LA Times & Chicago Tribune (mid-late summer)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Mid-late summer.  And they're doing it in parts.

Subj:    RE: ProQuest LA TIMES & CHICAGO TRIBUNE
  Date:    3/20/2003 3:54:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
  From:    "Cowan, Christopher" <christopher.cowan at il.proquest.com>
  To:    "'Bapopik at aol.com'" <Bapopik at aol.com>
  Cc:    "LeBeau, Christie" <Christie.LeBeau at il.proquest.com>, "'infonow at lapl.org'" <infonow at lapl.org>
  Sent from the Internet (Details)




Mr. Popik,

I appreciate your inquiry.  I think some of the confusion emanates from the
naming of various newspaper databases.  The LAPL seems to be referring to
the LA Times' ascii database of the most recent years (1986-2003).  ProQuest
also has this same data; however the LAPL does not subscribe to our version.

The database I believe you're interested in is the ProQuest Historical
Newspapers - LA Times which ProQuest is now in the process of creating.  It
will be very similar to the Historical Newspapers - New Times which seems to
be what you're utilizing based upon what you've described below.  (I'm glad
to see you've found it so valuable)

Unfortunately, the Historical Newspapers - LA Times is not yet on the market
for libraries to purchase.  It will be soon.

Both the Historical Newspapers -  LA Times and Chicago Tribune will become
available sometime mid-to-late summer in 2003.  They will be partially
complete at the time launch and we will be continuously adding content over
the next 18 months.  Both newspapers have archives in excess of 3.3 million
pages each which is approximately the size of the NYT's so it will take this
long just to finish the full database.

When complete, the LA Times will cover 1881-1985 while the Chicago Tribune
will be 1849-1985.

In case you are interested, in addition to the NYT, we have also digitized
the archives of the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Christian
Science Monitor.

Hope this information is helpful.  If you have further questions, or if I
can be of assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards,
Chris

Chris Cowan
Vice President, Publishing
ProQuest Information and Learning
300 N. Zeeb Rd.