Archive for March, 2004

Some coworkers of mine were complaining today about the new registration hoops the Austin American-Statesman makes you jump through to read articles online. You also have to pay a fee to read archived articles.

Boy, did I have news for my coworkers. If you are a resident of the city of Austin, that is. All you need to do is go to a branch of the Austin Public Library and sign up for one of those old-fashioned library cards. While you’re there, tell them you want online access and pick a password.

You can then go home (or back to work) and log on to the Austin Public Library web site using your new library card number and password. You now have full-text access to the Statesman and lots of other periodicals, newspapers, and books, all WITHOUT ADVERTISING and no archive fees.

To find the Statesman, click the Reference Databases link, then select Newspapers & Current Events in the Subject Guide. You now have, at your fingertips, access to the Statesman archives dating back to 1996 with InfoTrac and to 1989 using Factiva. I found articles from today�s edition already in InfoTrac, which means it’s probably updated daily. Factiva seemed harder to use, but hey, it’s there if you need the way-back stuff.

If you’re not eligible for an Austin Public Library card, check the TexShare web site to see if your community or college library is listed.