FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Adding Information to Probate Records Section of County Pages

Purpose
We will be adding Image-only and Digital Library database links from the FamilySearch Catalog to the Probate Records section on county pages.

Contact Person
Caileigh Oldroyd

Task Lists
''These are task lists for all State County projects. Make sure you are on the Probate Records tab.''
 * Alabama
 * Arkansas
 * Colorado
 * Florida
 * Georgia
 * Iowa
 * Indiana
 * Kansas
 * Kentucky
 * Michigan
 * Minnesota
 * Mississippi
 * Montana
 * Nebraska
 * Nevada
 * New Mexico
 * North Carolina
 * North Dakota
 * Pennsylvania
 * South Dakota
 * West Virginia
 * Wyoming

Set Up

 * 1) Make sure you are logged in to FamilySearch and the FamilySearch Wiki.
 * 2) Sign up on a Task List above. Make sure you are on the Probate Records tab.
 * 3) Use The task list or the United States Genealogy Page to get to the state listings.
 * 4) Once on a state page, select the first county under the letter of the alphabet you signed up for.
 * 5) Some of these entries may already be on the page.  If so, please make sure that the link goes where it is supposed to and that it is formatted correctly.
 * 6) Click Websites in the contents of the county page. It should automatically bring you down to the Websites subheading. Then open the FamilySearch Catalog link in another tab.  It should be the last listing under Websites.
 * 7) Select the Probate Records section.
 * Note that we will need to check both the "Probate Records - Index" and the "Probate Records" topic headings in the catalog for this project. Some counties only have one or the other. Just be aware if it has both, we will add records from both. Here's an example:


 * If there ARE NO records under the Probate Records section:
 * Go back to the Task List and make a note next to the name of the county under the comments heading.
 * Go to the next County.
 * If there ARE records under the Probate Records section, proceed with the Catalog Instructions below.

Databases We Will NOT Add

 * We will only be adding digitized collections that can be viewed online at a patron's home or FamilySearch Center. We will not be adding books or microfilm-only collections. Those look something like the this and will NOT have a camera icon:
 * Occasionally, some collections in the catalog are part of a much larger collection. The catalog will sometimes link you to the bigger collection from the information page. Usually this will work, but you may come across a catalog entry that endlessly loops you and you cannot find a camera icon or you end up on a microfilm icon at the last page. We will not use these collections either. Here is an example:
 * 1906 (*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images


 * Sometimes there are other records that end up in the probate records sub category in the catalog. If the records do not look like they belong to probate records, do not add them. Please make a note on the task list if you see those and I will compile a list to send to the team that fixes that.

Adding Image-Only Catalog Links
1. Click on the Probate Records Catalog entry link to display the records listings. It should look something like this:

2. Select the first record.

3. Scroll down to the Film/Digital Notes section and look for a camera icon on the right of the note.
 * There may or may not be a key over the camera icon. We will use them both.


 * A camera icon on its own means that it can be viewed from anywhere on a computer or mobile device.
 * A camera icon with a key means that it can only be viewed on a computer in a FSC or affiliate library.
 * In either case, we will be using the (*) code to make sure all patrons understand they may need to be at a FSC to view the records.
 * Another record type we will use is "Available Online." Here is an example:



4. Copy the template below and paste it to the Probate Records section of the County page:


 * * DATE-DATE (*); ADD NAME OF COURT HERE at FamilySearch Catalog — images

5. Add the dates. Copy them exactly from the title. It is not necessary to look for dates if they are not in the title. Leave the dates blank, if that is the case.
 * Sometimes there will be two sets of dates such as "Probate Records 1857-1952; Index, 1857-1965"
 * In the first date slot place the earliest date (DATE-DATE). So 1857 would go in the first slot (1857-DATE)
 * In the second date slot place the latest date (1857-1965)

EXAMPLE:
 * (with dates) * 1907-1924 (*); ADD NAME OF COURT HERE at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * (without dates) * (*); ADD NAME OF COURT HERE at FamilySearch Catalog — images

6. Next add the title #. Using the image below, look for the inverted V over the URL line.
 * The title number is obtained from the URL line. As you read across the URL, it will start off with familysearch.org/search/catalog/######? plus more characters.
 * The title number is the number immediately after the word catalog/ and before the ?
 * Copy just the number from the URL line and place it where it says title #



EXAMPLE:
 * * 1907-1924 (*); ADD NAME OF COURT HERE at FamilySearch Catalog — images

7. Leave the item part as-is.

5. After the disp=, place the title of the film exactly as written except capitalize the first letters in the title. No need to add author or anything else.

EXAMPLE:
 * * 1907-1924 (*); ADD NAME OF COURT HERE at FamilySearch Catalog — images

8. It is important that the users know which court authored the information. See the image above and find the Authors line.
 * You only need to add the Main Author.
 * You will see the line that says "Adair County (Iowa). Clerk of the District Court (Main Author)"
 * You DO NOT need to add the county or state.
 * Just add the Court information.
 * Replace ADD NAME OF COURT HERE with the actual name of the court after the semicolon . In this case it is Clerk of the District Court.

EXAMPLE:
 * * 1907-1924 (*); Clerk of the District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images


 * Sometimes there will be two or more courts included.

EXAMPLE:
 * * 1828-1947 (*); County and Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images

9. If the word Index is in the title, please change the "— images" at the end of the line to say "— index & images."

10. And it should look like this when previewed:

EXAMPLE:
 * 1907-1924 (*); Clerk of the District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

11. If there are NO other entries in the Catalog, go to the last section.

12. If there ARE other Probate Record entries in the Catalog, please go back to the start and enter each one.

Adding Digital Library Links
1. After opening a Catalog entry, you may find a line of red text in the Notes section that states: ''' To view digital images of. . . 2. Click on the here part of the Click here as shown in the image above.

3. That should take you to a details page that looks like this:

3. Next, copy the template to the Court Records section of the County page:

*NAME OF BOOK. By AUTHOR. PUBLISHING PLACE: PUBLISHER, PUBLISH DATE. Online at: [URL FamilySearch Digital Library]

4. Add the information found on the cover page of the book and the details page.  Using the information on the details page, fill in the template. The example is taken from this page.
 * Book Title is: Court Records Baxter County Court. Input the title exactly how you see it on the cover page of the book; in between the four apostrophes ( ).
 * Year published is: Not on the book cover, details page, or within the first few pages of the digital book. We will take this part out of the citation.
 * Author is: Baxter County, Arkansas. We can see this from the "Creator" section on the details page. Some details pages may not have a creator section. In that case you would look at the cover page of the book and see if it has a "By XXX." You would input that name if it has an individual as an author.
 * Because this digital book is from a set of county court records, it's publisher place and publisher name are both Baxter County, Arkansas. In the template it will be, Baxter County, Arkansas : Baxter County, Arkansas. Other books may say a city or town name and an actual publishing company, for instance a book NOT published by a county could be "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Everts & Richards."
 * Do your best to be thorough and add the correct information to the template. If the information you are looking for is not on the details page or within the first few pages of the digital book, you may remove that section of the template and move forward to find the other information.

In code, this example looks like this: *Court Records Baxter County Court. By Baxter County, Arkansas. Baxter County, Arkansas : Baxter County, Arkansas. Online at: [URL FamilySearch Digital Library]

5. Click the "Share" Icon on the details page and copy the link

6. Paste the link in to the template

*Court Records Baxter County Court. By Baxter County, Arkansas. Baxter County, Arkansas : Baxter County, Arkansas. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.

7. Click "Show Preview" and make sure everything looks good.

8. Enter "/* Court Records */ State County Project" as the Summary and click save.

Examples:
 * Court Records Baxter County Court. By Baxter County, Arkansas. Baxter County, Arkansas : Baxter County, Arkansas. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
 * History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 1884. By Alfred Mathews and Austin N. Hungerford. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Everts & Richards. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library

Before You Leave the Page

 * If there is more than one item under the Probate Records heading, please place them by date order first. If there are no dates, then they go alphabetical under the date-ordered entries.
 * Please make sure that the entries you added as well as any other entries in that section are formatted correctly.
 * Do a Show preview before saving to make sure it looks like it is supposed to.
 * Before you save the page, please enter /* Probate Records */ State County Project to the Summary line.
 * Don't forget to go back to the task list and put a date on your part when you are done.

Thank You!