Swem is pleased to add two new resources to its family of over 250 databases: the Readers’ Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982, and Proquest Digital Microfilm.
During much of the twentieth century, the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature was the essential index to articles in popular magazines and a key resource in public libraries around the country. Today academic libraries are rediscovering its importance as an invaluable guide to U.S. cultural history. Researchers can identify articles contemporary to such events as the sinking of the Titanic or the end of the Vietnam War; and topics, such as life during the Depression or the public reaction to D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. Among the 375 magazines indexed are: Atlantic Monthly (back to 1890), Good Housekeeping (back to 1909), Educational Review (back to 1900), Travel (back to 1907), and Fortune (back to 1935).
Swem has begun a subscription to Proquest’s Digital Microfilm service for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Readers now have the benefits of microfilm (full-page images with an easy page-by-page browsing format) with the convenience of online (remote access, unlimited number of users at a time, searches by title, date, and page number). In addition, onscreen controls allow the reader to adjust images as well as print, save, and email pdfs and links. The service extends back to 2008 with monthly updates. Because this service replaces traditional microfilm, there is no additional cost to the library.
