search strategies for digitized newspapers

[Archivos]

Is there an advanced search?  It's difficult to say how to narrow down the results if that's the way the system is set up - it does seem a bit strange though, to offer a search facility but then not give a clue as to where in the paper the result appears! 

Could it be something simple like a browser issue?  I know different browsers work better with some sites, and sometimes don't show all the features such as highlighting of words.  Try it in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.  Otherwise, see if they've got a 'help' section or contact them to let them know that you're finding it pretty much unusable.

[Archivos]

Ok, just had a look at the site - the images open as a pdf, so you then need to search again within the pdf for the name or phrase you originally searched for.  I tested it out on the name 'John Smith' (original, I know!) and had to search again within the pdf when it opened.

The way you search varies depending on which pdf viewer you use, but generally speaking you press Control+F (Ctrl then the letter F at the same time) or there may a separate 'Find' function.  Your viewer's help facility will be of use if you have trouble.

[Erato]

Thanks, Archivo.  I should have said I already tried that.  It must be a browser problem though I haven't noticed problems with other PDFs.  I'm going to put it on the back burner for now since another more profitable section of my tree is opening up for investigation.  Phooey on Red Bank.

[O1dgobbo]

Hi

I have just been playing with the British Newspaper Archive on Find my past (FindMyPast). I have a subscription so the cost of individual searches was not a problem.

The problems I did find were:
1. Find my past is still digitising the records so that much is missing but may appear in the next few months.
2. The digitisation seems to be the result of a computerised scan and so includes some garbage, which one needs to ignore.
3. The free search summary attempts to limit the information about the search target so that you will have to pay (or subscribe) to see the full text. An example might go " xdp of Lewis Chalmers. In Fraserburgh a son to ..." You can deduce from this that there is a birth entry for the family of Lewis Chalmers but nothing more until you pay to view.
4. After paying to view you will be shown the output from the computerised scan of the relevent sentence(s) and underneath this a display of a complete page with part highlighted, perhaps a paragraph, perhaps two or more columns.
5. There is a set of image control buttons in the top left hand corner of the image and you can use them to zoom in and pan about to find the relevant text. This can be a bit tedious on my lap top if I forget to use the given control buttons and just attempt to manipulate the image using the touch pad - when it shrinks to start size or slides off the screen.

One of the problems arises from the use of two names, the search on FindMyPast will not reveal articles on Lewis Chalmers if he is referred to in the article as L Chalmers and perhaps if Lewis is separated from Chalmers at a line break. You can work around this by searching for Chalmers but this will bring many false leads for other people named Chalmers. You can reduce these unwanted results by specifying a county and a narrow band of years to search but  at the moment FindMyPast only gives you the option to choose a year range and a county.

Despite the problems I do think the FindMyPast British Newspapers archive is worth searching now: poking around at it in the last three days I have discovered that none of the daughters of Lewis Chalmers lived beyond their thirties and I have also found a report of the inquest on my GGrandfather, which I had been seeking for several years.

Good hunting

Gobbo