New England Town Records via database with images

By mbcross on Sat, 08/30/2025 - 15:23

Forums

After discussing online with others, I've crafted the following citation for a family record for the Arther Rogers family in Hartland, Vermont:

"Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1987653 : accessed 30 Aug 2025), Windsor > Hartland > Births with index, marriages with index, deaths with index, town records with index 1810-1871 vol 1-2 > image 454 of 462, Arther and Hannah Rogers family record; citing Hartland, Vermont, "Town Records Vol. 2," p. 13 (reverse paginated).

Is there anything I could be missing?

Submitted byEEon Sun, 08/31/2025 - 09:46

Matt, the best way to determine whether our citation to an online source actually works is to go to a different browser, paste in the URL to see if it works, and then try to follow the path we've created.

When I typed your URL into my browser, this is what I got:

 

At that point, that long path and waypoints you cited become unworkable.  There is no place, at this screen, to use that path. 

Next, I tried picking out from your citation the details needed to find the record. Using the first name Arther, the last name Rogers, and the location Hartland, Vermont, I got this long list of options:

 

 

So, which one of these results would the user of your citation need to choose to find the image you're referencing?

You did not say what EE template you are following, but Template 5: Complex Website (Multiple Articles or Databases) is the one that fits this situation.

Paths and waypoints are used when the webpage gives us menus, with specifically worded options. Those specific words are what we use to create the path and the waypoints.

In this case, the path calls for choosing one of the above options. From your citation, we do not know which option you chose.  To give us something to work with, here, let's say that we choose one of the options that label him "Father": Lucy Gay.  That gives us this:

 

 

Is this the page you want to cite?  I don't think so. From our previous conversations, I know that you know the folly of relying upon database entries rather than the original, so as the user of your citation I know I need to go at least another step into this exploration. When I click on "View Original Document," this is what I get:

 

 

At the top of this image, we have a path, film number, and image number—but this doesn't match your citation.

At this point, your user is saying Aye-yai-yai-yai-yai!  This isn't it either!

So, we need to rethink this citation.? How did you find the document in the first place? 

 

 

Yes, your path works if you include that waypoint. The result is this:

"Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1987653 : accessed 30 Aug 2025) > Browse all 1,386,297 images > Windsor > Hartland > Births with index, marriages with index, deaths with index, town records with index 1810-1871 vol 1-2 > image 454 of 462, Arther and Hannah Rogers family record; citing Hartland, Vermont, "Town Records Vol. 2," p. 13 (reverse paginated).

Realistically, given that there is only one "Browse" option on that page, users would understanding your abbreviating that waypoint to just "Browse" > .... .