Updated

A bookmark can keep the right URL and still lose everything that made the page useful. Here is how to preserve the context that matters.

What a bookmark keeps

An address is a route to a page. It does not preserve the page's wording, the version you read or your reason for keeping it. Treat a reference for a presentation differently from a recipe you can easily replace. The first needs a traceable record; the second may only need a useful label.

Browser save button for a web page and its snapshot.
Example in Zotero. The save control identifies a web page with a snapshot, beyond the address alone.Zotero

How fragile is a saved address?

Pages no longer accessible by October 2023
Source data
Pages sampled in 2013
38%
Pages sampled in 2023
8%

Common Crawl samples. The year is the page's sample year, not a forecast for your bookmarks. Published May 2024. Pew Research Center: study and methodology

View the data
Pages no longer accessible by October 2023
Pages sampled in 201338%
Pages sampled in 20238%

The study measures pages that could no longer be reached. It does not measure whether a page's wording changed. Use the data as a reason to preserve critical context, not as an estimate of your own library's loss rate.

What to record beside the link

Four parts of a reusable reference

  1. Address

    Keep the original URL or persistent identifier.

  2. Source

    Record the author, title, publication date and the date you read it.

  3. Passage

    Identify the paragraph, page number or section you actually used.

  4. Purpose

    Write the question this reference helps you answer.

This record is an editorial recommendation. A saved excerpt is not a backup of the entire source.

Zotero PDF reader with page thumbnails, highlights and source-linked notes.
Example in Zotero. A marked passage stays beside its page number and a note that cites the source.Zotero

Choose what needs a copy

Two different preservation needs

A replaceable reference

A useful tool or introductory explanation you can find elsewhere.

  • Keep a descriptive title and your use case.
  • Revisit the original before depending on it.

Evidence for a decision

A report, specification or document that supports work you must explain later.

  • Retain the exact version when you are allowed to.
  • Keep an independent copy and test that it opens.
  • Record what changed if you replace the source.

Use this preservation note

Reference record

Fill this in for one important reference, then open it from another device.

Title:
Original URL or identifier:
Author or institution:
Published / version:
Read on:
Relevant page or passage:
Why I saved it:
Copy location, if needed:
Next review trigger:

Test the record before relying on it

Sources and scope

  1. When Online Content DisappearsPew Research Center · 2024-05-17 · 2026-09-30

    Measures page availability in October 2023 using Common Crawl samples.

  2. Personal Digital ArchivingLibrary of Congress · Resource collection; includes a 2013 publication · 2026-09-30

    Provides guidance on file formats, descriptions and personal digital collections.

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