THE CHALLENGES OF RESURECTING A MARITIME WRECK ON THE WEB

I have had a good time researching the Carrier Dove but I have also learned a great deal on just how fluid information seems to be on the web. On several occasions I have struck on something really interesting while searching through Google and Bing, bookmarked it to go back to later, let a few weeks slip by and then gone back to it to find the URL no longer points to that page.

This happened to me several weeks ago when one night I couldn't sleep, I reached for my smart phone and went on another search, I kept changing my search terms until I happened to come up on a very exciting California newspaper article in the 1860s of how the Carrier Dove had rescued a crew from a foundering ship inroute from Callao to San Francisco.

I bookmarked it and even copied the search terms and fell back asleep. It was several weeks later that I remembered to go back to it and poof! Site had changed. I have been looking for it ever since. Did I dream the whole thing?
This is a big problem for me when I post the links on this page. I can never be sure they will keep pointing to the right place. It has happened in the past six months on the passenger list of the new Australians that was residing so solidly (as I thought) on the Public Record Office of Victoria.

Now it brings up a 404 Page Not Found. I am currently working on trying to contact them because the new searches on that site just give a list of individuals with no name. Before it was a wonderful and concise list of each person, their age and whether they were assisted or non assisted passengers.  So far I have not been able to figure out how to sort through the new web page index to bring the link back. It is very frustrating.

This is a .org site and I never intended it to be commercial so I don't worry too much about it but there is always that nagging fear that I might post something that I shouldn't. I have posted in the “About this Site” requesting feed back for any suggestions.  Hopefully this will enough.  

Another problem I have been running into is what seems to be the ever changing outcome of Google and Bing searches. For some reason the searches are becoming less effective and I am now faced with diminishing returns.

However this may be the start of my big adventure in traveling the world in search of info from the archives of such fascinating places like Callao, Valparaiso, Melbourne, Liverpool, San Francisco and New York and more! (If I and my wallet can live so long LOL)

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