FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Updating England County Archives and Libraries Topic Pages

Purpose
Updating the England County Archives and Libraries topic pages on the wiki.

Contact
Jane Colmenares

Task List Page
Task List page

Instructions
1. Go to the Task List page page and sign up for a county to work on.

2. Use the following instructions to fix the archives and libraries page.

Step One - Create or Change Headings
1. Each archive and library listed on the page should show up in the table of contents on the page. If there is no table of contents or those repositories do not show up, use the instructions below to adjust the information on the page to make it conform.

NOTE: You must be in wikitext to make these changes. To do so, click on Edit and when the Format bar appears, click on "Wikitext" in the top left corner.

2. Depending on what is already on the page, make sure there there is an Archives and a Libraries heading. If there are not headings on the page, add them using the wiki text code below:


 * == Record Offices ==


 * == Archives ==


 * == Libraries ==

3. Move the repositories listed on the page to be under the correct heading. Record offices should be under Archives at the top as these are the most important archives. Everything else can be on the page in alphabetical order.

4. Now for each repository on the page, make them a smaller heading by adding an equal sign to the code. Example:


 * === Lancashire Record Office ===

5. Do this for each repository on the page.

Step Two - Format and fix broken links
6. For the links under each repository, make sure they go to the correct page. If they are broken, use Google to locate the updated link.

7. If the link listed is an exposed link - meaning you can see the complete url on the screen, change the URL so that it can no longer be seen. Do this by adding a square bracket before the url, leaving a space after the URL and then typing, Website. Make sure there is a closing bracket after the word, Website.

Example of exposed link wikitext:
 * http://www.lancashire.gov.uk

Example of fixed link wikitext:
 * Website

8. If there is no website link for the repository listed, use google to see if you can locate one. Then, add the link under the repository contact information.

Step Three - Add/Check contact information
9. Clicking on the correct website link or googling the repository name, review the contact information located on the wiki page.

10. Add or correct any information and format the address as you enter it.

11. The information of the repository should be uniform and should be presented in the following manner. Name of Repository Street Address City, etc Telephone: E-mail: Website link Any additional links or information Note: Be sure to bold the repository name.

Example in wikitext: Lancashire Record Office Bow Lane Preston, Lancashire PR1 2RE UK Telephone: 0845.053.0000 Email: [mailto:enquiries@lacashire.gov.uk enquiries@lacashire.gov.uk] website Catalogue

Example on the page: Lancashire Record Office Bow Lane Preston, Lancashire PR1 2RE UK Telephone: 0845.053.0000 Email: [mailto:enquiries@lacashire.gov.uk enquiries@lacashire.gov.uk] website Catalogue

Step Four - Make e-mail addresses clickable links
12. If there is an e-mail address for the repository, make the e-mail address into a clickable link. The e-mail address goes directly after the address of the repository. To fix or add the e-mail address link, copy the following and replace "e-mail address" both times with the correct e-mail address.


 * E-mail: [mailto:e-mailaddress e-mailaddress]

See above for example of correct link for e-mail address in wikitext

Step Five - Add info about collections
13. Quickly review the repository website to see if there is any additional information that might be helpful to the user regarding how to research at that repository. Avoid listing hours open and instead link to this information as they change frequently. If there are collections you want to state, write a brief description of what is available in a bullet list or a VERY short paragraph below the contact information. This information can include specific genealogical collections, instructions on how to use the facility, any fees necessary to access the collections, or anything else that is helpful for the user. When adding a bullet list, in wikitext use a colon before the bullet (asterisk in wikitext) to make it indent. This helps with the display of information. Below is an example of wikitext and what displays on the wiki page. Try to keep each statement short and to the point for easy reference. The user can always go to the repository website to get more clarification. The following examples of descriptions are found on the Iowa Archives and Libraries wiki page.

Step Six - Look for new/additional repositories
14. Do a Google search to locate new/additional websites. Google the name of your county along with keywords to help get a list or identify the important repositories in that county. Add the information for that repository in alpha order on the page using the above instructions.

You can use the following keywords to help you locate additional archives and libraries:
 * Lancashire record office
 * Lancashire archives
 * Lancashire library
 * Lancashire repository

Example of Completed Archives and Libraries Page

 * For an example of a corrected Archives and Libraries page, go to Iowa Archives and Libraries.

Step Seven - Saving the Page
15. Preview the page once you are finished fixing information on a repository. If it looks ok, add in the Summary field, updated information.

16. Save the page. It is suggested you save after fixing each repository so that the wiki does not time out and to make sure your work is not lost.

17. When you are through updating and adding information for each repository, go back to the Task List and enter the date completed under your name and go to the next county page.