Are you intimidated by microfilm?

Fiddling with reels of film and fussy microfilm machines can deter some patrons from accessing back issues of the New York Times. The library has subscribed to film reels of NYT microfilm for decades. But as technology changes, patrons are more comfortable using online databases. ProQuest has met this need by creating digital microfilm. Using its familiar interface, ProQuest has made a full-text searchable collection of the NYT. While some databases include selected articles, ProQuest’s digital microfilm provides an exact picture of each page in the newspaper from A1 to D8. Search by keyword (e.g., Syria) and receive hundreds of articles where your search term is highlighted on the page. Want to know what other news stories were going on the day Barack Obama or Donald Trump was inaugurated? Browse to the exact issue date and see page by page what the NYT was reporting.

Content goes back to 2008 and there is a 3-month embargo on current issues. Access the digital microfilm by searching for the NYT in the library’s catalog and follow the “online availability” link. http://ulysses.calvin.edu/eg/opac/record/136446.

(Submitted by Katherine Swart, Collection Development Librarian)