Sourcing When Scanning

This is a lovely scan of an obituary from the Chicago, Illinois, area. Only one problem--when I scanned it, I included no source information on the obituary. There are several options that I had at the time the scan was made.

1. I could have written the name of the paper and the date on the original and then my scan would have included that information.


2. I could have used my photoediting software to add the same information in text format on the document.


3. I could have included the source in the file name of the document--without being too long.

Probably the best option is 1 or 2 and 3. File names are not always included with printouts, so that is a limitation of only using option three. Including the source in the file name (along with the name of the person on the scan), makes it easier to search the hard drive or media for specific words or phrases.

My attempt to date and locate the source would require using contextual clues from the document. I already know the paper is one in the Chiago area, which could have been determined using the place names and addresses. Had the year not been known already, a perpetual calendar and contextual clues would have given a good guess as to the paper's date. The real problem would be in determining in which newspaper the obituary actually appeared.

The desired obituary on this page was that of Peter Verikios. He's my wife's step-great-grandfather. At least I copied more than his obituary which helped to provide additional contextual references. It is usually a good idea to copy a little more than you think you will need.