I agree that FamilySearch and Ancestry tend to have stable file structures within their databases and thus the record specific URLs tend not to change, but it is other repositories that can and do change. I believe the OP referenced something like “Virginia Masrriages, 1785-1940” which caused me to think that this site could have been one of the many state-sponsored or genealogical research group repositories of vital records. I know Illinois, Oklahoma, Ohio and several others are ones that make available such databases that are not only searchable online but allow the viewing and downloading of individual records. All that need happen to these repositories is for a new governor to be elected and he/she then wants to re-organize the online presences of the state with, of course, a larger picture of themselves on each page. I suspect that Illinois is probably the worst when every time their governor gets sent to prison, the whole repository is revamped. (My apologies to Illinois residents but I grew up there and I know what happens to Illinois governors.)
There is nothing wrong with somehow adding in the record specific URL to the Legacy detail source citation. My hats off to those that want to add as much detailed information as they can. And generally speaking, even if the URL were to change, future researchers would probably be savy enough to alter the no-longer found URL to navigate to the main repository page upon which they could then perform the specific record search. So adding these specific URLs to your Legacy file does not mean you are doing it the wrong way. Hey, its Legacy. Do it whatever way you want. That’s the beauty of Legacy. Brian in CA PS – For what it’s worth, I recently came across a reference in FamilySeach that had changed the name of the database. It seems that whenever FamilySearch updates a database to include additional years, the name of the database gets changed. For example, “Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," may get changed to “Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1955”. Any reference to the old database name is not found. I’ve learned to use the FamilySearch collection number instead of the database name. Thus, either the old name or the new name of “Iowa, County Marriages” maintains a URL of https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1805551. But even with that, the Detail Source Citation within Legacy will still give the now-defunct database name. Fortunately the URL remains correct. I have no way of knowing which databases have changed nor am I inclined to go through the effort to change that name reference within my family file. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Lisle [mailto:leg...@johnlisle.com] Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2015 9:11 AM To: legacyusergroup@LegacyUsers.com Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] SourceWriter: internet > database Brian, Michelle, Barton et al, Again, please let me be the naysayer. With some repositories, you can be more specific than just the top level URL. For instance... If you copy a FamilySearch record with their copy button, and paste it into a detail citation note, it will include the URL of the record and date the record was accessioned. (Even if those URLs go bad, which I have not seen, most web users will be able to use that to find the record.) As for Ancestry, I have a bookmarks page with direct links to specific databases within ancestry that I use frequently that I setup 10+ years ago. Those links still work. When I setup a source for, say, the 1900 US census, I use that URL as the Call Number for the repository. I have not tried using a URL to a specific ancestry record. However, you probably should reference the URL of a specific page in an ancestry tree or WorldConnect tree, if that was your source, as those pages could go away if the tree is removed, but will remain mostly static while tree is present. I have not done it, but I suspect that you can also use URL of specific Record Collection search pages as Call Numbers also. --> With ancestry and familysearch, the likelihood of those collection URLs changing is now minimal for their total search product to work. john. At 12:26 AM 4/18/2015, Brian L. Lightfoot wrote: Just one word (or paragraph) of caution about trying to supply specific URLs to these records that are part of a larger database collection. I have seen many such repositories occasionally change their internal file location structure so that while the URL to the home page which typically contains a “search the database†utility tends to not change, the specific URLs to the records themselves can and usually does change. In other words, you might be better served if you only reference the URL to the repository itself and let future researchers that want to view a specific record within that repository then use whatever search mechanisms are available to them at that future date. I suppose this can all be summed in in Murphy’s 7th Law of the Universe: two things will change in the future, your looks and Internet URLs. Brian in CA From: Barton Lewis [ mailto:bartonle...@optonline.net] Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 5:32 PM To: legacyusergroup@LegacyUsers.com Subject: [LegacyUG] SourceWriter: internet > database I am finding that the SourceWriter template “internet > database†is very good for most any internet database collection. However, there is one problem: there is only a url field for the main source, not one for the actual specific record within that collection. For the collection “Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940†at familysearch, for example, I have multiple marriages I want to cite, but I would like to be able to cite the url for each individual record. Is it reasonable to ask that this source template be revised so as to include a url in the detail? Barton Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
