Saturday, August 17, 2013

Summer Almost Gone - Updates

Wow. Summer is almost gone. Way out here in Northwest Montana autumn is one of the best times of the year, and I'm certainly looking forward to the cooler weather and the diminution of tourist traffic.

Remember how I complained about the London Times not having a good system for short term access to its vast archive? You had to buy a yearly contract, at 4 pounds a week (about $6 a week - a whopping $312 a year). That seemed a steep price to troll a treasure for just one project.

Well, bless their hearts, the Times has just introduced the Web Pack. For 2 pounds a week ($3) you have unlimited access to the Times, the Sunday Times, the puzzle archive (9,000 strong), and, best of all, the digital archive. And subscribing to the Web Pack now only requires a one month (minimum) contract. So if you're working on a Great War book or article or paper, then the Web Pack is a perfect device to let you see contemporary reporting on your subject.

Hooray for the London Times.

Speaking of Times, how about Time magazine? Their archive used to be free, but recently they added a pay-wall. But it is somewhat of an enlightened pay-wall. You can get a monthly digital subscription which gives you access to the archive for just $2.99. It's a one-month minimum, like the Times of London, and it will automatically renew every month until you cancel it. Even better, Time now offers a One Week Digital Pass that gives you access for just $4.99. That's a pretty good deal.

So, progress is being made to open up more digital archives to researchers and writers at reasonable rates. Hooray for that.

Look forward to more posts after the autumn equinox. Cheers.

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