Error 966: recheck ma-vitalrecords.org

Question

The ma-vitalrecords.org site is no longer available. The domain is being brokered on GoDaddy. Is it time for a rescan of references within this domain, so data doctor errors can be reported?

Thanks,

Mike

Comments

Other recent G2G threads have discussed this situation and provided information about replacing citations to ma-vitalrecords.org. Two of the earlier threads are:

* https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1569351/whats-with-ma-vitalrecords-org

*https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1575872/massachusetts-vital-records-project-the-tan-books-off-line

There's another more recent thread (which I can't find at the moment) where members mentioned communications with the website owner regarding his decision to discontinue the site.

The Wayback Machine at archive.org has most or all of the site content, and the records are available without cost in online books and on americanancestors.org.

---

I intend to replace the citations with alternate sources, but was hoping that the WikiTree+ Suggestions could help me identify the profiles that need this work.

---

Ellen, another thread, not necessarily the one you describe but between M Cole and Aleš, is at

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1619732/suggestions-news-and-updates-august-6th-2023?show=1619784#a1619784

---

M Johnson, maybe Aleš's document with the links will help you:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b-n2ELEsiOnqmjT6VL3v5y0mCLq7pSL03F2PXQ7SxzY/edit?usp=sharing

---

It was another thread that I participated in where we discussed the availability of the vital records book on archive.org and elsewhere, the availability of archive.org wayback links that could be used to quickly replace bad URLs, and the fact that the NEHGS website provides these records free to guests (not just to paying members).

---

Here's one from 2019. Could it be as far back as that?

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/952583/what-happened-to-mass-vital-records-website

---

That 2019 thread has a lot of the kind of information I was remembering, but the thread I remember was in the last several weeks, when it was confirmed that the site was dead and would not return.

---

Thanks Jim,

According to the M Cole and Aleš thread, the rescan and Suggestions should happen next year. If the alternative sites had more predictable html paths, EditBot substitution would be an option, but they don’t seem to be too formulaic on Archive, Hathitrust, Google Books, or American Ancestors.

Myself, I’m content to wait for the rescan next year.

Btw, the freespace page [[Space:Sources-Massachusetts|Sources-Massachusetts]] provides freespace pages for VR’s by county/town that have citation examples and links to Archive.org, Hathitrust, etc. for the book in question. I’m crawling it for a one name study for the towns that were left to do when ma-vitalrecords became problematic.

---

If you do a search at wikitree+ with "ma-vitalrecords.org" in the text box, there are 22 profiles that come up.  

---

Thank you!

Answer 1

Bump.
Ma-Vital Records .org has been sold and there are no links that I have found that will access it now at the end of 2023.
Is there a way to use a  Data Doctors program we have to run it agains my watchlist so I can work on all my Massachusetts profiles to get new sources?
Thank you so much! This has become my 2024 Project.

Comments

You can use biocheck to search for text strings in your watch list. Biocheck help https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:BioCheckHelp#Check_Profiles_that_you_created

---

Thank you so much!

---

Sherry, 

this free space page may help you with finding appropriate sources. Everything from MA-VitalRecords came straight from these books. One of the reasons I always hated MA-VitalRecords is they never appropriately cited their underlying source, and there was always a chance the website would disappear (as it has).

Massachusetts VR to 1850

---

Thank you! I will check it out.

---

I’ve used the WikiTree+ tool text search to find mine:

Manager=Johnson_93136 Domain=ma-vitalrecords_org

Replace the dash with an underscore in your WikiTree ID and replace the period in the domain name with an underscore. After you press “Get Profiles”, you can copy the page’s address in your browser and it’ll save your search string as part of the address. I pasted mine into my profile because I had quite a few to work on.

Here’s the url for finding mine. You can open this link and replace my ID with your own:

https://plus.wikitree.com/default.htm?report=srch1&Query=Manager%3DJohnson_93136+Domain%3Dma-vitalrecords_org&MaxProfiles=5000&Format=&SortOrder=BiDa&PageSize=50

---

Love it! Thank you!