Ask a Librarian: Sands & McDougall directories

[@davidking1429]

Thanks Kylie- I have found so much interesting stuff through Sands.

[@beaksofeagles]

Yes, it was a wonderful resource, wasn't it? But late last year you moved it all onto a new server, and made the access via a viewer which refuses to load pages. Three months later and you have still failed to fix it. You have effectively cut off the entire SLV online collection from the public during a pandemic. Well done SLV. Great timing SLV. Don't waste your time online at the SLV.

[@statelibraryvictoria]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble accessing this online resource @beaksofeagles, we are working to improve the performance of the new Collection Discovery tool so these issues can be resolved as soon as possible. There are some tips for accessing this collection online at the following link we hope can help: slv-vic.libanswers.com/systems/5250?post_id=6733 If you'd like to lodge feedback via our feedback form ( www.slv.vic.gov.au/your-feedback ) that may help us improve the new Collection Discovery tool faster.

[@beaksofeagles]

@@statelibraryvictoria "Chrome browser users may experience issues downloading"...... Ah Chrome, let's see, you mean that one that's the most used browser in Australia today?

[@trekkerdave4028]

@@statelibraryvictoria Your previous interface to the directories, the one in the video, was clunky. But it worked. The current interface is useless, as several pages won't load, and the ones that do take ages (that is, minutes to load, not seconds as mentioned in your 'tips'). So I downloaded the entire 138M 1885 directory, just to browse it more quickly locally. I'm using Firefox.

[@trekkerdave4028]

I do, however, appreciate very much that ANY of your Melbourne directories are accessible online, as I am in America and cannot visit your microfiche.