I, on the other hand, had a terrible time with the old database. No matter what browser I used, the search feature never worked correctly and I would have to page through 10 or 20 pages of search results to find the boat I was looking for.
Since U of M paid to scan the collection, I can't imagine that the old database and web portal will ever return. I would suggest providing feedback to U of M (there is an email address listed) and hopefully they will eventually realize that some enhancements are in order.
Alpena/Thunder Bay Library
Re: Alpena/Thunder Bay Library
Trust me, you're not the only one missing that wonderful database. I had referenced it on a nearly daily basis for my job for nearly three years but just after Christmas it was gone.
I only learned of the UofM version recently and I agree that it's not quite as user friendly. If you try to search a boat name in the main search field now, it can bring up all kinds of false positives. And even clicking "Vessel Name" under "Browse by Topic" and entering the vessel name in the "Search in Topic Field" has limitations.
For example, let's say I'm trying to research the Goodrich steamer GEORGIA (built in 1880). I follow the steps I outlined above, and it gives me results for various GEORGIAs and GEORGIANs, but none of the correct type and build date. That's because the GEORGIA was originally built as the CITY OF LUDINGTON. In the original database, searching for GEORGIA would have automatically included CITY OF LUDINGTON among the results, because it searched all previous and subsequent names of a vessel. In the new UofM version, you can search for CITY OF LUDINGTON and find it just fine and its record even lists GEORGIA under "Also Known As." But you have to know the original name of the vessel in order to find it.
Half the reason I used the database was to find the original names of vessels! I tried a few more boats that had changed names and had the same results. But I haven't found any other online photographic database that is as comprehensive for 19th century Great Lakes vessels. In the meantime, I guess we can just be grateful the database still exists in some form and learn to work with it.
Anyone else want to give the database a try and give some feedback? http://quod.lib.umich.edu/t/tbnms1ic?page=index
I only learned of the UofM version recently and I agree that it's not quite as user friendly. If you try to search a boat name in the main search field now, it can bring up all kinds of false positives. And even clicking "Vessel Name" under "Browse by Topic" and entering the vessel name in the "Search in Topic Field" has limitations.
For example, let's say I'm trying to research the Goodrich steamer GEORGIA (built in 1880). I follow the steps I outlined above, and it gives me results for various GEORGIAs and GEORGIANs, but none of the correct type and build date. That's because the GEORGIA was originally built as the CITY OF LUDINGTON. In the original database, searching for GEORGIA would have automatically included CITY OF LUDINGTON among the results, because it searched all previous and subsequent names of a vessel. In the new UofM version, you can search for CITY OF LUDINGTON and find it just fine and its record even lists GEORGIA under "Also Known As." But you have to know the original name of the vessel in order to find it.
Half the reason I used the database was to find the original names of vessels! I tried a few more boats that had changed names and had the same results. But I haven't found any other online photographic database that is as comprehensive for 19th century Great Lakes vessels. In the meantime, I guess we can just be grateful the database still exists in some form and learn to work with it.
Anyone else want to give the database a try and give some feedback? http://quod.lib.umich.edu/t/tbnms1ic?page=index
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Guest
Alpena/Thunder Bay Library
Does anyone know what happened to the Alpena Library/Thunder Bay Historical collections? That was the best picture source. I saw the U of M link but that's nowhere as user friendly as the original site.