US News Archives on the Web is a database of links to individual searchable newspaper sites, arranged by state. To locate a newspaper, a user must first choose a state, then select a specific publication. Searching in most papers retrieves complete citations with links to the full text of the articles. While some newspapers ask users for account information before displaying the full text, others appear to be totally free of any cost. After the link to each individual paper, a description of possible costs is displayed.
Each newspaper covered has different beginning dates. A cursory examination of various publications brings up the most current electronic issue; as an example, in searching by state (alphabetically), I chose the Anchorage Daily News and accessed the current date’s paper. I then clicked on Archives and performed both a Basic and Advanced search, each producing complete citations on the topic “whaling AND industry.” In this example, no photos, graphics, national news stories or advertising (classified or retail) were included. However, the following article types were present: Obits, Births, Sports, and Letters to the Editor.
In scanning the coverage of the Los Angeles Times, however, I found the current date and a search box immediately available at the Web site. National news stories and local coverage were both shown as well as classifieds (help wanted, retail, and so on). Unlike the Anchorage Daily News, the full text of the last 14 days’ worth of the Los Angeles Times is available online, and users can print the story right from the site without a fee. Also, in searching the archives (1990 to the present), one can limit the stories by date or by different sections of the paper (Main News, Book Reviews, Sports, Travel). The search results can be sorted by the most recent, the oldest, or the most relevant first.
Crossing the country to the News‐Times (Danbury, CT), I was able to access the current issue of the newspaper and the archives from November 1995 to the present. One can limit the search to a specific month and enter keywords to narrow the search. Full‐text articles are also available without cost. Coverage is for local as well as national news, obituaries, and classifieds. If an article includes a photograph, then it is accessible and can be printed.
The unevenness of the access points as well as the costs for some newspaper access may present problems to librarians seeking to use all links within this product or include them in a bibliographic instruction session. Also, coverage for certain states is better than others. Major cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston have greater access to newspaper resources from this site, while cities such as Anchorage, Palo Alto, and Riverside are limited in coverage.
This unevenness may be due to the fact that certain newspapers have their own Web sites which allow access, while others may allow access only through other commercial products. Though this is not the fault of the Newspaper Archive site, it is a limiting factor. With greater coverage, I would be more inclined to recommend the site as a whole. This is a great first tool if an institution cannot afford a commercial product such as the Dialog@CARL Basic Collection, which has 113 full‐text newspapers with global coverage. On the other hand, it’s a great deal better than looking for individual newspaper Web sites.
