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In 2012, I obtained many digital images of marriage records from Ancestry.com's database titled "Maine, Marriage Records, 1705-1922." Ancestry cited as their source "Original data: Maine Marriage Records, 1705-1922. Augusta, Maine: Maine State Archives."
Sometime later, I believe during 2013, Ancestry updated this database and altered its title to "Maine, Marriage Records, 1713-1937." (It's still the same database; they still cite their original data as coming from same source, i.e., with the 1705-1922 dates.)
When I cite this source for records that I accessed before the database's name was updated, should I cite the database title with the old date range, as it was when I accessed it, or with the new date range? I know the rule is "cite what you use", but it seems as if citing the updated title would facilitate finding the records again. It is, after all, the same database that I used, even though the title is somewhat different.
(An analogous situation, involving a physical record or artifact, might be a gravestone in a rural cemetery, where the citation could include directions with the route number where the cemetery is located. If I photographed the gravestone five years ago when the road was called County Route 5, but now it has been renamed State Route 1B, I would give State Route 1B in the directions in my citation. Same cemetery, same place, but you'll need the current route number to find it.)
Kathy
Kathy,
Kathy,
Re: Change of name for Ancestry.com database.
If the digital images are still there at Ancestry, why not just view them again (to ensure they are exactly the same) and then cite what you just viewed?
If the images have changed in any way significant to your research, so that you have a need to cite the 2012 download rather than what you're viewing now, then there would be justification for expanding the citation to explain the changes. If there are no changes to the image itself, then it's a lot easier just to cite the current database.
If, on the other hand, you have so many 2012 citations that it would take inordinately long to check them all, then—in your working notes, at least—you would be justified in drafting a statement that could be quickly appended to all the earlier citations. All it would take is a statement to the effect that the Ancestry database has been renamed and is now titled "Maine, Marriage Records, 1713–1937."
Kathy:
Kathy:
Re: Rural cemeteries.
Wouldn't it be nice if the world quit changing, so we could spend our time working on new issues instead of updating what we've already done?
Yes, when we know that the name of a road or street has changed, we should update our research notes; but do retain, in parentheses, the old name. You or others will likely need that when working with older maps.