The New York Times Index has been a mainstay of library reference collections for decades. Its breadth of coverage and time depth are matched by no other US‐based resource, and those of us blessed with the newspaper on microfilm back to the 1850s consider it indispensable. At last this index (or some of it) is available as a web‐based product. The Historical Index to the New York Times, 1851‐1922 (HINYT) is part of a suite of newspaper databases from Chadwyck‐Healey called Historical Newspapers Online, which includes Palmer’s Index to the Times and The Official Index to the Times (both London). Portions of the Times (London) have full text available, and Chadwyck‐Healey continues to add to the site, but the HINYT is currently index only, and not quite complete (1863‐1905 and 1913‐1922 so far).
Access to the HINYT is straightforward: by clicking on the title at the main page, users will arrive at a search form and multiple choices for both search and retrieval. Users can search or browse by keyword (any item in the record) or by main heading. For example, a search for the play “Pygmalion” as a keyword leads to a “Main Headings Retrieved” screen, indicating two main headings, “Plays and Operas”, and “Shaw, George Bernard”, with a total of nine hits. Each main heading may be examined individually or all hits selected. The next screen, “Index Entries Selected”, gives the entire listing of records requested, along with date, page and column information. Above each record is listed the section of the paper index from which it came (i.e., 1913 Jul‐Sept). Records are identical to their original print versions, with occasional notes such as “editorial” added for clarification. Entries are organized chronologically only within main headings, so that if one retrieves all headings at once, results may not be in convenient order. This is not a problem for “Pygmalion”, but it can become so for some subjects, especially prominent people or events, such as James Garfield or the sinking of the Lusitania, both of which have hundreds of records organized by dozens of main headings. One might encourage patrons to investigate main headings individually, add terms, or specify a date range to narrow the results.
Users can browse both keywords and main headings and transfer them singly or multiply to the search form. Decades may be selected as well as specific ranges of dates. Searching by page number is also possible, so that readers can look only at front page articles, for example. Users can set the maximum number of hits to be displayed at a time, and specify all records in subsets of consecutive records, or samples of records. No sorting option is available.
There are many options for more complex searching, including Boolean operators, two proximity features (Near and Followed By), truncation, and a neat little operator called EXACT, which eliminates variations on a term (EXACT “marble” will not retrieve “Marble, Edward”). Another interesting feature is called “Index Entry in Context”, which allows users to see the alphabetical listings surrounding the chosen entry. Examining the context of the index entry for the Vermont Marble Company retrieved virtually all entries beginning with “Vermont”.
Help screens, which are found by clicking on the upper toolbar, are easy enough to use and generally well‐written. One problem, however is that they are written for the entire suite of databases in Historical Newspapers Online, so that the patron approaching from the HINYT is confronted with features applicable only to the indexes for the London Times.
Minor problems aside, Chadwyck‐Healey has done an excellent job of converting the old New York Times Index to the Web. However, is this what should have been done? Shouldn’t the historic New York Times have been re‐indexed by current indexing standards with better use of controlled vocabulary? For many subjects, keyword searching of the original index may be insufficient, and perhaps Chadwyck‐Healey should take the opportunity to provide greater depth to the available indexing. For that matter, is indexing by itself, however adequate, enough for today’s patron who wants full text a click away, not a microfilm reel in another room of the library?
In summary, the Historical Index to the New York Times, 1851‐1922 is a very useful resource and recommended for any library that has the microfilm of the newspaper, and tries to get patrons to use the old paper index. Subscription to the database includes access to all the other newspaper databases in Historical Newspapers Online, and so the fairly high price tag may be worth it for the multiple resources and added convenience.
