Monday, I published the blog post, BAnQ digitizes almost 3 million newspapers and magazine pages, and explained how to use the advanced search feature on the Quebec Archives website. Frankly, it took me longer than usual to write the article because BAnQ had changed its website.
Quelle misère!
I didn’t like the new way BAnQ forced me to search — but I eventually found where they had hidden the old search, and I provided a link to it in my blog post. Whew!
All seemed well until BAnQ did away with the old, easier way to search, which means the link in the blog post no longer works. So much for explaining how simple it was to search.
Yesterday, I ended up spending a fair amount of time looking for the old search web page, only to discover it had completely disappeared. Then, I had to figure out how to use the new search features.
Keep in mind, I’m like a lot of genealogists. I don’t like change. I especially don’t like it when my websites are changed.
Faced with no choice but to figure out how the new search engine works — and just before I sent an email message to my BAnQ contact to complain — I found a one-paragraph article in the Montreal newspaper, La Presse, about my great-great-grandfather’s death. Coroner McMahon determined that James Young’s death, after falling down the stairs outside his home, was an accident. Until seeing that article, I had no idea a coroner was involved and that I should look for his report.
La Presse, Montreal, September 23, 1923, page 11, column 6. Source: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
The really good news is I figured out how BAnQ’s new search engine works — and I think I like it. I will write about it in a future blog post.
Update: To learn how to use BAnQ’s new search engine, read How to search historical newspapers online with Quebec Archives’ new search engine: Part 1.
Hi Gail – thank you for your blog posts. Looking at the new BAnQ website, I don’t see an option for English as on the old site. Am I missing something?
Some of the pages are in English, but most are in French. In some cases, such as the Montreal and Quebec City street directories, the “door” is in French, but once you enter, almost everything is in English, i.e., the original documents. What remains in French, however, are the search and navigation terms. Once you figure out the half dozen you need to know, it should be easy going. Next week, I hope to write a blog post, explaining how to navigate the new search features for newspapers and magazines.