FamilySearch Wiki:Contributors Meeting 27 September 2012

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Updates and follow up

 * Regarding "References in the wiki" - Here are some ideas for discussion regarding style guide text:

If you paraphrase a block of text from a published work, use the “reference” feature to cite the original work using whatever citation format you prefer, or which has already been in use on a page (creating a footnote at the end of the article).

See Clay County, Illinois Boundary Changes as an example.

If you list a database as a resource, use the title of the collection and “deep link” directly to that database search page.

See Morrow County, Ohio Deaths as an example.

If you list a book as a resource and that book is available digitally, link directly to that book using whatever digital book website you are most comfortable using, and then place the name of that website in parenthesis after the title of the book.

See Clay County, Illinois Biography as an example.


 * (My logic: Because you are not quoting the book or paraphrasing the contents of the book, you are not “citing” that book, you are listing it as a resource. Individuals who wish to read the book will have access to the author and publication information when they follow the link. There is no need to make an exhaustive list of places the book can be found, in the same way that it would not make sense to list every library where a book can be found.)

If you list a book as a resource and that book is not available digitally, use the WorldCat template to link to the full WorldCat record so that readers can learn if the book is available at a library local to them, or can glean the ISBN number to request the book through inter-library loan. OR ...link the title of the book direclty to the WorldCat entry using the permalink feature of the WorldCat web site.

See Brown County, Illinois Cemeteries as an example of both options.

Lise 17:31, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

- FHL number only helps if in SLC, does not loan books. If referenced, would be helpful to know if digitized later.

- Digitizing at FHL focusing on family histories at this time. Not currently digitizing books that are referred to a lot of times.

New Agenda Items

 * Categorization in Wiki
 * Carousel section on Wiki pages (Learn More About)
 * In addtion to the current problems in the wiki, the FHLC link to books and films is not working. Links to subjects are still working. It appears that the template is not working. It was reported to our team Wednesday that the link has not been operational for about a week. Anyone know of a solution? The problem does not appear to be tied to the current wiki problems because it started long before the current issues appeared. 20:02, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Forums Overview

 * Be part of the solution! Make your opinions known! Post comments to an existing thread or start a new discussion at Wiki Contributors Corner forum.

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