Another wonderful addition to the Marvel Databases is Maine Newsstand. I must say this one, as a “Maine-I-Ac” is fascinating.
*** Remember, you must have a VALID Maine library card to access this database! ***
When I open this database, it is set for a Basic Search, and the Full Text radio box is unchecked. I search “Portland Head Light” with 22992 results. The first link that I see is from the Portland Press Herald, dated Mar. 2, 2005. Scrolling down the screen I see that the database indexes from 1993 – 2012. I also see a place to Sort Results By, with choices of Relevance, Publication Date (oldest first), and Publication Date (most recent first).
Other options include
Publication Title – 7 Maine newspapers are included Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, Lewiston Sun Journal, Waterville Morning Sentinel, Kennebec Journal, Maine Times and Central Maine Morning Sentinel.
Document Type – including News, FrontPage/Cover Story, Obituary, Article, Feature, Editorial, Commentary, Undefined, Review, Correspondence, Interview, Letter To The Editor and Market Research.
Subject, Company/Organization and Location all have many, Many, MANY options.
I narrow my search by Document Type and choose to include only Front Page/Cover Story and Obituary. The search is now only 948 articles. Hmmm . . . I sort the search by Publication Date (most recent first). The first several articles are obituaries. Out of curiosity I click on one. I’m not completely sure why this obituary is part of my results. The search terms are all highlighted in the article, but I only see the words Portland and Light.
I go back and eliminate Obituary from my search, and now have 661 results. The most recent article is from the Portland Press Herald, and dated Oct. 21, 2011. Checking this article, I’m still not sure why my search terms are bringing it up.
(**Picture me smacking myself in the head**)
I fix my search criteria – adding quotation marks around the term “Portland Head Light”, the results are now 814 articles, and all of my filtering has been cleared. Clicking on the first article, dated July 20, 2012, I find my search term highlighted – PERFECT!!!
Not wanting to bore you, I am having a great time trying several other search terms, as well as names. Sooo . . . Are you interested in a person in the news in Maine? Try a name search. Are you interested in a specific place or attraction? Try a search.
And ENJOY!!
Ann Russell, Technology Librarian