Cite the Date Posted or Viewed
One of the most important ways a genealogist succinctly indicates a high level of consideration about the source they hold in “their hand” when looking for information that answers a question about a specific ancestor. If the cited source is no longer available, communication with the researcher is vital. It may be that newer information…
One of the most important ways a genealogist succinctly indicates a high level of consideration about the source they hold in “their hand” when looking for information that answers a question about a specific ancestor. If the cited source is no longer available, communication with the researcher is vital. It may be that newer information has come to light since the researcher last reviewed the ancestor profile.
EXAMPLE #1 Date Posted – What if something happened to a genealogy blogger’s entire blog? At least one could use the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to find the post. They are filed by blog name, then date of publication.
EXAMPLE #2 Date Viewed – Websites change, as we see by this post by Mondays with Myrt Panelist Randy Seaver writes “FamilySearch removed 2 genealogy record collections (including the 1931 Canada census – why?), added two collections (including the 1950 US census – why? wasn’t it already there?) and updated dozens of existing collections this past week.” (1)
WHY do they change? Major genealogy websites, sign contracts with archives, courthouses and churches to digitize paper copies but in exchange that website may request the exclusive right to display the digital images for X number of years. Once that term has expired, the images were withdrawn to comply with the contract.
So, if entire digital record sets are removed, citations must include the date viewed. A fully-fleshed citation would then explain to the reader that at the time an article or research report was viewed, that’s where the database with images resided.
EXAMPLE #3 – Date Viewed, but new images added later
Myrt has also observed, particularly with initial scanning of newspapers, where two different websites may say digital image collection for a specific newspaper runs from 1876-1925.
- In a side-by-side comparison, one genealogy website showa X number of pages for a one year run of a specific newspaper compared to another genealogy website shows considerably less.
- Same time period, same newspaper.
- On closer review, it was discovered that initially the second genealogy website scanned only a few pages of each edition of the newspaper, instead of the full run as had the first genealogy website.
- Later, the remaining pages were added to the competitor’s website.
NOTES
(1) Randal J. Seaver “Added and Updated FamilySearch Record Collections – Week of 1 to 7 June 2024,” blog post, Genea_Musings, (https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/06/added-and-updated-familysearch-record_01229790546.html : posted 8 June 2024.) Each week, Randy indicates the new, removed and opdated historical record collections at FamilySearch.
