A folder called “old-text-interesting.png” may preserve an image while losing the path back to its source. Manuscript research becomes easier when the institution’s identifier travels with every note.
Copy the identifier exactly
The British Library’s digitised manuscripts guide presents shelfmarks alongside collection items. These identifiers help distinguish manuscripts that may share a title or contain related texts.
Record the institution as well as the shelfmark. An isolated number copied from one collection should not be assumed to identify the same object elsewhere.
Separate object and image references
Your note might need a catalogue link, a folio reference and a viewer image number. Give them separate labels. The manuscript is one thing; the digital presentation through which you consulted it is another.
For an illustrative filing pattern, use “institution — shelfmark — folio — topic”. Replace those fields with verified information instead of inventing a complete-looking reference.
Retain the access date
A catalogue can be updated or a viewer moved. Record when you consulted it and keep a short description of what you used. If an image is unavailable, note the limitation rather than claiming to have inspected it.
The next time you return, begin with the catalogue record instead of searching by an uncertain screenshot title. Our note on recto and verso references helps you locate the right side of the leaf once there.