Can we have a template for New Zealand BDM references?

Question

When I make a citation to the New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages registry, I like include a link to the site plus the reference numbers. Obviously, they could redesign their site at any time and thousands of my links would become obsolete. Who knows, perhaps some day they'll even improve their site to allow linking directly to a specific record.

So instead of making a citation manually, like:

* New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages [https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/ search for birth reg. no.] 1958/84765

I'd like to be able to write:

{{nzbdm|b|1958|84765}}

(alternatively "d" for deaths and "m" for marriages.)

What do you think?

I just noticed that there's already a Template:Archives_New_Zealand that I should be using. However, the number of templates in the External Link Templates category is a lot smaller than I'd have expected.

Comments

Hi Gary. This is an interesting idea, but unfortunately it looks as though it is ruled out by the policy on link and source templates. See

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Link_Templates#Style_Rules
• https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/543146/should-link-templates-be-officially-recommended

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Interesting. Obviously, I disagree with the conclusion there. Templates aren't really rocket science. But if they aren't recommended, why not get rid of the FindAGrave template? I use it all the time, and now it seems I shouldn't be?

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The idea behind the Find a Grave template (and some others) is to keep a link to the record if/when the url changes, or to enable access to a results page for sites that use a session cookie (National Archives Australia would be one such).  It is not there to format a citation, but is meant to be included in the citation.

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Yes, that's also why I want one for NZ BDM, but the linked discussion claims it's better to put the raw URL in the wiki text directly.

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I use my own citation, with the url to the correct search, using all the information provided, not just the registration number.

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There isn't any need for a template for the fixed URL. Instead, one can write something like

[https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/ New Zealand Te Tari Taiwhenua / Department of Internal Affairs: Births, Deaths and Marriages Online]

If the URL changes in future, EditBot can update it as it is, without needing a template, because it is constant.

But as soon as you introduce values like b, d or m or years and registration numbers, which are not in the URL, you are moving from a link template (allowed in limited cases) to a source citation template (forbidden by policy after extensive discussion).

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You can direct the search to the specific event search boxes.  I haven't had any problems with those.

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dmarriages

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Ddeaths

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That kind of thing would be nice to put into a template ...

Answer 1

So instead of making a citation manually, like:
* New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages [https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/ search for birth reg. no.] 1958/84765

I'd like to be able to write:
{{nzbdm|b|1958|84765}}
(alternatively "d" for deaths and "m" for marriages.)
What do you think?

As Jim mentioned, templates are not intended to replace full source citations. What could be discussed is a Link Template (where we only manage and format the link) but this becomes less of a problem for members for a site like NZ BDM where you are not linking directly to specific records.

Comments

I'd like to be able to write:
{{nzbdm|b|1958|84765}}
(alternatively "d" for deaths and "m" for marriages.)
What do you think?

Except that the number 84765 is unique only to the specific database it comes from - in this example, births. 

That same number is most likely to be connected to a completely different person (and a different year) in both the marriage and deaths databases and thus not helpful at all. 

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I'd like to be able to write:
{{nzbdm|b|1958|84765}}
(alternatively "d" for deaths and "m" for marriages.)
What do you think?

I pasted the example record number 1958/84765  (Forward Slash not a line) - into each of the BDM databases. 

For Births I got a name

For Marriage and Deaths I get the response - There are no records that match your query terms.

That is because every single BDM record has its own unique number and the databases are kept strictly separate. 

You would have to change the record number for every single person thus negating the use of a template in the first place.

Which is why I always use 3 citations on my profiles - one each for Births, Marriages and Deaths. 

Answer 2

Gary, the New Zealand Project have discussed this on Discord previously. The issue is that it is not technically possible as the template would not be able to pick up the url of each record as the database is not created in that way. To find a specific record, the registration number must be entered half way down the search page. The Archives NZ template works because the number relates to a specific page which accesses the record.

Please continue using a manual citation with a website address. It is good practice to copy the actual data after the registration number as it makes it clear what information you found. The NZ Project haven't come to a conclusion yet on how births, marriages and deaths should ideally be cited and you'll see many acceptable variations on how this is done.

Answer 3

I created my own "Citation" that I have been using for years here and noone has ever told me that it is not correct.

I always include a link to the main BDM search page, and of course the reference number and the type of record.

But basically yes, because the BDM has Births, Marriages and Deaths records all set up separately and each record has their own unique reference number, it is much harder to create a generic citation to link to each individual record.

Below is a link to my grandmothers profile for which she has a birth registration citation, a marriage registration citation and a death registration citation - using my own personal citation layout.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Burrow-389

Apart from the unique number and the type of record, the rest of this citation is easily copied and pasted.