A search in the American Memory collections yields web pages which are assembled "on the fly" in response to your particular request. Frequently, "/temp/" appears as part of the URL shown in the Address/Location window of the page.

This is frustrating for users who carefully bookmark their "finds" because a temporary page cannot be called up at a later date. With just a bit more work, however, you CAN get a permanent URL through the process outlined below.

Find the URL:

1. Search for the item within the collections. See search for more information about why you will have better results if you search within a specific collection rather than across all collections.
   
   
2. At the bibliographic (item) record screen, go to the View menu on the web browser menubar, then select Page Source (or Document Source or Source, depending on your browser).
   
   
3. A new browser window will open showing the HTML formatting tags for the page you received from your search. Scroll to the bottom of this new window.
   
   
4. You will see:
   
   < ! - - The following URL will result in display of this document - ->
   
   and on the next line a long URL enclosed in <! - - and - ->.
   
   Example:
   <!-- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/vv:@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3c16995)) -->

Copy the URL:

1. Highlight and copy the complete URL, including final parentheses (but not <! - - or - - >).
   
   Example:
   http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/vv:@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3c16995))
   
   
2. Close the window displaying the HTML formatting tags.

Check the URL:

1. Paste the URL in your browser's Address/Location window, as you would any other URL.
   
   
2. To test the URL, press the Enter or Return key on your keyboard. If the browser brings up the correct item, you now have the permanent URL!

Bookmark the page:

1. With the tested URL in the Address/Location window of the browser, you can now bookmark the web page.
   
   
2. Simply go to the Bookmarks/Favorites menu on the web browser menubar, then select Add Bookmark/Add to Favorites.

Link the URL:

1. Paste the permanent URL into your web page/HTML as the permanent link.

Need more help?

1. Please follow along with this informative demonstration! First, print out a copy of the process described above so that you have it handy.
2. Then, click on this movie link to view a practical demonstration (requires FLASH player) and follow along with your printed instructions.