|
The Best of Sherlock Holmes: e-World > e-Journals > e-BSJ Tips |
Tips on Using
The Baker Street Journal CD ROM
I've found the Baker Street Journal CD-ROM set to be an invaluable tool when doing Sherlockian research. Recently I made a working copy of the CD-set on my hard disk. It made this resource work even better for me, and I realized it might be useful for others to have a list of tips on ways to be more efficient when using the electronic BSJ. These are just some personal suggestions, not official procedures from the CD creators. However, I think you'll find them useful. If you have tips you'd like to share or corrections to this page, please contact me.
Top Tips! The top three tips to get more from the electronic BSJ include:
1. The "Search" version of Acrobat Reader is essential. (More)
2. Search > Query the document Title for the issue year to instantly find a desired issue. (More)
3. Put the CD-set on your hard disk or a DVD and save lots of time. (More)
Install Acrobat Reader with Search
Copy the CD-set onto your hard disk
Finding & Opening a specific issue of the BSJ
Searching for an author or article title
Searching for specific terms or subjects
Related Pages
Manuscript facsimiles in the BSJ
While I think these tips apply to most releases of Adobe (Acrobat) Reader, the instructions refer specifically to Adobe Acrobat Reader with Search and Accessibility for Windows, version 5.01.
INSTALL ACROBAT READER WITH SEARCH
You'll get much better results by using a special type of Acrobat Reader program. When downloading or installing the Adobe Reader, be sure it is a version that is called "Adobe Acrobat Reader with Search and Accessibility." The "Search" capability allows the program to use the index files that come on the BSJ CD. This is a huge benefit and is well worth the extra time it takes to download this larger version of Adobe Reader. For just one example of why this capability is so useful, see Finding and Opening a specific BSJ issue.
Some Macintosh users have reported difficulty opening certain BSJ issue files with older releases of Acrobat Reader. For Windows users, I found that a very old version of Acrobat Reader (v. 3) would open the files. However, it did not have the "Search" feature. I have since installed version 5.01 and found that it adds other features and works even better, so I recommend using the latest Acrobat Reader.
You can download Acrobat Reader for free from the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/acrobat
Tip: To check if your program has the Search capability, open Acrobat Reader and check the Edit menu. It should have a "Search" option that leads to a Query command and a Select Indexes command, among others.
COPY THE CD-SET ONTO YOUR HARD DISK
By copying the entire CD set onto your hard disk, you will get faster and easier access to all the issues. You will not need to swap CDs in and out. Once selected, an issue will appear more quickly because a hard disk will load files faster than a CD drive. Finally, you'll be using a backup/working copy, so you don't have to worry about accidentally damaging the original CDs.
The main disadvantage to using your hard disk is that it will use up nearly 2.5 Gigabytes of disk space. If you have a DVD burner you might consider copying the CD-set onto a DVD.
Please note that the CD material is copyrighted and you should only make a backup/working copy from an original CD set that you own.
I don't have a DVD burner so have not been able to try this myself. If you have DVD burner and have tried putting all the BSJ files onto a DVD, please contact me so I can report the results.
Copying the BSJ files onto DVD should be similar to copying them onto your hard disk. You will not need to swap CDs in and out. You'll be using a backup/working copy, so you don't have to worry about accidentally damaging the original CDs. While a DVD drive is somewhat slower than a hard disk for loading files, it would allow you to get almost all the benefits of better access and use without taking up space on your hard disk.
For details on what you need to copy from the CDs, see the Copying Instructions and Tips for placing the files on a hard disk. The same files should be copied, although the process will depend on your DVD recording software.
FINDING & OPENING A SPECIFIC ISSUE
Users that have Acrobat Reader with Search capability have a very fast and easy way to find a specific issue.
Hot Tip: Install the latest Acrobat Reader with Search.
For Acrobat Reader v5:
1. Open any BSJ file
2. Choose Edit > Search > Query
Hot Tip: It's much faster to just click on the Search button in the toolbar.
If you haven't previously set the Index, click on the "Indexes" button and make sure only the "Baker Street Irregulars" is checked.
3. In the Title field, enter the year or the volume number that you want and click Search
4. Select the desired issue from short list shown to you and click View
Tip 1: This works even better if you have all the files on your hard disk or a DVD
Tip 2: If the Title field is not shown, check the box in Edit > Preferences > Search > Include in Query / Document Information (more about Reader preferences)
Tip 3: Entering an asterisk * in the Title field will list all the issues.
(and setting Edit > Preferences > Search > Results / Sort By: Title will show these in chronological order.)
Note: In the Acrobat Search/Query dialog, you can ignore the other document info fields for Subject, Author, and Keywords. The BSJ issues only contain information in the Title field.
There is also a Table of Contents file (00000-~1.pdf) that contains a matrix listing of year, volume number, issue number, and file name. This provides a cross-reference to allow you to manually find the filename (number) of the desired issue. However, this manual approach is much slower than using the Query / Title approach described above.
SEARCHING FOR AN AUTHOR OR ARTICLE TITLE
While it's possible to use Acrobat's Search or Find features to look for text in the BSJ Acrobat files, there are limitations due to the technology used to create and index these files. This means that you may have to try several different approaches to locate a desired article.
If you know the article title:
Try "Searching" (Edit > Search > Query) for the title using a phrase from the title. If you're lucky there are no OCR problems and you'll get an exact match that takes you directly to the correct issue. If you get lots of matches it may not be worthwhile checking each one. However, you can use the Next Highlight button in the toolbar to go quickly to the next matching text. If "searching" isn't working for you, try using Redmond's indexes as noted below.
If you know the author:
You can also try "Searching" for the author's name, but since names can appear in many issues this approach may not be efficient. It works best for people who have written only a few articles and have distinctive names. It may be faster to use Redmond's indexes as noted below, especially if you are trying to locate multiple articles by an author.
Authors and Article Titles Prior to 1994
Donald Redmond compiled two cumulative indexes to the BSJ through 1993. These are included in two files on the BSJ CDs. Each file contains an explanation of entry format and terms at the beginning of the file. To find an author or article title:
1. First check the Cumulative Index for 1946-1969 (000-in~1.pdf)
Part II of this index lists Authors & Titles alphabetically. Go to this part of the index and scroll or page up/down to find the desired letter.
Letter "A" in Part II - use Documents > Go To Page: 75 (Ctrl+N)
Letter "M" in Part II - use Documents > Go To Page: 92 (Ctrl+N)
Tip: How to copy just one of the two columns of text
2. Next check the Cumulative Index for 1970-1993 (000-cu~1.pdf)
This index combines author, title, subject and departmental entries into a single alphabetical list for easy access. Go to a close part of the index and scroll or page up/down to find the desired letter.
Letter "A" - use Documents > Go To Page: 7 (Ctrl+N)
Letter "M" - use Documents > Go To Page: 63 (Ctrl+N)
3. Consider checking the Universal Sherlock Holmes
The Universal Sherlock Holmes indexes many BSJ articles from inception through 1993. It often includes a synopsis of the article. This 4-volume work is sold separately, and has a fifth volume with a detailed name and title index. You can also try searching the online version at the University of Minnesota.
Authors and Article Titles from 1994-2000
There is no cumulative index for these years. However, the optical character recognition worked better for these issues and searching is more reliable. You can limit your searches to just the 1990s and later by including "199* OR 2000" in the "Document Title" field. Enter the author name or article title in the "Find Results Containing Text" field. If the first match isn't what you need, use the Next Highlight button in the toolbar to go quickly to the next matching text.
Another option is to check the annual Index at the end of the last issue for each year. You'll need to check each of the seven year-ending issues plus all of the Christmas Annuals.
SEARCHING FOR SPECIFIC TERMS OR SUBJECTS
The BSJ Acrobat files contain the text from every issue of the BSJ through 2000. The text consists of two parts: the "image" that you see on-screen and the underlying computer text associated with that image. You can read and print the "image" text. You can search for and copy/paste the hidden computer text.
However, the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) used to scan and create these files was unable to accurately create some of the underlying computer text. In some cases recognition errors caused the wrong text to be entered (e.g., "Baker" might occasionally be "Bakor"). In other cases the recognition was apparently so poor that no underlying computer text was created at all. There are more errors in the older BSJ issues, and many of the files from April 1952 - July 1958 do not contain useful underlying computer text.
These limitations mean that an Acrobat Search/Query for a specific term will find many but not all appearances of that term. Another approach is to use a subject / topic index to the BSJ. I often use both approaches, but generally start by trying the subject / topic index. If you are interested in Canonical manuscript facsimiles, I have a List of Citations that notes all the reproductions in the BSJ.
Subjects and Topics Prior to 1994
Donald Redmond compiled two cumulative indexes to the BSJ through 1993. These are included in two files on the BSJ CDs. Each file contains an explanation of entry format and terms at the beginning of the file. To find a subject:
1. First check the Cumulative Index for 1946-1969 (000-in~1.pdf)
Part I of this index lists subject categories alphabetically. Go to this part of the index and scroll or page up/down to find the desired letter.
Letter "A" in Part I - use Documents > Go To Page: 7 (Ctrl+N)
Letter "M" in Part I - use Documents > Go To Page: 44 (Ctrl+N)
Tip: How to copy just one of the two columns of text
2. Next check the Cumulative Index for 1970-1993 (000-cu~1.pdf)
This index combines author, title, subject and departmental entries into a single alphabetical list for easy access. Go to a close part of the index and scroll or page up/down to find the desired letter.
Letter "A" - use Documents > Go To Page: 7 (Ctrl+N)
Letter "M" - use Documents > Go To Page: 63 (Ctrl+N)
3. Consider checking the Universal Sherlock Holmes
The Universal Sherlock Holmes indexes many BSJ articles from inception through 1993. It often includes a synopsis of the article. This 4-volume work is sold separately, and has a fifth volume with a detailed name and title index. The four volumes are organized by subject category sections, so you can browse through a section looking for BSJ articles. You can also try searching the online version at the University of Minnesota.
Subjects and Topics from 1994-2000
There is no cumulative index for these years. However, the optical character recognition worked better for these issues and searching is more reliable. You can limit your searches to just the 1990s and later by including "199* OR 2000" in the "Document Title" field. Enter the subject keyword(s) in the "Find Results Containing Text" field. If the first match isn't what you need, use the Next Highlight button in the toolbar to go quickly to the next matching text.
Another option is to check the annual Index at the end of the last issue for each year. You'll need to check each of the seven year-ending issues plus all of the Christmas Annuals.
Using Acrobat Search / Query
You can use the "Search" function to check for words in the text. This works best if the word is distinctive and if you are trying to find a specific fact rather than do a comprehensive review of all information on a topic. For a complete review you really need use both the "Search" function and check Redmond's Indexes.
1. Open any BSJ file
2. Choose Edit > Search > Query
Hot Tip: It's much faster to just click on the Search button in the toolbar.
If you haven't previously set the Index, click on the "Indexes" button and make sure only the "Baker Street Irregulars" is checked.
3. Enter the text you want to find in the "Find Results Containing Text" area and click Search
It's best to use distinctive words or a phrase. However, there are many considerations for picking words that get the best possible results. See the tips for Searching for Word Variations and Search Efficiently, and be sure your Adobe Reader preferences are set correctly. You can limit searches to certain years by entering them in the Document Title field of the Search dialog. For example, to only search for material from 1990 and later, you'd enter "199* OR 2000" in the Document Title Field.
4. Decide if this result is useful, and move to the next match
Take notes for relevant items, and consider copying text plus the citation to a separate document. Click on the Next Highlight button in the toolbar to go to the next matching text.
Tip 1: This works even better if you have all the files on your hard disk or a DVD
Tip 2: If you want the search results to be shown in issue chronological order, be sure that you set the preference (Edit > Preferences > Search > Results / Sort By: Title)
The BSJ Acrobat files contain the text from every issue of the BSJ through 2000. The text consists of two parts: the "image" that you see on-screen and the underlying computer text associated with that image. You can read and print the "image" text. You can search for and copy/paste the underlying computer text. However, the underlying text may have errors or be missing, as explained elsewhere on this page.
The BSJ text is copyrighted material. Just because you are able to copy it does not mean that you can use or reproduce it elsewhere. Please do not steal or plagiarize from this material. Using Acrobat Reader v5 and Microsoft Word 2000:
To Copy the Underlying ("hidden") Text
1. In Acrobat Reader, click the View menu and select "Continuous" (allowing you to copy across pages)
2. Click/select the "Text select tool" button in the Acrobat Reader toolbar
3. Click just before the first word you want and drag through the other words that you want, then release the mouse.
4. Choose Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C)
5. Change windows to a Microsoft Word document
6. In Microsoft Word, choose Edit > Paste Special > Unformatted text
You need to use "Paste Special" rather than the ordinary "paste" command because of a bug in the way the hidden/underlying text is handled. The ordinary command makes the pasted text invisible (white on a white background). You can select this text after pasting it and change the text color to black, but it's generally easier to just use the "Paste Special" command.
Tip: In some of the BSJ files, text is shown in two columns. To select only the text from a single column,
a) Press and hold Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac) before starting your selection, then drag the box around only the text you want
or
b) Select the "Column Select Tool" from the toolbar (usually available by clicking the tiny triangle next to the Text Select Tool button). Then drag the box around only the text you want.
Tip: If you have set the View to Continuous mode and you choose Edit > Select All, it will select most of the text in the document. However, according to the Acrobat Reader Help file, it will not actually select all the text. When I tried this, it wasn't obvious what text (if any) was not selected.
In some cases the character recognition was so poor that there is no underlying computer text associated with the onscreen text image. When you try to select the text as noted in the Copying Text section, nothing will be highlighted or outlined onscreen (indicating no underlying text). In these cases you could do any of the following:
a) Print the pages and retype the needed text yourself
b) Copy the image portion of the text, paste it into a Word file, and use that as your re-typing reference (see Copying Graphics)
c) Use a separate OCR program to attempt to convert the image portion of the text
To use option "C" you will probably need a document management software package (e.g., Pagis Pro) and a standalone Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program (e.g., Textbridge Pro). The document management program allows you to "print" pages from Acrobat Reader into an image file that can be processed by an OCR program. It's possible that some fax programs would also do this for you, but they often create images at lower resolutions that do not work well for OCR.
While the exact process will depend on your software, you would probably start by opening the desired issue in Acrobat Reader. You would then "print" from Acrobat to a virtual printer created by your document management software. That will create an image file that can then be used by your OCR software. Les Moskowitz reported good results using Pagis Pro and Textbridge Pro, with an average of seven errors per page from a sample article in an older BSJ issue.
You can also copy drawings, photographs, and other graphics from the BSJ pages. You can even copy the "image" version of the BSJ text. Graphics and photos are also copyrighted material so please do not steal or reuse them.
Using Acrobat Reader v5 and Microsoft Word 2000:
1. In Acrobat Reader, click/select the "Graphic Select Tool" button in the Acrobat Reader toolbar
3. Click and drag a box around the area you want to copy, then release the mouse.
4. Choose Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C)
5. Change windows to a Microsoft Word document
6. In Microsoft Word, choose Edit > Paste
Tip: The magnification level used in Acrobat Reader when selecting the graphic will affect the size of the pasted image.
Note: Unlike with text, you can only select an area on a single page. To copy images from successive pages, you need to repeat the process for each page.
RELATED PAGES
An In-Depth Review of the e-BSJ (coming soon)
Errata for the BSJ CD (including some tips and workarounds)
You can buy the BSJ CD set from The Baker Street Irregulars
Other Electronic Sherlockian Journals
Tips for Using Adobe Acrobat Reader
Manuscript Facsimiles in the Baker Street Journal
This site has a section devoted to Conan Doyle's manuscripts. It includes a Checklist of Facsimiles of the Sherlock Holmes Stories. The related List of Citations is sorted so all the reproductions in the Baker Street Journal are listed together.
THANKS
I got the idea for this web page from list postings about the BSJ CD by Mike Greenbaum, Les Klinger, and Les Moskowitz. Many thanks to them and everyone who has helped me to develop and check on these tips.
Home | Manuscripts | Top-10 Lists | e-World | What's New | Site Index
Vers.
1.56 Original work
Copyright © 2003 Randall
Stock. All Rights Reserved.