The "ask alexander" search engine is all I had hoped it would be and much more!

I don't mean to be directly contrary to your opinion Gaddy, but I find that the search engine to be very clunky.

My main complaint from day #1 is that the search engine delivers key words from ALL of the printed ads in addition to the articles in all periodicals, which can deliver hundreds more useless hits that ALL have to be looked at.

I was also disappointed at the somewhat limited amount of hard cover book inventory in the database at the $100.00 level. There are a LOT of important older books that are simply not to be found.

From day #1 I've also found the avoidance of ANY actual indication of exactly what each level includes in its access to be counter to most customers actual desire to know what they're getting, and also what they're missing.

Although initially quite excited to join, I won't be renewing my subscription when it expires.

If I lived in Manhattan, and could directly access the library at my leisure, it would be a no-brainer to stay a member at the highest level one could afford, but history has put me on the wrong coast for that perk.

(to be completely fair, there has been promise of a HUGE revision to Ask Alexander, taking it from version #1 up to version #2, but with no firm delivery date, and the talk of the pending upgrade having gone on for quite a while now.)

I understand every point you've made, and I'm sympathetic to it. The database is clunky for exactly the reasons you've stated, but it's the difference between having the information at all, and not having access to it.

The pricing is a bit odd. I can only imagine the difference between the 3 levels of membership must be great, as the price is quite different for each level, but as you say, you cannot get this pinpointed out to you.

I was under the impression that the database revision was going to happen soon, but now you've got me thinking...

I´ve just joined to Conjuring Arts too. Gibeciere journal, purchased from H&R, was the main reason to became member (charlier level). Gibeciere is just now my favourite magazine.
This week I´ve began to research in Ask Alexander, and reknowing the limits of the database, for me is a pleasure for example run through an entire magazine quietly, arriving to the index of each issue and searching for the pages of my interest. For me, living in Spain, is an opportunity to get valuable information about magic history.

Sometimes the most important information about a particular trick or gimmick is contained in the ads. For example, I was able to track down the actual first ad for the Chop Cup by doing a search on Wheatley. I also found what Wheatley called the first model of the chop cup.

Maybe they will improve the search engine, but wouldn't you rather have too much information than not enough?

Bill, my ideal search engine for the site would be one where you could search articles only, ads only, or both together.

Just so folks are clear, as I reread my earlier post I realize that I should say that my comment is most definitely aimed at the search engine itself, not Bill Kalush's undertaking with the Research Center, Ask Alexander (which IS the search engine but also includes the efforts to get the library online as well), and other related tasks like the magazine, website, and publishing.

Kalush has confirmed in a few different articles that the search engine WILL be upgraded to version #2.
If they do it while I'm a member and can test it out, it would likely cause me to change my mind.

I think Kalush and his IT guy are targeting the known shortcomings of the current Ask Alexander engine, and aiming to fix them in .v2
It's been in the works for a long while though, with no firm date for implementation.

Enjine is good, but for real historical search need correct matherial. I mean "one button OCR". When peoples use computer for recognize books by one long working process it is possible made a lot of books but it will be 95% correctness. I hope in future, when number of scanned books will approaching to finis (just suppose it can be), we come to new era with more correct recognizing texts.

That is a real problem, especially with all the different typefaces that have been used over the past 600 or so years.

There is also this. Many publishers do not want their books to be scanned and placed into a general database until there is some way to ensure that when their material is accessed, they are paid for it. I'm not referring to "fair use" situations here. Fair use is very specific, and it applies ONLY to short excerpts that are extracted for educational purposes. When people can download the entire text of their favorite recent novel, someone is not getting what he has earned.

In fact, because of the way that the printing industry has changed over the past twenty or so years, almost all of the books that are printed in the US and probably in Europe as well, already exist in a digital form. So it would take very little to enter them into a universal database.

Oh, yes. I tell you more!!!! Some of Russian books and magazines placed on NY Pyblic Library were scaned by Google... Yesterday I find some of super-interesting materials inside old Russian magazines by search throw Google Print engine... I can not believe it. That materials was not found by all Russian historicians. Two articles about Robert-Houdin (1846 and 1851), two about visit of Alfred de Caston to Russia on 1858, article about Ivan Ivanov who call Himself Pinetti de Merci and try fly on baloon in Moscow on 1803, what gives us information that Pinetti not died on 1803... And this is not finis.

Now that the East and the West are communicating like they should have, much information is becoming available to everyone that was not available before.

For example, Milbourne Christopher said that the Westcar Papyrus was lost. It wasn't lost. It was in the Egyptological Museum in East Berlin. In fact, that's where it still is!

Sometimes reading about magicians is like reading a Russian novel. If you don't know that a person in Russia can be called by (at least) four different names -- name, diminutive, patronymic, family name -- you might think that there were four times as many characters in a book than there actually were.

If you don't know that magicians often stole each other's names, you might think that there were only a third as many magicians as there were!

But... Goes back to our engine question...

Just now I realize one thing... I wrote you about two documents about Robert-Houdin - 1846 and 1851. I was wrong. With 1851 - not a problem (I get scanes from Google Print), but... I looks closely - on second document (which pages I can not see) written about Algerie and Marabuts (1856)... I begin search and find that there are 133 issues of "Sovremennik" magazine but 80 dated like 1846... I even have no corerct date!!! I can not say to my friend "Go to Central Library, take Sovremennik by 1846 N3 and scan pages 123-124 about Robert-Houdin..."

So, what to do with such things? I have information that on "Ask Alexander" used book about Mason Long from http://www.archive.org/ (apologuze if this is not correct). Correctnes like 90%. Just now I made my variant where correctness will be like 97%. I will be happy add this document to big database of "Conjuring Arts"... I will be happy to help Google Print with dating Russian documents... How to participate on such projects? How to make improvement with exist documents?

Ops. Just now I realize what you mean about "reading Russian novels". Here we say "like looking american movies". For us strange when young boy call his father like "John" (it means: 1 - boy is criminas, 2 - this is not his father) and mother call with seriously face her son like "mr. John Smith". For us difficult understand what personally means...

Do not mind. This is just joke.

BTW. Still do not born man who call me just by patronymic... Only my sister. When she hate me...

That's okay.

It's good that people can tell jokes, as long as they are not government officials. Will Rogers used to say that his best comedy writers were the American Congress. He said, "The trouble with congress is that con-gress is the opposite of pro-gress. When congress tells a joke, it becomes a law. And when congress passes a law, it's a joke!"

This reminds me of the old Russian joke about "There is no truth in Isvestia and there is no news in Pravda." or maybe it was the other way around.

One of the biggest problems with historical research is that you need to be able to evaluate the authors of any piece. For example, if you are doing research on Houdini, you will find newspaper clippings. Some of these will be taken almost directly from Houdini's press releases.

You also find biographies. The one by Kelloch has a lot of bad information. Christopher's work isn't a whole lot better. Gresham's is good. There is a lot more work that needs to be done to verify some of the material in the Kalush book, but it has good sources. So you go back to the sources and look at them.

It's strange and confusing.

Another thing that is bothersome is the way that books are being truncated by some of the on-line services. If I go to the library and I look at a microfilm of an old magic book, I get to see all of the book. If I look at it on line, part of the first few pages may be missing.

As for me, I always search "First Source". I suppose this is very much important. For example. I wrote you I find article about Robert-Houdin on magazine Sovremennik (Contemporary) on 1851. This is good. This is super. Before me nobody find it (after it was forgoten). But. I do not believe someone Russian on 1851 goes to France, made interviev with Robert-Houdin, and wrote about it. Should be French source what was translated! And I will try find it.

Back to our sheeps. I wrote to Google.Books and suggest my help with recognizing Russian texts. Answer was negative...

We live on beginning of process. Peoples need quantity. I hope on future peoples will interesting quality...

P.S. "There is no truth in Isvestia and there is no proceeding in Pravda."

It loses something in the translation, doesn't it?

If you ever get over here to a convention, we will have to get together.

My father was a researcher in the field of baroque music. He got everything he could find from primary sources. I know the value of these things. When I translated the Hanussen book just a few months ago, there was a quote from an English scientist in it. Rather than rely on Hanussen's ability to translate, I found the original quote. Hanussen did a very good job of translating it into German, but I felt that it was better to use the original quotation, exactly as it appeared in the original journal.

You ask about Robert-Houdin article or about proceeding-news?

Some of years ago (20 years) I travel a lot around the World. I was a sportsman. I try to prove that Soviet sportsman the best in the World. Now I am retired and for me difficult drive to Moscow even if I invited participate on Russian "The Real Hustle". I see my participating in the process throw computer and Internet. So why I deep interesting on electronic libraries...

But all who come to St. Petersburg can see me here.


Many years ago (really many) French and English was so popular in Russia that quotes was placed inside books without translations. Inside of "Piece and War" by Tolstoy it was a lot of French texts... On modern books everything translated on notes. During search information about Robert-Houdin book I find on one Russian magazine comment about second French edition. Book was not translated, but author suggest it for nice reading...

Proceeding-news.

I spent the first part of my life working and doing shows. Now I am free to travel.

There was a time when every educated person in the US learned basic Latin and Greek, and some French. Now most of them can't speak basic English.

I studied Latin and German in High School, and some Russian, Italian and Portuguese in College. I continued my German studies as well. I admire anyone who tries to learn English, because its spelling rules are so vagueu.

You do a very good job of handling my language. I barely remember enough Russian to get along.

Izvestiya - not News. For joke should be same words.
 "Ïðàâäå" íåò èçâåñòèé, à â "Èçâåñòèÿõ" íåò ïðàâäû.
Also we have: There are no "Truth", "Proceeding" - finished, we have only "Work" by 3 copeek.

Too bad cyrillic characters don't show up well over here.

Apologize. Lets try:

V "Pravde" net izvestiy, a v "Izvestiyah" net pravdy.

But you suggest:

V "Pravde" net novostey, a v "Izvestiyah" net pravdy.

Idea of joke mised.

Please, apologize for my corrections. This is standard for translators. Only one word can change meaning. On translating of Silverman book about Harry-Houdini translator made error and instear "Houdini like colorful magicians" translate "Houdini like colored magicians". He motivated it that first magician after this sentence was Chung Ling Soo, and translator suppose he was an Asian.