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Hello everyone. Now that we've been citing electronic sources for over a decade (or two), I'm sure you know that the URLs in our citations will eventually become out-of-date. Some will be easy to fix, as the database or website just "moved" or has a new URL. However, I'm finding that older family websites and those on GeoCities, WorldRoots.com, Genealogy.com, etc., have disappeared with no clue as to where they moved. I find it a disservice to the users of my research if I leave the inactive URL in the citation, knowing full-well that it's a dead link, even with the "accessed" date specified.
As an example, here's a citation I have to a cemetery index on a website that is no longer found:
Wayne Hinton, compiler, "Richview Township Cemetery" HINTON Genealogy Research, database, (http://www.hinton-gen.com/cems/rich/richview.html : accessed 10 Jul 2010)
I know Archives.org is a good source to go when you have a dead URL, however sometimes even they do not have an archived version of the exact page you're looking for... especially if it was a database.
So how do you handle those citations if you know they are dead links, but can't find a new URL or replacement for them? Would you put a note in the citation that the URL is no longer active? Would you delete the URL from the citation, since it's dead anyway? Or would you just leave it "as is"?
All advice/comments are appreciated!
Kathy Kult
Kathy, we definitely feel
Kathy, we definitely feel your pain. This also happens with EE. At each new edition, we have many links to update--especially with government or corporate archives whose IT staff has decided to make the site more user-friendly by redoing all the links and paths. In some cases, they completely remove a record set. With EE, the solution might be finding a different example at a different website to use for whatever quirk is being discussed at that point; but, sometimes, we have to throw out the whole discussion and substitute a different kind of quirk and a new discussion to fill that space without affecting overall pagination and indexing.
Of course, as researchers, rather than authors, we face a somewhat different situation. For researchers, the problem is usually "facts" that are left without documentary support. In that case, the logical solution is to keep in mind the overriding need for evidence of the best quality. Why are we citing the website in the first place? If it provided us with a document image, then where else can we find the original record collection--if not online, then physically? (This need, of course, is one reason why we do layered citations that cite not just (a) the document; and (b) the website; but also (c) the website's own identification of where the original record is.
If the link provided us with somebody's assertion of what a record said, then going to the original is a sound research practice we might should have followed to start with. If the link provided us with somebody's proof argument for a conclusion they reached, then (of course) it would have been best if we had captured that proof argument to start with. If we did not, then retrospectively the best we can do if all our relocation efforts fail is to cite the old link, the time frame that it was still workable, and whatever we know about the site or the creator of the data.
Another thing to try is to
Another thing to try is to deconstruct the URL to see if any part of it is working. If the domain is still active and looks like the original site (rather an abandoned one with ads) it can be worthwhile to contact the webmaster. In the example, http://www.hinton-gen.com/ still shows a genealogy website so I would use the contact form to ask the webmaster about the content.
Thank you Yvette, I usually
Thank you Yvette, I usually do try to look at the main website, but for some reason I thought hinton-gen.com was one of those "ad" sites or one for sale. I see now that it isn't. Thanks for looking at the link and letting me know the main website is still active and I can now try to contact the webmaster. Good catch!!
You're welcome :-)
You're welcome :-)