| By Sydney Fairman |
An extensive collection of amateur publications that were written, edited, and published primarily by young people, aged 12-20, during the second half of the 19th century, Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society features tens of thousands of issues, and includes editorials, original short fiction, essays, poetry, and more.
Recently, CCAdvisor gave Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society a composite score of 3.75/5, citing the, “uniqueness of the subject matter combined with the ease-of-use and familiarity of the Gale interface.” Read below for more review highlights:
User Interface/Searchability
“Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society is very easy to use, especially for those familiar with other Gale Primary Sources databases, as most of the features and layout are the same. Also, several Gale primary source databases can be searched at one time (there are over 300 as of August 2018).”
Content
“The quality of the scans is exceptional. Amateur newspapers did spend a lot of ink writing about other amateur newspapers, as trading papers was an important part of the hobby, so there is a lot of content on this subject.”
Competitive Products
“Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society is the only major database product that focuses on the niche of 19th-century United States amateur newspapers published by young people.”
Purchase Contract
“Gale uses a standard five-page contract for all its historical products. COUNTER reports & MARC records for Amateur Newspapers from the American Antiquarian Society are part of the purchase. The contract designates that upon termination Gale shall provide assistance through Portico to provide uninterrupted access to the licensed content.”