Brian L. Lightfoot wrote >The whole purpose of a source citation is to explain where you got the >data and hopefully allow future viewers of your family file to go back >to that source and check the authenticity and validity of the >information. So right there we have a problem with all "online >databases". While the link may work today, chances are that in one year >or longer, the link will be dead. And at that point, the source of your >information as you show it in your citation becomes hidden from the >world. There really is no way around this as that is the very nature of >the Internet "beast". Like politicians, links come and go. > >Now if you could check the information about the online database itself >and determine from where the database info came from, then in reality, >that is the real source of the information.
I cite all sorts of online databases and the SW templates usually provide a field in which to enter "citing ..." which gives the original source of the data. I would not say that where the database info came from is the "real source" - it is the source used by the compiler(s) of the database, but not the source *I* used. Ideally, of course, one should go back to the original info (when possible) as the database may not be an accurate representation of the data. -- Jenny M Benson 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/legacyusergr...@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
