Bruce, yes, a live search would be awesome! As Bill says, "time and money." The desire is there, though, so maybe that will happen in time. At least there is an index. (BTW, if you come across anything wrong in the index, let us know and we'll get it fixed.)
Years ago as a volunteer, Jean LeGwin, who just retired from six years as an AAW Board member, scanned all the back issues of the journal so they could be posted on AAW's website and be available to AAW members. It took her a couple of years to do this, sometimes scanning one page several times to get it right. We are fortunate to have that resource thanks to Jean's vision and volunteer efforts.
Then the journal was indexed, which was a paid-for job. I've used that index countless times!
Jean has recently overseen the development of a series of books that are made up of past journal articles. The first four were published early last year, then the next three after that. There are several more series in the works. John Kelsey, former editor of
Fine Woodworking, is selecting the articles by themes. Those books are a valuable asset to anyone's shop.
The next stage, which will happen this year, is to make the current issues available in e-reader format.
I guess what I'm saying is that it really only takes one person with vision and volunteer work to make things happen within the AAW. Even a quick email to every AAW Board member makes your voice heard. Send one today. Then get your buddies to send one too. The Board and AAW's executive director do listen to members. If you want a searchable index, speak up directly, then don't give up. You could make it happen.
Betty Scarpino, Editor (for a few more months
),
American Woodturner
