Normally when we cite a printed book in our genealogy research, it’s not necessary to indicate in our citation the specific library where we utilized a print copy of the book. If there’s five hundred copies of the book, others can use a different copy of it in a different library. There are two main exceptions to this.
If the book was known to have been printed in a small run and there are an extremely limited number of copies in existence and locating one was particularly difficult including a parenthetical comment about where the book is at in a citation can be helpful, but is not necessary given that most library’s card catalogs are easily accessible online. Similarly, if the book wasn’t actually published, but was rather a bound set of pages given to a library or archives, then the location needs to be cited as the material is a manuscript and not actually a published book.
The main time to cite a particular copy of a book in a specific location is when there is content in the book that was added by an owner at some point in time and that content needs to be cited. There are numerous copies of a printed genealogy on one of my families, one of which I have that originally belonged to my grandparents. My grandmother wrote numerous comments and annotations in it over the years. If I’m citing one of those comments (perhaps a marriage date that she added), then I need to cite my specific copy of the book as not every copy has that information in it. If I’m citing some of the printed material, it is sufficient to cite the book generally.
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