ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 24, 2003 - The Internet may be the latest manifestation of media obsession, but media buffs did not originate in the 20th century. For proof, sample American Periodicals Series, a digital collection of more than 1,100 periodicals that began publishing between 1741 and 1900 from ProQuest Information and Learning.

Scholars of history and literature as well as media buffs will appreciate the enhanced American Periodical Series, rich with new content and more accessible than ever through a new custom interface that makes searching and browsing the resources as easy as flipping pages.

Among the titles introduced since August 2002:

McClure's (1893-1929)

The Dial (1840-1844; 1860; and 1880-1929)

Scribner’s Monthly (1870-1881)

Century Illustrated Magazine (1881-1906)

Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1868-1935)

Saturday Evening Post (1821-1885)

American Academy of Arts and Science, Proceedings (1846-1906)

In all, more than 50 titles spanning more than one million pages have been added to the database since August 2002. The process will continue until all 1,100 titles are complete in 2004. More than 500,000 pages will be added this quarter. ProQuest used a new digitization process to improve image quality. Users praise its ease of use and speedy loading.

Users may search the new content by additional article types, and choose full page images or individual articles. Page maps allow users to browse entire issues. Abstracts are available for each article and additional user guides provide even more ease of access and content highlights. The new interface allows greatly improved access to all 775 plus titles currently available.

Today's readers will recognize the direct descendants of these remarkable publications on their local newsstands. Titles such as Scientific American, Ladies' Home Journal, and the Saturday Evening Post carry on the tradition that began with Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine of the 1740s. All are available now in APS along with full runs of many more professional and scholarly journals, newspapers and popular magazines spanning to World War II. Coming in 2003: Godey's, Vanity Fair, Puck, and many more venerable titles.

APS is a vast multi-disciplinary collection of history as it was happening and a 200-year record of daily life and concerns. Through actual page images, readers see the rise of popular periodicals, the advertising industry, and Americana – recipes, fashion, inventions, weird science, manners and lifestyles, politically incorrect views, and humor.

The content encourages users to travel through time and thought from religious journals and children’s magazines to social commentary from Jane Addams and Henry David Thoreau. APS is equally valuable for its offerings of rare and scholarly material.

Users can:

• Read treasures of American literature as they first appeared, including stories and poems by Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Willa Cather, and Bret Harte
• Track major events of the 18th and 19th centuries through contemporary news reports and editorials, including the rise of investigative journalism and the evolution of the essay as a journalistic form.
• Find firsthand accounts of the search for the North Pole by Robert Peary as the 19th century turned into the 20th
• Trace the development of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and reputation.

The complete APS digital archive is accessible 24 hours a day, every day, making 200 years of content instantly available in the original page layouts.  From the first mass printing of the Declaration of Independence to the first horseless carriage ads, users can view a parade of American life that is unmatched online. Simple keyword searches or more sophisticated Boolean and fielded searches by article type, author, title or periodical pinpoint information.

The APS database is available immediately from ProQuest. It is especially well suited to academic and public libraries. Free trials are available. Librarians who wish more information may contact their account representative at 1-800-521-0600 (outside the US, call 011-44-1-223-215-512) or email library_sales@il.proquest.com. Editors may call 1-800-521-0600. ext. 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com.

 

Were the "Gangs of New York" Real?

Director Martin Scorsese may have found inspiration in the pages of The Saturday Evening Post, one of the many popular magazines found in APS. Like his recently released film about the rough and tumble inhabitants of New York City's Five Points neighborhood during the Civil War, APS offers insights into other times that are genuinely thrilling.

Citation: The Saturday Evening Post (1839-1885), Philadelphia; August 15, 1857, Iss. 0, THE CITY DANGER.; pg. 2, 1 pgs.

About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.

More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.

For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.