Footnote.com Adds Millions of Historical Newspapers to its Collection
The following announcement was written by Footnote.com:
- The SmallTownPapers Collection details the lives and histories of people and events across the United States
Footnote.com announced today a new partnership with SmallTownPapers, Inc. that will add millions of pages of historical newspapers to the site. With over 28 million images of original documents already on Footnote.com, the historical newspapers will prove to be a valuable addition, providing a unique view of our nation’s history.
After using Footnote.com, SmallTownPapers President Paul Jeffko quickly realized the two companies had a natural synergy. "Our unique and exclusive small-town newspaper content is a boon for any researcher, and with Footnote.com providing high quality viewing, printing, and downloading, visitors are going to discover a new dimension and relevance to online history and genealogy research."
Unlike many of the major newspapers, small town newspapers give a glimpse into what day-to-day life was like for many Americans during that time. Visitors can browse articles of local news content, historic photos, and birth, marriage, and obituary announcements. The image viewer on Footnote.com enables visitors to see images of the newspapers exactly as they were printed, dating back to the mid-19th century.
“These newspapers can be found in other places, but what makes Footnote.com so different is the social networking component we offer,” explains Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “Social networking isn’t just for young people on MySpace or Facebook anymore. People of all ages with different interests, including history, are now interacting with each other on the internet. Footnote.com has created an engaging and fun experience with content like historical newspapers, that enables people to discuss their discoveries with others.”
Visit www.footnote.com/smalltownpapers to access free samples of these newspapers and to see what Footnote members have contributed.
About Footnote, Inc.
Founded in 1997 as iArchives, Inc., Footnote.com is a subscription website that features
searchable original documents that provide users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit www.footnote.comAbout SmallTownPapers®
SmallTownPapers is a leading solution provider for publishers of America’s 5000 small market newspapers. Working with publishers nationwide, the Seattle-based company digitally preserves current and archive editions and provides searchable online access to the newspapers. Additionally, SmallTownPapers provides millions of news consumers across the country with access to real-time news and information from small town America. Today, more than 350 newspapers from 46 states can be accessed and searched through SmallTownPapers. The archive, containing editions dating as far back as the 1800's, continues to grow as publishers discover SmallTownPapers in their search for comprehensive digital archive solutions.
Too bad they insist on a credit card to get the "free" trial. Thanks, but no thanks!
Posted by: Mark Roy | March 14, 2008 at 08:57 PM
Small Town Newspapers is absolutely free at its own website:
http://www.smalltownpapers.com/
No credit card or social networking required!
Posted by: Oxa | March 14, 2008 at 09:04 PM
I just checked out www.smalltownpapers.com . They claim a large number of newspapers, but there isn't a single small town newspaper in any place my family has lived. Additionally, the long list of newspapers that you see on their site has just papers from 2005-2007. The list is MUCH smaller for their archive newspapers. And there, while they claim newspapers back to the 1800's, the newspapers I clicked on at random had virtually all their newspapers after 2000. I did click on 1 that said they had 1833, 1933, and other random years until the present. But if they do have something you want it is really free. I put some of my less common surnames in the search box and found things about people with that surname (none related to me, though). I found one news article from 1937. I didn't see any way to magnify the image of the newspaper though.
Posted by: Sue | March 15, 2008 at 08:56 AM
Utter hype. Smalltownpapers.com has nearly nothing of value to a genealogist. Wasted 15 minutes on their site trying to find anything from the 19th century, without success. One newspaper in New York state, for pity's sake!
Posted by: Bill Wilson | March 15, 2008 at 12:06 PM
I went from footnote.com to SmallTownPapes. I found one small. unthrilling article quoting a very blain letter from my 5x greatgrandfather, dated 1905. While I could have lived a lifetime without seeing this article, it was nice to see SOMETHING. I think it is a nice start, but really, as stated before, the selection is very small. I can only hope they will quickly add more. As I am a member of Footnote already, I will watch it, but it would never motivate me to join for this resource alone.
Posted by: Susan | March 15, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . .
I have found the SmallTownNewspaper website to be much more useful to me than the entire Footnote.com website, simply because I have found items of interest to me, published long before the present century, on the former, while I'm still batting 0-fer on Footnote. AND - it was free!!
Posted by: Ted Mudge | March 15, 2008 at 04:29 PM
Of course it's hype and poorly done at that. There is not much "historical" about any of their newspapers. And it's funny, the free link to http://www.smalltownpapers.com/ does not seem to work now. Must just be a coincidence, don't you think?
Posted by: Betty Rubble | March 16, 2008 at 01:35 PM
Ditto on Sue's comment. I've checked out "smalltownnewspapers" before and noticed the same thing - most of the newspapers are hardly what I would consider "historical" (even in the archives section everything I clicked on randomly was from about 1960 on!) However, every time Dick writes about these websites I feel compelled to check them out...just in case. Obviously no website can publish every newspaper all at once, but come on now...not a single Ohio newspaper?
Posted by: Debi | March 16, 2008 at 04:31 PM