FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Alabama





You can help thousands who will use the FamilySearch Wiki to help them find their people who lived in Alabama at some point.

Overall Objectives
The purpose of the Alabama FamilySearch Wiki is to help readers find and use Alabama records for genealogy and family history. The project will update and improve:


 * County pages, such as Jefferson County.
 * Alabama main page.
 * Statewide topic pages. Example Vital Records
 * OtherA;Alabama-related pages


 * Highlight important and relevant items. Long lists of every website or every publication would bury, rather than highlight, what's important.
 * Tell readers what to expect when they follow a link or search a suggested record.


 * Balance content with these four factors in mind:


 * a. Genealogical Value. Does this help Wiki users further their research?
 * b. Clarity. Make sure everyone understands your meaning and the purpose of your words.
 * c. Brevity. Be succinct as possible without sacrificing purpose or clarity.
 * d. Documentation. Use footnote(s) to identify the source(s) of the content you are creating.

First, basic content will be added to the county pages. Some tasks are identified, with step-by-step how to do them for the project. You are welcome to suggest additional project tasks or add information to other topics in a county. First focus:


 * Links to online resources: indexes and/or images of records or how to use those records.
 * Local repositories (libraries, archives, museums) and the records and resources they have.
 * Links to catalogs such as the Family History Library catalog, Google books, and WorldCat among others.

Alabama Wiki project tasks
The following are tasks to be accomplished for the Alabama Wiki Project. Each task has step-by-step instructions to accomplish it.

Tasks ready for volunteers

 * Newspapers by county

Tasks not yet ready
These are not yet ready, but you may want to know what is on the horizon.


 * Obituaries section of the counties. Copy wording and adapt the links to each county.
 * History section of the counties Link to online histories of each county.
 * Cemeteries in the counties Link to websites that can be linked specifically to the counties.
 * Repositories in the county: libraries, museums, etc. Phase 1: Add contact information for local libraries, societies, and other record holders in each county.
 * State repositories: Alabama State Archives, State Historical Society, state libraries, etc.
 * Church records Phase 1.
 * Major websites: statewide and county-by-county.
 * Migration: Railroad, trails, etc.
 * Native American records.

If you have additional ideas, please add them to this list and sign it by adding 4 tildes ( ~ )

Project leaders

Tasks completed

 * Links to topics in the Family History Library Catalog This allows only the best items to be highlighted in the Wiki while informing users of other records or resources that are available. This also makes it so the Wiki won't have to be updated each time new things are added to the sites included.
 * Fix Starting Dates for records in the Top Table on each county.
 * Top Table in the counties Copy and adapt the table (from the Experimental County) to each county..
 * County GenWeb Links Link to databases on county GenWeb sites, with information to help users decide to click or not.
 * County History List by year historical events that affected the records and the record-keeping in each county, such as settlement and migration, or natural events, such as flooding, drought, or fires.
 * County Courthouse Find uncopyrighted images of the courthouse (historical or current) and upload them. List their contact information (address, phone, email), including a link to website, addresses, etc.

Counties–Style Guide
See Experimental county page for Utah. We experiment there and discuss ideas and wording and sources under topic headings.

 

 

Project Guidelines
The following guidlines will be followed by the WikiProject Alabama members until end of the project, tentatively scheduled for TBD 2012.

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Wording changes
Before changing the saved wording of another team member who followed these rules you must get their consent (except for obvioobvious minor typos).

Links with purpose
The Wiki is not a links repository. It uses links to support the genealogical educational purpose of a page or section of a page. Show and explain links with an educational purpose in mind. Annotate each external link briefly but well enough for the reader to realize what they will be getting if they click that link.

Seek out local and unique
Seek out local and unique genealogical search strategies, records, or repositories and explain them to readers.

Describe each edit
Describe each edit in thefield before clicking the Save button. 

Thank you for your participation in the Alabama Research Wiki project.