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Post by andym on Dec 12, 2020 11:06:35 GMT
I personally doubt if any of these books will ever be re-issued, so it seems to me that this sort of stuff is crying out to be moved online. As some will know, various websites seem to have hoovered a lot of the info on specific types, and this can already be easily found online.
Maybe it is time for Air Britain to consider making online versions of these titles. The advantage being of course that they can be continually updated as new information comes in... I do refer to the books a lot, which represented the pinnacle of knowledge at the time of their publication, but it is clear that each one contains many, many errors. This is not a criticism of those who produced the books, but simply a statement of fact in the light of continuing research.
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Post by geoffnegus on Dec 12, 2020 13:05:00 GMT
Andy
I for one am very sympathetic to the idea of revising and moving the content of the RAF Aircraft books online, and then periodically updating the files.
I agree there are quite a few errors. I used to send lists of corrections to Jim Halley. I don't know whether my letters survived beyond his death, but I'll have a look.
However - and it's a very big however - when suggestions like this are made, the discussion of the Publications Committee (of which I'm a member) inevitably turns to the question of who will do the actual legwork. Done properly, this project would consume a lot of time.
Regards Geoffrey Negus
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Post by Pete Webber on Dec 12, 2020 13:38:51 GMT
As a project I would have thought the concept of making these registers available (to all or just membership is a question that needs to be answered) online, and in such away that would allow for ammendemt, would fit fully with both the charitable and education aims of the society.
If we take that as granted, we must also assume that none of the source material is available in electronic form (if it is it would be a bonus) so all would need to be made into a form that works online.
Before any work in undertaken, policy decisions need to be taken about what format is used (word files, text files, excel, access?) and how the data is then surfaced from that.
Thought needs to be given to if the files would just be copies, or using the base data enhanced further. A date field would be a good addition, MSN's, life post RAF etc would all build on the usefulness of the base data The feedback loop for corrections/additioons needs to be considered.
Not something to be rushed into (thats OK, that fits in with AB nicely, nothing happens 'quick' shall we say) but I would have thought this is right at the core of what AB should be about. Happy to be involved subject to all the above.
Pete
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Post by Stig Jarlevik on Dec 12, 2020 14:28:31 GMT
If I may venture an idea which to me is more satisfactory than trying to update the now quite old and if I may say so a bit unsatisfactory booklets.
Why not strike a deal with the RAF Museum (or whoever are the keepers of the forms AM.78 - are they perhaps kept at the PRO at Kew?) and by all means also the so called delivery logs (see AB-IX discussion regarding Tomahawk deliveries) and either put them on CD's and sell them or put them on a membership site.
To simply put the books (even updated) on line is, as I see it, a waste of time, since the books are very much lacking in dates. To get the dates, we simply have to get to the movement cards. The books are also sadly lacking in details when it comes to MUs and so on.
Also making further general comments, this should also apply for the ORB, especially the period 1914-45. It seems to me most of them have already been scanned so should not create too much of a problem for someone handy with stuff like that.
Cheers Stig
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Post by andym on Dec 12, 2020 15:02:41 GMT
Some further thoughts from me. Firstly, I totally agree that in an ideal world a much more comprehensive version of each book would be better, with dates, codes, etc etc. However, that would be an enormous undertaking, and almost certainly would only be able to be built up incrementally, in the same way as Joe Baugher's US serials websites are. That is not necessarily a reason to not proceed though. However, I still think even correcting errors in the original books would be a start. It clearly is possible to extract the data, just look at: www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtwhich is clearly effectively a copy of the data in the serials books. To use that as an example (just replace the Mosquito entries with MA100-MZ999 for example) it could be uploaded to the website, and then kept updated with corrections and new info. I am also willing to get involved with any such initiative. Whether many corrections would be submitted is another matter of course. In general, the same (relatively few) people are responsible for the vast majority of input on both the forum and website. Regards, Andy
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Post by Admin on Dec 12, 2020 18:02:55 GMT
I was already thinking that the amendments that Andy and others had been sharing should be placed on the A-B website. That would be a simple exercise, based on the volume of corrections shared to date. However there are no doubt other corrections that have not yet been shared, while an exercise to expand the data with additional information would indeed be large.
So, as always, are there volunteers out there who could lead / help with such a project in any of the ways already mentioned?
Steve M
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Post by David Thompson on Dec 13, 2020 21:36:41 GMT
Interesting to see that The Aviation Bookshop is selling the following RAF registers for £5 each or any 3 for £10 plus a flat rate of £5 UK post and packing and a 25% website order discount is available too ! ; AA100-AZ999 , BA100-BZ999 , DA100-DZ999 plus other Air Britain publications ; Sitting Ducks & Peeping Toms , RAF Flying Training and Support Units since 1912 and Texans and Harvards in Latin America plus lots of other interesting titles too and no , I'm not on commission from them ! Website here ; www.aviation-bookshop.com .
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jagan
New Member
Posts: 10
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Post by jagan on Jan 31, 2021 17:54:13 GMT
Before any work in undertaken, policy decisions need to be taken about what format is used (word files, text files, excel, access?) and how the data is then surfaced from that. Thought needs to be given to if the files would just be copies, or using the base data enhanced further. A date field would be a good addition, MSN's, life post RAF etc would all build on the usefulness of the base data The feedback loop for corrections/additioons needs to be considered. These are all great ideas. Data should be in Excel, or Google Sheets, this would allow easy importing into MySQL Databases as needed, and possible linkage with other Databases etc. For people who are not aware, I had built a RAF Serial Number Research Tool on RAFCommands.com . It is available at this link. www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/All the serials from J to Z and AA to ZZ are only about 250,000 air-frames/records. Initially the goal was to just build something for querying partial logbook numbers, but slowly I found other usages to it. It is linked to a table of about 40K attrition losses that Henk had compiled, it is linked to a table of 3000 SEAC losses that I Have compiled (And still working on), it is also cross-linked to the nearly 99,000 CWGC Airmen War deaths data ,- linked to the POW and Evader Database that other members are working on .. so the utility of searching on a serial brings up so many other possibilities. So please stay away from Word Files, text files or access. Excel/CSV/Google Sheets is the way to go. But ultimately the data should find itself to a MySQL / Web database so that it can be crosslinked to other databases
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