Back in 2004 the BBC launched their much publicised BBC Peoples War. I started sending in articles, became what was known as a "Researcher", ( a title which was later changed by them to "Helper" ) and then, over a period of two years, posted more than 100 articles. In 2006 the BBC announced that they were going to stop receiving further postings and that the site would henceforth be known as the BBC Peoples War Archives. They also implied that the site would be a permanent reference work that could be easily accessed by future researchers. Today the site today proudly boasts that it has 47,000 stories in the archives. It may very well have this amount of articles but the search facilities are the poorest I have come across in 30 odd years of computing. I have posted various messages on the BBC Message board bitterly complaining about the "non-search" facilities but have always been fobbed off with the message "please bear with us". There is also a message on the site saying that the search facilities are not working. On a personal note and because I am a naturally suspicious bxxxxxd at heart, I took the precaution of copying every one of my own articles into one of my blogs, namely: Ron Goldstein's Army Album but this is a poor substitute to being able to easily find data in the archives. Have a look at the site and then, if you agree with me that the BBC have renaged on their promises, make your protest known on the BBC message board. Disgusted from Cockfosters
BBC - WW2 People's War "The 'search' facility on People's War is currently not working. We aim to rectify this problem in the near future. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. " Fingers crossed they're on the case. I've yet to find any internal site search that beats using Google's URL-specific method, Including for vbulletin forums . Though on People's War you have to include "people's war" as a search term or just add 'ww2peopleswar/' to the url to exclude all the other stuff on the massive bbc site
This really should be fixed. Given all the trouble and publicity surrounding this particular area, its disappointing that it cant be sorted.
Today the site today proudly boasts that it has 47,000 stories in the archives. It may very well have this amount of articles but the search facilities are the poorest I have come across in 30 odd years of computing. Ron, You have not tried A******* But no worries, although I'd love to do a search engine for this, I cannot. However if you go to Google Advanced search and enter the domain or site as follows: Code: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Enter some keywords and away you go! geoff
Back in 2004 the BBC launched their much publicised BBC Peoples War. I started sending in articles, became what was known as a "Researcher", ( a title which was later changed by them to "Helper" ) and then, over a period of two years, posted more than 100 articles. In 2006 the BBC announced that they were going to stop receiving further postings and that the site would henceforth be known as the BBC Peoples War Archives. They also implied that the site would be a permanent reference work that could be easily accessed by future researchers. Today the site today proudly boasts that it has 47,000 stories in the archives. It may very well have this amount of articles but the search facilities are the poorest I have come across in 30 odd years of computing. I have posted various messages on the BBC Message board bitterly complaining about the "non-search" facilities but have always been fobbed off with the message "please bear with us". There is also a message on the site saying that the search facilities are not working. On a personal note and because I am a naturally suspicious bxxxxxd at heart, I took the precaution of copying every one of my own articles into a one of my blogs, namely: Ron Goldstein's Army Album but this is a poor substitute to being able to easily find data in the archives. Have a look at the site and then, if you agree with me that the BBC have renaged on their promises, make your protest known on the BBC message board. Disgusted from Cockfosters I've posted complaints on more than one occassion with the BBC Webmaster over the lack of mainteance, especially for the total uselessness of that search engine. I got the same response each time (eventually!). Three of my own family WW2 reports were posted as a poject by a local school and I had to trawl through about 400 to find them. Thanks for the Google search tip, Adam. They suggested using Google, but I was underwhelmed at the prospect of data indigestion. Reagards to all. Les
Adam /Geoff, Thanks for the tips. Anything to help search without having to trawl through masses of data is of a great help. Regards Tom
In any case it's good Ron was kind to make a copy elsewhere because we never know what may happen, right?
Not quite trusting the BBc's statements of eternal fidelity to the cause - I too put all my efforts onto CD's thus my Grandchildren can have a few laughs in the future - IF they ever bother about it ! Cheers
I'm with Ron all the way on this. A bad search engine's far worse than no search engine. And, let's face it; If they were going to sort it, would it not have been sorted by now? BBCs entire attitude rather puts me in mind of the closing time shout at one of my old locals; " Come on! We've had ye money, now Fu......! " Great tips above, for how to work round this p poor situation. But, as I suspect Ron's saying; It's not the point.
Geoff, Adam et al Just come back to thank you for the ADVANCED GOOGLE tip which I have tested out thoroughly and found surprisingly easy to use. I may very well start up a campaign along the lines of "Elect Geoff for Minister of Works !" While I am in a complaining mood, I have to report that I also found the BBC sadly wanting on the odd occasion when I have wanted to contact someone or some group who have posted articles on the site. I appreciate that they have every reason to protect all parties who used the site but I would also suggest that the interests of genuine research are not best served by a head in the sand approach. Best regards Ron
Ron, Maybe a tick box disclaimer like contactable/not contactable system should have been put in place where you recieve a email in a BBC inbox account. It seems a pity that you can not be contacted by people wishing to get further info on your experiences. Cheers Andy
Seems a good place for: Google site-searches a quick guide. Method 1: Use Google's 'advanced search' and specify the site's url. It works, but it can be done without needing to 'go advanced'. Method 2: Enter this search string directly into the normal Google search box: Search Term site:www.ww2talk.com Where the red letters are replaced by the relevant terms. EG.; If I want to search for Ron on people's war I might type "Ron Goldstein" site:www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ (quotation marks around Ron's name so Google only searches for that exact phrase and ignores any other Rons that may be present.) Method 3: the easiest and the one I use - If you have the Google toolbar installed, add a button for 'Search site' which begins the query with just a single click while you're on a given site, all you have to do is add your search term to the partially filled Google search box that appears, using any other Google shortcuts or tricks you're already familiar with. All of the above will beat most all searches 'built in' to websites, unless of course they have Google site-searching installed already. If there's a thread you can't find with our search system it'll nearly always show on a Google hunt. Hope that makes some sense... ~A
It's me again, with an update. If you go on the BBC WW2 Peoples War site you still get this message: The 'search' facility on People's War is currently not working. We aim to rectify this problem in the near future. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. It is patently obvious that the BBC's incompetence in sorting this matter out is down to either a complete lack of interest in promises made or a fond hope that veteran contributors will all soon have shuffled off this mortal coil and therefore will no longer be sending them whinging letters. Is there no-one out there with some clout who will bring these people to task ? Disgusted from Cockfosters.
Ron - I suspect that because it is a locked-down website they no longer devote much time or resources to it. I know a couple of people who work in and around the BBC web team; I will see what I can find out.
Forgive me for resurrecting this old thread but the title was too apt for me not to use for this update. On the 22nd of August this year I posted the following query to the BBC History Team. As an ex-Researcher/Helper for the BBC People's War Archives I am astonished that the Search Box has been removed. A simple question. Why ? Ron BBC - WW2 People's War - Images of Wartime, 1939-1946, Ron Goldstein's personal collection This morning I received the following reply.. Hi Ron, Thank you for contacting the BBC History team. The BBC's WW2 People's War project ran from June 2003 to January 2006. The aim of the project was to collect the memories of people who had lived and fought during World War Two on a website; these would form the basis of a digital archive which would provide a learning resource for future generations. The result is an extensive archive of 47,000 stories and 15,000 images. The archive site was created to make sure that this valuable collection of stories was maintained in a format that would ensure their long-term presence on the web. However, the search function requires constant maintenance, and unfortunately the technical teams supporting the history website cannot maintain this function indefinitely. As the site is now archived we've had to remove the search function, however we wouldn't do this if there wasn't another way - you can still search the archive using your search engine. To search the archives you should use a site search in your search engine (e.g. Google), this means you prefix your search with "site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war". This will work for any search, including subjects, authors, and article numbers. For example, to search the archive for the subject "v2 rocket" you would type into your search engine: site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war v2 rocket To search for the article "A2065402": site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war A2065402 To search for the author "Ron Goldstein": site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war Ron Goldstein Kind Regards, BBC History team BBC History Website Team BBC History - BBC History Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!
Don't start me on THAT again Ron!! At least you got a reply-I didn't. I have been checking the site regularly to see if the search function was back on-won't waste my time anymore!!! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh EXACTLY Lesley
Unbelievable! These idiots don't even understand Google! Using A2065402 as the search term in Google is sufficient, it's just less neat than a dedicated search facility. ... and since when does an archive search facility require constant maintenance?
According to the BBC's experts:To search the archives you should use a site search in your search engine (e.g. Google), this means you prefix your search with "site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war". This will work for any search, including subjects, authors, and article numbers. For example, to search the archive for the subject "v2 rocket" you would type into your search engine: site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war v2 rocket To search for the article "A2065402": site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war A2065402 To search for the author "Ron Goldstein": site:bbc.co.uk/history ww2 people's war Ron Goldstein Just did some experimenting, ignore the BBC's technical advice, there is a much simpler way on good old Google. 1. To search the BBC People's War archive for the subject "v2 rocket" type in 'people's war v2 rocket'. 2. To search for the article "A2065402": type in 'a2065402' (caps not necessary). 3. To search for the author "Ron Goldstein": type in 'people's war ron goldstein'
