The Los Angeles Times archive is being developed as part of the company's ProQuest Historical Newspapers project, which was initiated in 2001 to bring the historically valuable content of newspapers to digital form. Many of the nation’s top newspapers are part of the project:  Digital backfiles of The New York Times (1851-1999), The Wall Street Journal (1889-1985), The Washington Post (1877-1987) and The Christian Science Monitor (1908-1990) are already available from ProQuest to educational institutions and libraries around the world.  The collection offers ready access to the complete run of each newspaper in full-page image format, starting from its very first issue.

The Los Angeles Times backfile offers researchers:

• Extensive coverage and analysis of the development of Los Angeles, California and the Pacific Rim and the West's major industries, including film and entertainment
• Unique window on the history of Western expansion and immigration
• The Annual Trade Number Edition, published from 1886-1962, reviewed the past year’s news and provided a complete description of Southern California to entice prospective immigrants from the East and Midwest
• Noticias en Espanol (The World’s News in Spanish) column, published from 1922-1933, was designed to serve The Times’ Spanish-speaking audience

Material currently available includes backfiles dating from 1881, when the newspaper was founded, through 1922. Every available backfile issue of The Los Angeles Times will be digitized from cover to cover, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics and advertisements.  Searchers can use basic keyword, advanced, and relevancy search techniques to locate information.  They also may browse through issues page by page, as one would browse a printed edition.  Articles and full page images are available as PDF files.

Search results lists provide bibliographic information, including date, issue, article headline, page number, and byline (where given).  Users may choose to display either the full image of any page in any issue or just the individual article they need.  Full-text of The Los Angeles Times dating from 1985 to today with indexing and abstracts also is available electronically from ProQuest.

Both the archive and the current file are accessed by subscribers using the ProQuest® Web-based online information service.

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 .

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 30 Pulitzer Prizes, including three this year in national reporting, feature writing and feature photography. The Times publishes five regional editions covering the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as a National edition.

ProQuest Company is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is a leading provider of value-added information and content to the library, classroom, automotive and powersports markets. We provide products and services to our customers through two business segments: Information & Learning and Business Solutions. Through our Information & Learning segment, which primarily serves the library and classroom markets, we aggregate and publish value-added content from a wide range of sources including newspapers, periodicals and books. Our Business Solutions segment is primarily engaged in the delivery in electronic form of comprehensive parts and service information to the automotive market. It also provides dealers in the powersports (motorcycle, marine, RV and outdoor power) markets with management systems that enable them to manage their inventory, customer service and other aspects of their businesses.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and distributing information worldwide to researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business and economics, general-reference, humanities, social sciences, and STM content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide.  Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey™ electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, bigchalk™ and SIRS educational resources, and XanEdu™ online faculty and student resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.