Ragaisis
super member
Reged: 05/16/08
Posts: 183
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
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Yesterday I was getting ready to purchase a few PDFs for download through that S&T Archive. I went to the page to see what the pricing was and got the message that the archives were temporarily unavailable. However, you could still search them to see what was there.
This morning I went back and found this message at the top level of the Archive:
The Sky & Telescope archives are no longer available. For further information, please contact:
Sky & Telescope Customer Service:
Phone: 888-253-0230
Phone: +1 603 253 8731(Outside US and Canada)
Fax: 603-253-8346
Email: skyprodservice@skyandtelescope.com
I eventually talked with Tony Flanders who said that S&T is moving away from ProQuest (who handles the service). They are considering alternatives.
So we're down for now, but not out for the count.
Chris
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Televue TV85 APO on a Half-Hitch alt-az mount
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BobinKy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/27/07
Posts: 1683
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This is sad. The archives was one of the better features of S&T's online offering. I hope they can get it running again.
Chris, thanks for letting us know.
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Bob
38°N
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Ragaisis
super member
Reged: 05/16/08
Posts: 183
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
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I know that their plan is to find someone else to do the complete hosting as well as converting the docs to some usable format. I have a hunch that the PDFs were created by and the property of ProQuest. If that's the case they'll have to redo everything. I hope I'm wrong there.
But I'm patiently waiting to be able to do the online search and purchase again.
Chris
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Televue TV85 APO on a Half-Hitch alt-az mount
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swalker
Imaging Editor - Sky & Telescope
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 472
Loc: 42.9225°N, 71.2242°W
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Fortunately you are wrong-
we generate the PDF's here. They will be back soon.
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12.5" f/5.1 Newt
10" f/4.5 Newt
4.25" f/4 Astrograph
80mm f/10 refractor
70mm Mak Cass
40mm PST
Millennium Mount EQ
TI ProDome #002
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Ragaisis
super member
Reged: 05/16/08
Posts: 183
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
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That's fantastic news! I'm ready to order when you're ready to sell. ;-)
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Televue TV85 APO on a Half-Hitch alt-az mount
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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swalker said:
Quote:
we generate the PDF's here. They will be back soon.
Thanks! that's the best news I've heard all day! 
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3467
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
The archives was one of the better features of S&T's online offering. I hope they can get it running again.
Me too. I used to use it just about every day, often multiple times a day.
The PDFs themselves are relatively easy to deal with. The hard part is providing a reasonable way to index and access them.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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Hi all,
I received an email from them saying that the service WILL NOT be restored and would I like a refund on my balance. This is a sad sad day for me.
I hope they will reconsider this decision and find a way to bring it back in some form or another.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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desertstars
Please stand by...
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 34565
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Odd... The notice on their web site seems to imply that this is not permanent.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/advancedsearch.html
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Tom W.
Collinder's Catalog
Jewels in Dark Settings
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burb scope
member
Reged: 04/18/08
Posts: 56
Loc: Canton, MI
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I would be great if they did what National Geographic did a while back - produce indexed, searchable CD-ROMS of their back issues. Unfortunately, I think that the company that did it for National Geographic went out of business, and no additional issues will be forthcoming.
I bet that a lot of us would pay for a CD-ROM S&T archive.
I purchased access to the S&T archives a couple of years ago, and I saved the PDFs that interested me to disk. I created an excel spreadsheet index with hyperlinks that will bring up any PDF.
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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Tom W. said:
Quote:
Odd... The notice on their web site seems to imply that this is not permanent.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/advancedsearch.html
Yeah I saw that to a few weeks ago but I received this email from SkyProdServices just today:
We are sorry, but we just learned that the archive service will NOT be restored. If you would like a refund for the balance of your subscription, please let us know.
I hope it was misinformation or perhaps they will find a solution in the future.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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desertstars
Please stand by...
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 34565
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Nope, that does not sound good.
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Tom W.
Collinder's Catalog
Jewels in Dark Settings
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BobinKy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/27/07
Posts: 1683
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The Sky & Telescope Archive webpage now has the following message.In an effort to better serve our readers Sky & Telescope is embarking on a redesign of our web site. Unfortunately, the archives will not be available during the project. We ask for your patience and understanding until we develop the new site.
If you are a monthly or annual pass holder, you are entitled a refund of your remaining subscription. Please contact customer service with your request. Thank you.
Sky & Telescope Customer Service:
Phone: 888-253-0230
Phone: +1 603 253 8731(Outside US and Canada)
Fax: 603-253-8346
Email: skyprodservice@skyandtelescope.com I certainly hope Sky & Telescope is not giving up. Their heritage is a big part of who they are. To close the door on that heritage may be foreboding.
. . .
On another front, the Webb Society has produced a Webb Archive DVD of scans of all the Magazine and Journal Publications released by the Webb Society since the first quarterly Journal in 1968.
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Bob
38°N
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3467
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Just to clarify the situation --
All of the editors at Sky & Telescope are extremely eager to get the Online Archive functional again, both because we consider it to be an important public service and because we are/were it's #1 user. Moreover, we have all the raw components; all we need to do is put the machinery back together again.
Unfortunately, it's hard to muster the necessary resources; we're incredibly short-handed. Since there's no clear ETA for a restored Online Archive, it seemed that offering a refund to existing subscribers was the only honest course of action.
I'm as close as anybody to being in charge of the S&T website, and restoring the Online Archive is one of my highest priorities. But it will be at least a month before anybody can come up with a clear plan of action, much less put it into effect.
It would, however, be relatively easy to put up a searchable index in the form of one or more Excel files. So the articles wouldn't be downloadable, but at least you could find out what was there. How valuable would people find that?
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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BobinKy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/27/07
Posts: 1683
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Tony...
A searchable database would be helpful for those with access to print copies of S&T from university libraries, observatories, or astronomy clubs.
I used all of my searches to the S&T PDF archives prior to the shutdown. (I was about to purchase another annual subscription when the shutdown occurred.) Regarding how I personally used the archives, I did most of my searches by author: Sissy Haas, E.C. Krupp, James Mullaney, Alan MacRobert, Gary Seronik, Charles Wood, and others. But many users may have searched the archives differently (e.g., title or keyword).
I hope you do publish an online index of S&T articles. And your post certainly gives us hope--knowing you are personally committed to bringing back the archive service in the future. (There are more authors I want to search!)
Tony, thank you for your clarification. Thank you for your committment.
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Bob
38°N
Edited by BobinKy (08/07/09 11:44 AM)
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Ragaisis
super member
Reged: 05/16/08
Posts: 183
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
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I'd find that extremely useful, and would greatly appreciate it if you folks could arrange it.
Thanks!
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Televue TV85 APO on a Half-Hitch alt-az mount
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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Quote:
I hope they will find a solution in the future.
Hi all
Good news. They're back! I think this is the best thing S&T could do. This is great.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 942
Loc: Utah
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That is fantastic news!
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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
My Blog
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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Hi Jay
It looks like it is still a project in progress for now. Searching for some articles will bring them up but some will not be downloadable. It still good to see them working on bringing this back to us.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 942
Loc: Utah
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Thanks Richard,
I agree its nice no matter what that they are expending their resources to fix this.
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Jay in Utah
---------------------------
Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
My Blog
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3467
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Good news. They're back!
Sorry, not yet. But I really am actively pursuing a solution.
As a stopgap, I hope to put at least the index online some time in early December.
Tony Flanders
Associate Editor (and webmaster pro tem)
Sky & Telescope
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TonyDralle
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 531
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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So should I keep my collection, complete from 1957, of S&T's ?
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- TonyD
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bsim
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 1053
Loc: New York City
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You should keep your old archive. The PDF archive went back to 1997 I believe.
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 5663
Loc: Inner Solar System
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Quote:
So should I keep my collection, complete from 1957, of S&T's ?
No! You should send them to me immediately. I'll even pay shipping.
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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
Dyslexics Untie!
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desertstars
Please stand by...
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 34565
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Rick, that was remarkably subtle for you...
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Tom W.
Collinder's Catalog
Jewels in Dark Settings
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 5663
Loc: Inner Solar System
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I'm trying to improve my people skills...
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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
Dyslexics Untie!
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