jonredmond - Posted - 11/03/2014:  19:12:55

In the collectors corner forum the idea of a searchable photo database was raised. It would be great for BH members to be able to search and see information on and about various banjos by being able to search members photos with different search criteria such as: Brands, Manufacture dates, banjo type, Banjo features, materials and so on.

This idea came to me as a result of difficulty finding information about one of my vintage banjos. BH is such a rich meeting place of banjo collectors historians and owners and it would be great to take advantage of such a source of visual information. Members could be asked to contribute to the visual database and a search engine and forum could be used for members to search gather research information. 

Thanks,

Jon Redmond

rot-n-dobe - Posted - 11/03/2014:  19:34:40

i agree!

davidwigal - Posted - 11/03/2014:  19:42:33

Very awesome idea! I am going to link this to all of my groups

Old Hickory - Posted - 11/03/2014:  21:04:44

Who wold enter all that information on each photo?

jonredmond - Posted - 11/03/2014:  22:01:57

The photo poster could add as much or as little info as they want however, the more info you add the more helpful and searchable it becomes for others. It could be as simple as just having to fill out a few simple keywords.
I know nothing about computers so I am sure some more knowledgable folks could figure out a simple system.

ejimb0 - Posted - 11/04/2014:  00:20:57

This is a terrific idea. I like to imagine it growing to be a complete list of every model from every year. Color photos front and back. Every question answered at the click of a key. Information is power.. Power typically comes at a price... lots of hard work and lots of time. Sometimes folks like to keep it to themselves.

This idea reminds me of an idea I heard once about Tsumura's Banjo book. Why doesn't someone produce a Chinese made copy of the original and sell them for 75 bucks.. Who is against the idea and why?

chas5strings - Posted - 11/04/2014:  00:50:49

Whilst on the database theme, why not a dbase of stolen banjos?

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 11/04/2014:  02:45:04

This might be useful, though I think you all are taking about a database for modern as well as vintage banjos:

banjodatabase.org/about.asp