Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work

Subject: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Roberto
Date: 04 Aug 11 - 06:58 AM

Since yesterday at least, The Traditional Ballad Index is not working. You can open the home page, but you can't search the site. What is the problem? Are they trying to fix it? Any news? Thanks. R

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Reinhard
Date: 02 Sep 11 - 08:09 AM

It works again now, and as it seems with a new search engine.

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Sep 11 - 11:46 PM

Sorry I didn't see your message earlier, Roberto. I think that the Mudcat Google Custom Search (in the grey search box on most Mudcat pages), also covers the Traditional Ballad Index.

I talked with folklore professor David Engle at Cal State University Fresno a couple of weeks ago. He said their server was crashing the Traditional Ballad Index search engine, so people would have to make do with Google. I didn't quite understand what he was saying at the time, but then I saw the new Google search box at the Ballad Index a couple days later. It works quite well.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Roberto
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 01:21 AM

Now it is working again. What an excellent tool it is. R

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: michaelr
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 01:24 AM

Link, please?

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 02:03 AM

Oh, I should have thought of that, Michael - Traditional Ballad Index (hosted by Calfornia State University, Fresno, where I was a graduate student for a semester).

That's not all there is at CSUF Folklore - take a look. I particularly like the German Ballad Index.


Those of you who have used the Ballad Index in the past - test out the new Google search engine and post your opinions of it here in this thread, and I'll pass your comments on to David. I think I prefer the old search engine.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Reinhard
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 07:44 AM

Looks like the Google search engine does not work reliable. I tried searching for "Weaver and the Factory Maid" and "Kemp Owyne" but didn't get results, even though the songs are in the index as DTwvfact and C034.

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 08:22 AM

By the way, one of the items of information they keep is the earliest known publication date for each song.

Now that it's so easy to research songs with Google Books, it's often possible to find a publication that is earlier than the date in their database.

I have notified them several times when I have done this, and they have always thanked me for the information.

It feels good for a non-scholar like me (or maybe I should say non-credentialed scholar) to be able to contribute to a scholarly collection like that.

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 03:39 PM

I found the list of cover material and discussion in the Ballad Index very useful.
Google may give me the basic data on a song, but I end up going to several sites for the concise information summarized in the Trad Ballad Index. I often used both.

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Folkiedave
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 07:39 PM

I am currently getting a lot of File Not Found messages. IS this cos I am using a Mac?

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 08:21 PM

The Ballad Index had a Google-based search engine working this morning, and it was having the problems described above.
I see that the Ballad Index now has the search page that it has displayed for many years, but that search engine is not working at all. I e-mailed the Folklore Department at California State University Fresno and let them know about it.

Mudcat has a Google-based search engine that's supposed to search Mudcat, the Ballad Index, and a list of other sites, but it's not bringing up results from the Ballad Index today. So, I wonder if it's a wider Google problem.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 12:54 AM

They have the Google-based search back up - but it still won't find "factory maid."

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Reinhard
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 04:28 AM

A bit of self promotion:

Joe's posting of the Ballad Index entry for Turpin Hero yesterday prompted me to add links to the Ballad Index to the head of my Mainly Norfolk song pages, see e.g. Turpin Hero or High Barbaree.

At the moment all Child, Laws and A Folk Song a Day songs on my website have links to their respective Ballad Index entries, more will follow as time allows. (Child and Laws were easy as the Ballad Index files for them have a very regular naming scheme and it only took me about a dozen lines of Server Side Includes programming. All the other links have to be entered manually, though.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Traditional Ballad Index out of work
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Sep 11 - 01:22 AM

Somebody ought to promote Reinhard's pages. They're always first-rate.

-Joe-