Have you been to the London Gazette today?

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by Staffsyeoman, Apr 1, 2014.

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  1. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    If you haven't you are in for a considerable shock. A major overhaul; the historians searches are gone; the search by key period is gone, and it looks a total mess. Search results are also a mess - suggestions elsewhere indicate that the whole database has not yet been migrated.

    But use it and weep.
     
    Staffsyeoman, Apr 1, 2014
    #1
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Owen, Apr 1, 2014
    #2
  3. graeme

    graeme Senior Member

    Hi

    Another problem seems to be an error report when trying to open some PDFs (if you can find them) saying you need to download Adobe.

    Personally, I use Google to search ("London gazette" then regimental number or whatever) and this seems to still work OK,

    Regards,

    Graeme
     
    graeme, Apr 1, 2014
    #3
  4. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    Yes... but you shouldn't have to. Progress, they call it. Just like Discovery at TNA. Dog's breakfast.
     
    Staffsyeoman, Apr 1, 2014
    #4
  5. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Staffsyeoman,
    Thanks for the heads-up.



    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/116


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJI--4jBhyM


    I really hated the old engine so I hope once we get used to the new one that it might prove to be an improvement. I too used google for most searches - got the best results with Army no. with a surname that way.
     
    dbf, Apr 1, 2014
    #5
  6. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    dbf, Apr 1, 2014
    #6
  7. graeme

    graeme Senior Member

    graeme, Apr 1, 2014
    #7
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    From the Stationary office link on Gazette pages:
    TSO - Introducing www.thegazette.co.uk

    I see the gazettes up to 2010 are all indexed via Wiki too. Is that new?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:London_Gazette_Index

    Any change in search system probably a good thing from my perspective, as it's a black art finding anything on there. Not unlike here...
     
    von Poop, Apr 1, 2014
    #8
  9. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

    geoff501, Apr 1, 2014
    #9
    RemeDesertRat and dbf like this.
  10. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I do exactly the same as you Graeme, so much quicker and works fine 99% of the time. People do like to tinker with these types of sites, to do I just not like change!! :)
     
    bamboo43, Apr 1, 2014
    #10
  11. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    More wishing to scream and tear out hair. Yes, Google searches work very well in finding. But in using?

    I am trying to "grab" operational dispatches (in particular those published in 1947 relating to Norway 1940). Now these are easy to find. But you type in the edition number... and what do you get? One page. A snapshot of one page. No ability to scroll through or click through, read the document as a whole. One page. So now I have to individually download each page? Instead of one compact pdf I would now have 30, 40 individual ones.

    Infuriating.
     
    Staffsyeoman, Aug 4, 2014
    #11
  12. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Phil
    post a url link for one of the pages would you?
     
    dbf, Aug 4, 2014
    #12
  13. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Seems you have logged out, not to worry, as I can't check right now on their site if there's some other way of downloading a whole issue as a pdf, but there are lots of free bits of software out there which allow you to merge pdfs
    I haven't used this (was just at the top of the list after doing a search) but this one is done online.
    http://www.pdfmerge.com


    As for scrolling ... I've been using a trick for a while now. The urls show page numbers, the last number in the address so I manually change them if I want to check pages before or after.

    (I've put spaces in the above url so it won't embed.)
    https://www. thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34804/supplement /1307/ data.pdf

    When I've done finding name on page and I want to make sure what they've been listed for, go into the url and manually change to 1306. It's not instant but it works...

    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34804/supplement/1307/data.pdf

    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34804/supplement/1306/data.pdf


    I have to say the new LG came up trumps for me. For around 3 years I'd been looking for a name, probably RAC - no Army number, no unit, nothing else. Needless to say this was unsuccessful. Last month I decided to give it another go. I got many relevant returns with the new engine and was able not only to confirm the commission etc and unit of Dad's friend, a retired major, but also his post-war appointment.
     
    dbf, Aug 4, 2014
    #13
  14. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    For example...

    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38011/supplement/3184/data.pdf

    They call it transformation? I call it aberration. Twice as much work, even if I'm doing it wrong. The video guide says you can enter an historical period (like you used to be able to in the search builder) - but how? And as we know, 3/9/39 to 15/8/45 is not what the Gazette considers WW2...

    (Sorry, messages crossed)... Have to leave the computer for a while now. But why should we have to resort to all these work arounds and fixes for something that worked well before....!!
     
    Staffsyeoman, Aug 4, 2014
    #14
  15. RAFCommands

    RAFCommands Senior Member

    You are looking at the Gazette through the data portal.

    Try the same URL but without the /data.pdf part.

    This brings up the Full Gazette portal with the normal First Page/Previous Page/Go to Page/Next Page/Last Page selection allowing scroll through the issue/supplement.

    Regards
    Ross
     
    RAFCommands, Aug 4, 2014
    #15
    dbf likes this.
  16. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    For others who don't use as often, after selecting a search result, this is what you'll see...
    Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 11.47.32.png
    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37247/page/4398


    Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 11.48.12.png
    Now I prefer pdf format (accessible by clicking the disc icon on the left cos it's searchable for text using the usual 'control' shortcut on keyboard), but on the right, there are scroll buttons and drop down menu to jump to other pages within the document in that format. My reader also provides me with handy rollover one-click save option within the pdf format.
    Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 11.44.43.png


    I still wouldn't fancy using the workarounds for multiple documents though so I hope there's some option on the system for you Phil

    I suppose what it might boil down to is that they want customers to order complete issues @ £70 !
     
    dbf, Aug 4, 2014
    #16
  17. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    Deleting the /data.pdf made no difference here - still one page, unfortunately.
     
    Staffsyeoman, Aug 4, 2014
    #17
  18. RAFCommands

    RAFCommands Senior Member

    Yes one page displayed in the portal but did you try clicking the page advance arrow to display the next page?

    Ross
     
    RAFCommands, Aug 4, 2014
    #18
  19. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    I did indeed - and that works - but my point is that the downloads are now single page only - not the document as a whole. Fine if you're looking to verify a commissioning list or an award; not so good when you are trying to capture something like an official dispatch or any other document of multiple pages. Which I was able to do in the past, hence the original moan.
     
    Staffsyeoman, Aug 5, 2014
    #19
  20. RAFCommands

    RAFCommands Senior Member

    Sorry,

    I did not realise that you wished to continue the original moan about the Gazette not providing a method for you to "click through".

    Ross
     
    RAFCommands, Aug 5, 2014
    #20
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