ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 20, 2003 - From the end of Reconstruction to the sighting of a taped-over lock in the Watergate complex, researchers and historians may now read the key American political stories as they developed in The Washington Post. The newly completed full-page image archive provides electronic access to more than a century of articles in ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

The full run of The Washington Post from 1877 to 1987 offers a unique perspective on national events. Every sitting president from Rutherford B. Hayes to Ronald Reagan fills its columns – with the stories of their successors still to come. ProQuest will add a year of coverage every year. The database includes each page from every issue, cover to cover, in PDF files. More than 2.6 million pages of articles comprise the newly digitized archive.

The Washington Post is just one of the famous mastheads featured in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers program. It joins The New York Times (1851-1999) and The Wall Street Journal (1889-1985) in the exclusive database created and distributed by ProQuest Company’s (NYSE:PQE) Information and Learning unit to educational institutions and libraries around the world. The Christian Science Monitor digital backfile (1908-1990) was completed this spring as well.

The ProQuest Historical Newspapers project was initiated in January 2001 as part of the company's ongoing Digital Vault Initiative™. The collection offers ready access to the full content of each newspaper starting from its very first issue. Other titles in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers collection will include The Chicago Tribune, set to begin manufacture soon, and The Los Angeles Times with manufacture already underway.

Information Today columnist Peter Jacso hails ProQuest for launching “the most important newspaper archive” (February 2003). This unparalleled resource gives users the tools to study specific historic events, compare coverage in different newspapers, or follow trends across more than a century of change. ProQuest Historical Newspapers offers an unmatched depth and breadth of national and international news, analysis and political commentary, all searchable through a modified version of the powerful ProQuest® platform.

Full text of The Washington Post dating from 1988 forward is also available electronically in ASCII full text from ProQuest. The complete Washington Post product in ProQuest provides access to more than 125 years of a leading news source. Both the archive and the current file are accessed by subscribers using the ProQuest Web-based online information service.

The flagship newspaper of the nation’s capital leads the nation in political and government coverage, available in print and through an internationally recognized Web site at www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post is known worldwide for the Pulitzer-winning coverage of the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon administration, a story which began when a security guard discovered a piece of tape across a door lock at the soon to be notorious office building. The story is only one of dozens published in the Post to have been awarded the prestigious Pulitzer medal.

Today's top stories had their roots in the earliest days of the Post's publishing life. In 1877, the first commercial telephone was introduced. By 1987, 1 million mobile phone subscribers crammed the airwaves, transforming politics, the media, and every other aspect of life in the United States. The Washington Post covered the story.

While The Post is often frequently associated with its role in Watergate, it was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins and has a long and storied history. While the early years of The Post brought financial woes and a string of owners, The Post was also marked by its involvement with great writers and historic events; among The Post's early contributors were Robert Louis Stevenson, Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Pulitzer.

However, the successes could not match the mismanagement, and the paper was eventually sold at a bankruptcy auction in 1933.  In retrospect, this would be the best thing to ever happen to The Post as new owner Eugene Meyer quickly turned the paper around and built it into the premier paper in the nation's capital.  Throughout the last half-century, The Washington Post has remained a newspaper dedicated to covering the events in Washington and around the world.

In association with Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, every backfile issue of The Washington Post has been digitized from cover to cover, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements.  Searchers can use basic keyword, guided, publication specific, and relevancy search techniques to locate information.  Or, they can browse through issues page by page, as one would browse a printed edition.  Search results lists provide bibliographic information, including date, issue, article headline, page number, and byline (where given).  Users may choose to display the full page image of any page in any issue.

Free trials are available. Libraries may receive more information by contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext 3183 or 3452 (outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or pqsales@il.proquest.com. Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com.

 

About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive is the new-media and electronic publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to develop the company's editorial products and businesses on the Internet and across all electronic content delivery platforms.  WPNI's flagship products include washingtonpost.com and Newsweek.com on MSNBC.com.  The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA.

 

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.