Date   : Sun, 18 Feb 2001 08:33:20 -0000
From   : "Chris Richardson" <chris@...>
Subject: 8BS Website Index

Hi there
I am considering whether it would be worth the effort required to index the
8BS pool of more than 1000 discs and would appreciate it if you have any
thoughts on it if you could share them with me.

The first question that I would appreciate your thoughts on is: Would you be
interested in an index of the 8BS pool on the 8BS website? If no one is
interested, then there is no point in starting the job, leaving folks to use
the website search or trawl through the catalogue. There are still uncharted
sections of the catalogue however, so it is very easy to miss stuff.
Examining the searches that people use, I can see that many folks don't find
stuff that is there. If no interest is shown in an index, I may well work my
way through the catalogue, filling in the blanks.

The job is a particularly huge one and would have to be done in sections.
Probably starting with the 8BS section. It would involve examining each disc
and noting everything on it. The 8BS discs have many messages on them that
contain useful information, indexing the messages alone would be a mammoth
task.

I am trying to end up with something simple such as a main page listing the
categories linking to pages which would then contain the index for that
particular category with a link to download the relevant disc image.

Due to the sheer volume of data that there will be (there are probably about
4000 programs and articles in the 8BS section alone), it would follow that
the information should be initially held in a database rather than being
placed directly into an HTML page. It would be possible for people to chip
in and help by submitting sections of CSV data for instance. So, the first
thing I think I need to do is to lay out the structure of a database.

Your thoughts would be appreciated!

Chris


8-Bit Software, the BBC and Master Public Domain Library
http://www.8bs.com