year) or (Author, undated)

In-Text Citation with Unknown Creator/Author

If you do not know the author’s name for the work you are citing, include the title or description of the item and the year of the item in quotation marks in parentheses after the quote or paraphrase.  Ex. (“Title of item,” year)

The image is from Box 3, Folder 7 of the Samuel Ruben Papers (RG-015).  There is no indication on the photograph of the date it was taken or who created the image.  In this case, fill out the citation as completely as possible and specify what is unknown.

American Psychological Association:

Creator unknown. (date unknown). [Mallory Hearing Aid “A” Battery photograph].  RG-015: Samuel Ruben Papers, Poly Archives (Box 3, Folder 7), Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn, NY.

In-text citation:

(“Mallory Hearing Aid ‘A’ Battery photograph,” undated)

Modern Language Association:

Creator unknown.  Mallory Hearing Aid “A” Battery photograph. Date unknown.  RG-015: Samuel Ruben Papers.  Box 3, Folder 7. Poly Archives, Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn.

In-text citation:

(“Mallory Hearing Aid ‘A’ Battery photograph”)

Works Cited Guidelines

Author last name, First name.  Identification of item. Day month year.  Collection Name.  Box number, Folder number. Poly Archives, Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn.

In-Text Citation with Known Creator/Author

If you know the author of the work you are citing, include the author’s last name in parentheses after the quote or paraphrase. Ex. (Author).

In-Text Citation with Unknown Creator/Author

If you do not know the author’s name for the work you are citing, include the title or description of the item in quotation marks in parentheses after the quote or paraphrase. Ex. ("Title of item")

The image is a letter found in Box 3, Folder 11 of the Samuel Ruben Papers (RG-015).  Information about the creation of the document can be taken from the document itself.  That is, by reading the letter, author and date can be determined.

American Psychological Association:

Middendorf, H. (1960, August 2). [Ruben Scholarship correspondence].  RG-015: Samuel Ruben Papers, Poly Archives (Box 3, Folder 11), Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn, NY.

In-text citation:

(Middendorf, 1960)

Modern Language Association:

Middendorf, Henry.  Ruben Scholarship correspondence. 2 August 1960.  RG-015: Samuel Ruben Papers.  Box 3, Folder 11. Poly Archives, Bern Dibner Library, NYU Libraries, Brooklyn.

In-text citation:

(Middendorf)