Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

The New York Times wants to be free (online)
September 17, 2007

Tomorrow night at midnight, The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its site according to an article by Richard Pérez-Peña in today's Business section.

"In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain."

Reasons for the shift include the growth of online advertising combined with an influx of online traffic directed from search engines like Google and Yahoo!  The move marks the end of the TimesSelect subscription service, launched two years ago to the date.

Whatever the reasons, this is a boon for school and public libraries. 

Those of us who could not afford a newspaper archive subscription can now link users to fulltext content.  Though I am fortunate enough to have access to several newspaper archives through ProQuest Historical Newspapers, I am thrilled that many of my colleagues will now be able to examine the Civil War, World War I, the women's suffrage movement, early waves of immigration, and so much more through contemporaneous reporting. 

I may not be up at midnight tomorrow, but I will be updating a few of my pathfinders on Wednesday.

Posted by Joyce Valenza on September 17, 2007 | Comments (0)