Historical Newspapers - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Search feature is down AGAIN

stude66 — 2009-10-26 01:14:47Z

Have been trying for the past two weeks to do searches in the newspaper database (last names that have generated results in the past on Ancestry) and the search function continues to fail.

Re: New York World newspaper

JoMac53 — 2009-07-26 03:57:19Z

I didn't know. Thanks. :)

Re: New York World newspaper

mcdulph1 — 2009-07-25 18:28:07Z

You probably already know this, but just in case: a few years of the NY World is available online at the Library of Congress site.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/

Re: Ancestry.com or NewpaperArchive.com problem?

Stella_Gadd — 2009-07-24 11:56:21Z

Yes, I do have a problem with it. I only have a three-month subscription with Ancestry.com When it is time to renew, I will be seriously reevaluating.

I look at the census records here but otherwise, I mostly get information from the newspapers. Since I now get that from another sources, the question is, do I need Ancestry.com

At times I look at the family tree information. But most of the data about my immediate family is wrong or incomplete. So.

Re: Ancestry.com or NewpaperArchive.com problem?

JimLivermoreNY — 2009-07-24 10:10:20Z

So, you don't have a problem paying twice to get your information? That IS what I am talking about here.

Re: Ancestry.com or NewpaperArchive.com problem?

Stella_Gadd — 2009-07-23 23:16:52Z

I subscribed to NewspaperARCHIVE.com a few days ago and it is great. I have found dozens of obits and articles. The search engine is an absolute dream.

New York World newspaper

JoMac53 — 2009-07-21 04:19:36Z

Does anyone know if the New York World newspaper, which was published from 1860 until 1931, is available anywhere on microfilm?

Thanks.
Jo

Re: An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

JoMac53 — 2009-07-20 02:08:22Z

I don't think it's a case of a bad search engine, I think it's a case of poor quality and/or low resolution images and the limits of OCR technology.

What they should give us, besides complete runs of newspapers, is the search capabilities that are available at www.fultonhistory.com for fuzzy & boolean searches, etc. That would really help.

Re: An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

Stella_Gadd — 2009-07-20 01:46:49Z

I am willing to dig. Once I went through 1400 pages just to ferret out some obits. But it would make life easier if there was a better search engine. This will, no doubt, be deleted. But I just did a one-month subscription to Newspaper Archives and have had amazing results in the first hour.

I was excited to see a new West Virginia newspaper listed and then discovered that there was ONE issue. An historic issue. But, still, disappointing.

Re: An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

JoMac53 — 2009-07-19 23:53:36Z

I don't mind going through all the hits because I know how poorly OCR works but what I do mind is seeing a list of years for a particular newspaper and when you check into it you find there's only 1 or 2 issues for that whole year! That's so misleading it's shameful.

Re: An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

Stella_Gadd — 2009-07-19 23:36:03Z

The search here is useless. Looking for "Gadd" I get God and good and so forth. Even with a month, a year, and a name, I get dozens of "hits" and wind up with zero.

Re: Ancestry.com or NewpaperArchive.com problem?

JimLivermoreNY — 2009-07-09 12:54:11Z

Sorry, the subject should have read "Newspaperarchive.com".

A monthly subscription at the above site indicates that the missing images are indeed available at the above site.

Ancestry, the ball is back in your court. When will I get access to the images I paid for?

Re: An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

JoMac53 — 2009-06-25 23:12:35Z

That actually sounds like a good idea! lol

An idea for MORE historical newspapers...

seele01 — 2009-06-24 18:43:33Z

Maybe I am wrong here, because I obviously use and enjoy Ancestry and dont mean to critize it, but I wish ancestry.com had more historical newspapers. I feel there is an easier way to speed up the process.

The reason why I think they do not have many newspapers online, and why they are very slow to being added, is because ancestry.com is trying to scan every newspaper AND digitize the text of each newspaper so the text is searchable. While having searchable newspaper text is very helpful for some people, I feel that it is not a necessity for most genealogists.

Genealogically wise, 80% of historical newspaper research is for obituaties, funeral notices, notices of marriage and marriage license issuance, and birth notices. NONE of these call for the newspaper to be text searchable, as most genealogist looking through old newspapers probably know the birth/marriage/death date of the person being searched for.

Maybe I am outreaching here, but why doesn't ancestry.com hire or send 50 people out to all 50 states State Libraries or Historical societies, and have them take digital images of each microfilm of each historical newspaper? Then have the tech people organise each paper by State, newspaper name, and issue year/month/day, and post them online. This would allow the majority of people on this site to find Obits up the wazzoo! What a great resource that would be!

Ancestry.com could forget the text-digitalization until all of the newspapers are online, THEN start digitizing them from the images that are already scanned (which I am sure is a long and tough process). Believe me, I have spent my fair share of time pooring over microfilmed newspaper, wishing it was indexed (in one case, to find a long lost front page article about my great grandfather), but I feel the digital indexing should be secondary to getting the microfilm scanned. It took a while (3 weeks at the Virginia State Library), but I found that needle-in-a-haystack article. If every historical newspaper were online on ancestry.com, people would NOT mind spending the same amount of time searching. But they can't, if it isn't online, you see?

It would be quite an undertaking, yes, but within a year or two, ancestry.com would blow EVERY other historical newspaper site out of the water, because it would have EVERYTHING. Having the information available and catalogued is much more important that having it easily searchable. Genealogy isn't easy, no matter how hard ancestry.com trys to make it.

Anyway, im rambling, but I hope I have made my point. Maybe I am wrong. I dont mean to offend anyone who works for Ancestry.com, as this is a great site. I just feel Ancestry spends too much time digitally (and manually)indexing stuff...and the time spent doing that would be better spent churning out documents so they are online, and user searchable (even if that user has to spend alot of time finding what he or she is looking for).

Thanks again,

Rob Williams

Re: Error Processing Image Request

degregorio — 2009-06-16 01:22:14Z

The answer is you need to check you antivirus protection settings or possibly firewall. For us it was McAfee Antivirus Access Protection \ Maximum Protection:Protect cached files from password and email address stealers: Action blocked. I unchecked this and we were able to view images that we previously weren't able to view.

Re: Search results problem

Stella_Gadd — 2009-06-03 18:03:43Z

The newspaper search is very, very poor. Smith is also one of my surnames. Even with the full name and dates, it will turn up links to the old Snuffy Smith comic strip. Same with less common names. Gadd -- I'll get links to words like gad-about.

And the other day, to give another example, I was searching for Arabelle Martin. I knew there was an obit but I had misread the day of the week and failed to save the image to my shoebox.

Even though I had the name as it appeared in the headline, month and year, I got dozens and dozens of false hits including the want ads, sports pages, etc. Finally I used her brother's name (how I originally came upon the obit) and found it again.

What I generally do is try to find a person's death date from another source, and then go to the newspaper a day or so after and search page by page.

Search results problem

dcsmith — 2009-05-30 02:51:10Z

A search on Melvin Smith with exact checked for both first and last name also gets results for "Sunday".

Re: Search results highlighting

JimLivermoreNY — 2009-05-29 11:41:17Z

You bring up another good point, Donna. If there is a reason to bring up those out-of-area papers, then why are those results NOT highlighted? Very inconsistent in my opinion. At least there is a 'keyword' function, FWIW.

Re: Search results highlighting

DonnaMcCrearyRod — 2009-05-27 06:15:03Z

Yes, the highlighted numbers are a royal pain to me also.

The whole publications search function drives me crazy. I will put in a location very clearly, but the search returns publications from all over the country. Surely this is an easy fix.

Donna

Re: Missing newspapers - Does Ancestry remove them?

DonnaMcCrearyRod — 2009-05-27 06:12:32Z

The Newspaperarchive.com subscription is now $9.99 per month if paid annually --- $17.99 per month if paid one month at a time.

Re: poor search results

Stella_Gadd — 2009-05-05 17:45:35Z

The newspapers are one of the best resources on Ancestry.com

But I'm going to have to say ditto regards searching. I've given up using the search function. Even if I have the person's exact name and a year, the search just spews out a bunch of hits that turn out to be misses.

The only way I've found articles is if I know almost exactly which issue they are in. For example, if I know a person's death date, I can go page by page through the paper the day after.

Some examples of misses:

If I'm looking for the last name Vest, it will give me West.

One of my names is Smith. Even with an exact name and a month/year, it gives me things like the Snuffy Smith comic strip.

If I give an exact year, it gives me a bunch of hits that aren't even in hollering distance of the year.

Ancestry.com or NewpaperArchive.com problem?

JimLivermoreNY — 2009-05-03 15:17:53Z

See http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=Newspaper&dbid=50...

Using my surname 'Livermore', a search returns 85 hits. About hit #36, the 'Newspaper' changes from 'Sioux Valley News' to 'The Sioux Valley News' and all subsequent entries return the dreaded 'Error Processing Request' page. This was reported several times by myself to Ancestry support over the last 3 years.

Who has the problem? And when (if ever) will it be fixed?

poor search results

PriscillaR — 2009-04-30 12:57:23Z

I searched for Frances Lamb in the Colorado Gazette.
The results were for prices of such things as mutton and lamb. I'm looking for people not food!

Re: . Atlanta Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia), 1920-present =NOTHING

chatterchit — 2009-03-04 20:32:39Z

Oops! I thought the message was in 2009. It certainly SHOULD be fixed by now! :)

Re: . Atlanta Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia), 1920-present =NOTHING

eileenbabbmcadams — 2009-03-04 10:49:35Z

I don't remember now. LOL. It's been over a year.Surely it's fixed by now.

Re: . Atlanta Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia), 1920-present =NOTHING

chatterchit — 2009-03-04 04:18:17Z

Which database were you trying? There are four possibilities at ancestry.com:

Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 (includes Atlanta Constitution)

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia)

Daily Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia)

The Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia)

(These cover different dates, too.)

I tried searching for Smith in the second one, and got over 57,000 hits. Maybe the system was "down" when you tried....?

Re: North Adams Transcript

PriscillaR — 2009-01-07 16:44:56Z

Thanks Lorne, I was a subscriber to Godfrey a few years back until they lost HeritageQuest....though I can get that through my local library now.

I'm no longer working & living on a 'broken' income.. Social Security Disability...
We are well below the poverty level & can't afford all the 'extras' we had before...I'm lucky my husband is allowing me to keep my DSL! (grin) He's on SS now...we are praying he gets his Unemployment back...if he doesn't I won't be needing a computer I guess.
Most of what is coming in is going out faster for my medical expenses...I may have to give up my sub. to Ancestry given the hefty price increase...not sure yet.

Priscilla

Re: North Adams Transcript

lorne2 — 2008-12-31 13:54:50Z

I have access to NewspaperArchive via Godfrey Memorial Library (www.godfrey.org) and I see that they do have them. I would think Ancestry will add them eventually but based on what I've seen in the past it could take several months ... you might want to consider a Godfrey subscription as it is quite reasonable.

Lorne

Re: North Adams Transcript

PriscillaR — 2008-12-30 13:08:31Z

I messed up my own post...there are papers before 1919 but none be.t abt. 1900 & 1918 as far as I could tell.
I had a number of people in my family who married or died in that missing paper time period.

Re: Missing newspapers - Does Ancestry remove them?

PriscillaR — 2008-12-27 16:52:28Z

Thanks for this info...even though I can't afford it, I bet there's many who can.
There's issues missing at Ancestry from the North Adams Transcript which contain info on my Pratt family who lived & died & are buried there...
Kind of ticks me off that Ancestry doesn't have all the issues available....or maybe they used to given what I've read in this discussion.

North Adams Transcript

PriscillaR — 2008-12-27 16:41:41Z

When are more issues of this newspaper going to be added?

I need to find more about my ancestors who lived & died in North Adams.

I know there's issues missing because a friend of mine found an anniversary notice in this paper dated 9 DEC 1915, page 5.
There are not papers (at least that I have found dated before 1919 at Ancestry.

Naugatuck Newspapers

bernardvanasse — 2008-11-08 22:17:56Z

Most of the Naugatuck newspaper in CT does not download ? Is there a reason ? Bernard

Re: Search results highlighting

JimLivermoreNY — 2008-09-05 20:27:32Z

I'm sure that it's the way I use (or misuse) the system that produces the result, but it is annoying for me.

Using the 'old' search - Enter a surname, pick your location, a starting year of your choice, and 'Exact matches only' and select Search. Switch to the 'Stories and Publications' tab. Pick a newspaper of your choice, and select an article. Now, any YEAR that appears in the newspaper text is automagically highlighted for you.

An example:
http://content.ancestry.com/browse/view.aspx?dbid=51536&...

Believe me, it can get much worse. I can work around the problem, but the only thing I was looking for was a surname occurance. If I was looking for YEAR as newpaper text, that is already available in the 'Refine your search...' section.

Make any sense?

Re: Search results highlighting

BobNY — 2008-09-05 19:35:22Z

Actually, I believe lack of response is due to not understanding what you are describing. Please give an example of a search and its results that give rise to this complaint.

Re: Search results highlighting

JimLivermoreNY — 2008-09-05 15:08:38Z

OK, the total lack of responses seems to indicate no one finds this feature useful. Does anyone besides me find it a royal pain and a hindrance to research?

Re: Chicago Tribune database

LHSwisher — 2008-07-29 06:48:00Z

The Chicago Tribune has done what most larger newspapers havedone- figured out that genealogists will pay for obits, so they've taken control of their archives. It's at
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/advancedsearch.ht... and you can search for free, which comes in handy for big stories, but to get the whole story or obit, it costs.

Search results highlighting

JimLivermoreNY — 2008-07-16 11:49:28Z

It seems more and more results are now highlighting years in the enhanced image viewer. On some pages, this can amount to 100 or more highlights which makes finding the relevant content tedious at best.

Can someone tell me that they find this feature useful? If so, how?

Computer freezes up when accessing newspaper link

BFNC427 — 2008-06-12 01:01:53Z

How do I correct this problem? I cannot view any of the newspaper pages because of this issue. I do not have this problem with any other web sites.

Chicago Tribune database

PriscillaR — 2008-03-16 20:34:45Z

I've no idea what Ancestry has done with this database. Years ago BEFORE Ancestry took contol, I was able to find obits/death notices for numerous ancestors in the Chicago Tribune, I can't find ANY of these people when searching this database now.
Searching newspapers has proven useless to me so far.

Searching Newspapers

cpl1999 — 2008-02-11 03:38:37Z

Hey, is there anyway that a search feature can be added to Newspapers that would find a phrase or word within an article and highlight it for you?

The Augusta Archives has this feature and it is really nice because that small print of yesteryear can really tire your eyes out.

Thank you.

Cindy L.

. Atlanta Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia), 1920-present =NOTHING

eileenbabbmcadams — 2008-01-30 14:47:56Z

This database does not work at all. Put in Smith or Atlanta and see what you get. NOTHING. I sent this information to ancestry.com a few days ago and have heard absolutely NOTHING from them. What gives???

What a crock anyway. This is what you get: 1920-21, 1923-24, and 1955 and you can't browse by date.

Re: Fixing errors on the Newspaper web site

Siebeck3 — 2008-01-27 20:05:50Z

This message is for K9srkewl - I am attempting to contact you in regards to the picture you put up of Dorothy Siebeck. Please email me at Siebeck3@yahoo.com

Re: Cannot open a link to newspaper

AliciaKMarshall — 2007-11-23 16:26:43Z

Hi
I never even knew that I had a repy until I looked at my posting. Thanks, I am so frustrated. I want more time added for free if it takes so long to fix this. Otherwise my subscription is not worth a darn.
alicia

Re: Cannot open a link to newspaper

TammyGibbons1959 — 2007-11-23 03:32:29Z

Alicia,
I've been having the same problem for almost 2 weeks. I emailed Ancestry, and they responded A FEW DAYS LATER saying they know there's a problem and are working on it........argh!!! How long does it take??
Tammy

Cannot open a link to newspaper

AliciaKMarshall — 2007-11-17 18:01:29Z

How come I no longer can open the link to see a specific
newspaper?

You searched for Vernon Johnson in United States Refine your search

vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 24 Jul 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 25 Jul 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 29 Jul 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 31 Jul 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 7 Aug 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 7 Aug 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 8 Aug 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 10 Aug 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 10 Aug 1959
vernon Johnson Illinois Edwardsville The Edwardsville Intelligencer 14 Aug 1959
When I try to click on Aug 14, I get the message Internet Explorer cannot display the web page. My cache is clean and I rebooted so that is not a problem.
Thank you
Alicia

Re: Here we go again!

chatterchit2 — 2007-11-09 17:39:04Z

I don't know why it works like that!? Glad I could help! :)

Re: Here we go again!

zemmie — 2007-11-09 17:36:58Z

Thanks for the tip. I wonder why the search format would be changed like that. Again, thank you! I am much happier now.

Re: can you find Old Gananaque newspaper archives from the early 1900 online?

chatterchit2 — 2007-11-09 17:04:15Z

This website may help:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/8/16/r16-211-e.html

Re: Here we go again!

chatterchit2 — 2007-11-09 16:46:45Z

Try searching as keywords, not names:

When I searched for Zemlock as a last name, I got zero hits, but when I searched it as a keyword, I got 3,083.

Likewise, when I searched for Losselyong as a last name -- zero hits; as a keyword -- 357.

Good luck in your searches!

Re: Here we go again!

zemmie — 2007-11-09 16:34:54Z

I was searching for my last name Zemlock and my wife's maiden name Losselyong. I used to get over a thousand hits just for the Appleton Post Crescent and now I get none. I have not tried for a while, due to frustration.