If your newsroom can't afford to give everyone individual LexisNexis accounts -- and most can't -- there are some good, free options for searching newspaper archives online.
Some newspapers are starting to charge for their online archives, but many still offer them free of charge. The Special Libraries Association maintains the Internet's most comprehensive directory of online newspaper archives around the country, listing which ones are free, the prices of those that charge, and links.
Even better, check out your local library and you might find that it offers free access to searchable newspaper archives like LexisNexis or Proquest -- in the library or, in a growing number of places, through the library's website. All you need is a library card.
Libraries across Pennsylvania, for example, are doing this through the Power Library Initiative. I can search several newspaper and magazine databases for free on the Seattle Public Library's Web site. I even get free access to dozens of other useful subscription-only reference databases on just about every topic, including the $550-a-year Oxford English Dictionary site.
This is not good news for newspapers trying to make a buck off paid archives online, as Poynter's Steve Outing recently reported in Editor & Publisher. But for the public, and for reporters, it can be a boon.
Now maybe it's time you got off your butt and got yourself a library card.
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