Link With
Call Number/URL
Each web site has a unique URL. Books have unique call numbers. If you use this strategy, you would include the URL or call number on the bibliographic card.
Please note that the bibliographic card includes both the date that appears on the web site as well as the date when the researcher consulted the web site. Unlike with books or articles, a web site can change its content without changing the URL. In fact, since this note card was written, the web site listed on it has become a victim of link rot.
Write the call number or URL on each of the note cards that refer to that source. You can use a shortened version of a long URL in the same way that you use a short title.
Strategy for Dealing with Link Rot
Just because a URL becomes victim to link rot, it does not mean that the publication no longer exists. Sometimes, an organization will rearrange their website. During the Summer of 2013, I reorganized and updated Resources for Researchers. In the process, I moved pages which might have created link rot for people who had linked to the original location.
Professor Harris' handout was originally published when I was the Coordinator of the Writing Fellows program at Schoolcraft College. When I left that position, I could not longer publish the writing resources I developed on my own time as part of the college's website. Professor Harris' essay moved with the other materials.
Before giving up an a source that is a victim of link rot, do an Internet search of the author and title. If the source has simply moved, you might turn up the new location. Rather than being located at the URL above, "Writing Under Pressure" is now part of Resources for Writers.
