The Sporting News is back online.

[Bill Burgess]

Good News, friends! The Sporting News has re-surfaced online. While browsing the internet today, I stumbled on a website and called them to ask some pertinent questions.

In the course of our conversation, the pleasant young lady happened to mentioned that in their roster, they had paperofrecord.

I immediately came to attention! After she had finished her comments, I politely asked her if her website carried The Sporing News, expecting her to disappoint me. But she didn't!

Come to find out, that for the last month the website, called WorldVitalRecords.com (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/) does indeed carry the full archive of TSN, 1886-2003.

It is not for free, however. For a year's subscription, one must pay $39.99 for their US databases, and $119.40 for the full roster, which included a lot of international databases.

One can also try them out of a month for $5.99 for 30 days, with a full money-back guarantee, or so they say.

This website is not only paperofrecord. It is more like www.ancestry.com. It is chock-full loaded with genealogical databases, just like ancestry.com

Check it out. Guess I better start saving my pennies again.

[TonyK]

Thanks Bill! I am doing the month's trial. If anybody else is interested we should have Bill's email address available so we can get him a free month for referring us to them.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

We should have saved all issues of TSN while it was free over at paper of record. :)

[Brian McKenna]

I saved about four years - took forever - but that's clearly not enough. Is the quality still poor? Search horrible?

[Bill Burgess]

On the phone the lady told me that when they first launched it, several months ago, it had a lot of errors. They took it offline and worked on it and the young lady said that they fixed a lot of problems with it and re-launched it a month ago.

God only knows what she was referring to, but at least a treasured reference resource is now back available.

Between TSN and Proquest, the serious baseball researcher now has his 2 absolutely essential tools back in his trusty tool-belt. So, thank goodness for that.

Whoever gets it first, be sure to report back to us a detailed report on if the search engine is better than it was before and if the search object now has a colorized high-lighter, as all good search engines should.

[EdTarbusz]

We should have saved all issues of TSN while it was free over at paper of record. :)

With how so slow their save feature was, plus the low daily limit, it would have probably taken 5-10 years to save then all.

[Bill Burgess]

Save back issues? How is that possible? I never knew that was an option.

[EdTarbusz]

With Paper of Record, you used the print function and then saved it to Adobe.

[Bill Burgess]

With Paper of Record, you used the print function and then saved it to Adobe.
You printed out a page? And then saved it? What does that mean?

I'm so lost. I have no conception of what is being referred to. But then I never said I was smart.

[EdTarbusz]

You printed out a page? And then saved it? What does that mean?

I'm so lost. I have no conception of what is being referred to. But then I never said I was smart.

I didn't actually print it out. I used the print function though to save it to adobe.

[Bill Burgess]

I didn't actually print it out. I used the print function though to save it to adobe.
OK. So, you saved a page, which is then stored somewhere on your hard drive?

Wouldn't that take up a lot of space on your hard drive, if you wanted to 'save' a lot of Sporting News pages? You must have had a lot of hard drive.

[EdTarbusz]

OK. So, you saved a page, which is then stored somewhere on your hard drive?

Wouldn't that take up a lot of space on your hard drive, if you wanted to 'save' a lot of Sporting News pages? You must have had a lot of hard drive.

It does take up a lot of space, so I move them to disk.

[Bill Burgess]

It does take up a lot of space, so I move them to disk.
Makes sense.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

With how so slow their save feature was, plus the low daily limit, it would have probably taken 5-10 years to save then all.

I don't remember it being that slow. If we could have gotten 20-30 BBF folks working together it wouldn't have taken that long.

[EdTarbusz]

I don't remember it being that slow. If we could have gotten 20-30 BBF folks working together it wouldn't have taken that long.

It would have taken a long rime. Paper of Record took a long time to load, and there was a daily limit of how many pages you could look at each day, which was approx 300 pages.

[Bill Burgess]

One thing that I hope this new website corrects. In the former online Sporting News, the search engine only ran in 5 year increments.

I hope this new one runs the entire length of the archive and finally has a high-lighter. One can always dream.

[Brian McKenna]

I signed up for a monthly membership. The search is rough as always - especially in earlier years. It's just as hard to read.

Bypassing the search you can pull up an issue: Here is the 8/26/1893 issue:
Select Image:
10007dep
10007d6p
20007r0z
40007gz3
60007fzk
70007hhe
70007hfq
80007fvo

What does any of that mean - I don't know. I clicked on the top one and got page 2. Everything will be a hunt. But at least it's available.

[TonyK]

I signed up for a monthly membership. The search is rough as always - especially in earlier years. It's just as hard to read.

Bypassing the search you can pull up an issue: Here is the 8/26/1893 issue:
Select Image:
10007dep
10007d6p
20007r0z
40007gz3
60007fzk
70007hhe
70007hfq
80007fvo

What does any of that mean - I don't know. I clicked on the top one and got page 2. Everything will be a hunt. But at least it's available.

When I clicked one of the middle ones I got a page one. The numbers are cryptic and the letters are random. It takes about 29 days to figure out the system. It doesn't have every weekly issue from what I can tell.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

I signed up for a monthly membership. The search is rough as always - especially in earlier years. It's just as hard to read.

Bypassing the search you can pull up an issue: Here is the 8/26/1893 issue:
Select Image:
10007dep
10007d6p
20007r0z
40007gz3
60007fzk
70007hhe
70007hfq
80007fvo

What does any of that mean - I don't know. I clicked on the top one and got page 2. Everything will be a hunt. But at least it's available.

Don't know if it's as difficult to navigate as it once was and I'm not intersted in finding out. TSN may be great for finding some particular articles but it can't touch Proquest with access to the NY Times, Washington Post. LA Times, LA Sentinal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and a black Pittsbugh and Chicago newspaper, some going back to the 1890s..............all for 20 bucks a year.

The most accurate source there is, game box scores and most important game recaps written the very next day of the game, not subject to hand me down stories, exaggerated and subject to faulty recollection over the years.
The best, 20.00 fee and so easy to navigate, it's Proquest.

Not to say that the site has no use, I will take a look but Proquest is my home.

No, do not received any payment for that endorsment.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

OK. So, you saved a page, which is then stored somewhere on your hard drive?

Wouldn't that take up a lot of space on your hard drive, if you wanted to 'save' a lot of Sporting News pages? You must have had a lot of hard drive.

Not really Bill, I have probably a couple of hundred articles or more from the news archives at Proquest. After I save the article I go though ADOBE 3.0 and reduce it in size, you can make it as small as you want and still display it on the screen.

I also have some entire pages from some newspapers, cut them down to size at ADOBE, they take very little space on the hard drive or if saved on a CD.

Quick example, had one CD with 10 folders containing 668 files, big in space size 226 MB, went through the whole CD, to ADOBE reduced the many articles and cut it down to 102 MB. This took some time, lots of time.

That was the hard way, learned my lesson, now I reduce the individual article before I put it in the folder.

[Brian McKenna]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather get greater access to Sporting Life than Sporting News.

[Beady]

Well, you know, the LA 1984 Foundation site has Sporting Life, along with other resources that may or may not be of interest, and they are quietly adding to their SL material all the time. They now have up nearly all the years from 1885 to 1898 and 1904 to 1917. The search engine is not the easiest to use, but it's a great resource.

I'm not familiar with SL much past 1890, but in its early years it's a great paper, far superior to TSN.

[Brian McKenna]

Well, you know, the LA 1984 Foundation site has Sporting Life, along with other resources that may or may not be of interest, and they are quietly adding to their SL material all the time. They now have up nearly all the years from 1885 to 1898 and 1904 to 1917. The search engine is not the easiest to use, but it's a great resource.

I'm not familiar with SL much past 1890, but in its early years it's a great paper, far superior to TSN.

I use that all the time - great source.

[Bill Burgess]

I subscribed to VitalWorldRecods.com about an hour ago. I went to Sporting News and put an icon on my desk top.

I did use the search engine feature and found that it was very accurate, and it isn't limited to any increment of time, as it used to be. So, that's a mercy.

But once I clicked onto 'more details', and it took me to the designated page, I find that it has no high-lighter. The supposed high-lighter at the top, which says 'Find', doesn't work, at all. I put in my search object into its search window, and it just doesn't work.

Tomorrow, I shall call their customer service at 888-377-0588. I hope they can explain this to me, and maybe I just don't know the secrets to their software. One can always hope, pray and dream. Wish me luck.

I will give a detailed report tomorrow as to my encounter with their customer service. Say a prayer for me. I'll need it.

[TigerNation]

nice, thanks for the headsup.

[Brian McKenna]

I did use the search engine feature and found that it was very accurate,



You must have searched a later date. The early ones are a hit or miss - mostly miss - computer can't read them.

[Bill Burgess]

You must have searched a later date. The early ones are a hit or miss - mostly miss - computer can't read them.
Wow, how right can you be! I had searched in the 30's. I just tried to search the early stuff and you're right. The software can't read the blurred text.

I searched Tim Murnane and it started in the 20's, long after he died in 1917.
I searched Cap Anson and it started in 1919.

Both Cobb and Babe Ruth are terrible too. Man, did I speak too soon.

[TonyK]

Wow, how right can you be! I had searched in the 30's. I just tried to search the early stuff and you're right. The software can't read the blurred text.

I searched Tim Murnane and it started in the 20's, long after he died in 1917.
I searched Cap Anson and it started in 1919.

Both Cobb and Babe Ruth are terrible too. Man, did I speak too soon.

As a dancer you're supposed to know you gotta walk the walk before you can talk the talk. :laugh

[Bill Burgess]

Yeah, right. Think I'll limp the limp.

Today, I called them up and spoke with a very nice young lady. I gave her my 3 main concerns.

1. The hi-lighter is disabled on the pages.
2. The list of coded pages is useless.
3. They need to create an advanced search engine for Sporting News. So we can limit our searches to a given time period. And we should also be able to use multiple keywords in order to better triangulate our searches. Better filtering.

She told me that she will forward my 3 items to their tech team.

One thing I hadn't thought of, which today proved helpful, was to use their overall search engine. I found some dates of birth/death for my sports writers today using their main advanced search engine. Not TSN search engine but the overall site search engine.

[CandlestickBum]

There are tools out there to download all of the content of a website.
Not sure of the legal or ethical issues, but the ability is there for someone to subscribe for one month and at the end of the month have all the content on their local drive.

[Bill Burgess]

I have been using this website quite extensively the last couple of days. One of the pleasant things I've discovered is their general search.

1. Scroll to the top of their home page.
2. Click onto the word 'Search'.

This search engine is extremely good. At first, I thought it might be what is called a 'Deep Search' of the invisible web.

I called them and chatted with a very nice young lady. She informed me that they didn't have a 'Deep Search', and that they simply had many relationships with private companies.

They have the google-books, which allows one to browse thousands of books, page by page, including photos.

This is an amazing search engine, folks. One that far exceeds baseball for research purposes. Just thought you guys would want to know, for your baseball research and non-baseball research as well.

[Bill Burgess]

Has very many people subscribed? I have. So far, TonyK and Brian McKenna have indicated that they signed up.

[Beady]

I have a pretty high resistance factor to anything that requires me to make regular payments, and I am already paying for one genealogical source, so I haven't done this. Forty dollars a year is pretty cheap, though, and I would like to have access to TSN, so I might do it yet.

I am highly interested in the early stuff, so the search problems are a negative, though. And I've seen enough of these things come and go by now that I have a hunch this one will either disappear or the price will go up radically.

[AstrosFan]

Great news! SABR members now have access to Paper of Record! Just log in, go to Research Tools, click on Paper of Record, and then have fun digging into the past.

[Brian McKenna]

Great news! SABR members now have access to Paper of Record! Just log in, go to Research Tools, click on Paper of Record, and then have fun digging into the past.

I tried it and it said that I've overreached my quota for the day. There is a 250 page quota per day but I couldn't even pull up one page. I guess the 250 page limit pertains to all SABR members total. Good luck with that.

[AstrosFan]

I tried it and it said that I've overreached my quota for the day. There is a 250 page quota per day but I couldn't even pull up one page. I guess the 250 page limit pertains to all SABR members total. Good luck with that.

I haven't had that problem yet.

[Bill Burgess]

One problem I have with World Vital Records is that they have no way to go to a particular date or page.

You can only put in a name and keyword. They have a LOOOOONNNG way to go to serve a researcher's needs.

Can the SABR site access by date?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I don't understand why The Sporting News doesn't have an archive section on its website? Shoot, I'd pay a small fee to use it.

[Brian McKenna]

SABR is reporting:


IMPORTANT:Access to the new Paper of Record Sporting News archive is currently disabled due to a technical problem with the provider. The SABR Office is working with the provider to get the problem fixed, and we apologize for the difficulty.

Seems the little snafu will be fixed shortly.

[AstrosFan]

One problem I have with World Vital Records is that they have no way to go to a particular date or page.

You can only put in a name and keyword. They have a LOOOOONNNG way to go to serve a researcher's needs.

Can the SABR site access by date?

SABR takes you to Paper of Record through World Vital Records. When I searched a couple of things as a trial, I was able to use the advanced search to establish a date range, by setting the start date and the number of days/weeks/months/years (limit five years) I wanted to cover. So finding a particular date should just be a matter of narrowing it down to a minimum range.

[Bill Burgess]

SABR takes you to Paper of Record through World Vital Records. When I searched a couple of things as a trial, I was able to use the advanced search to establish a date range, by setting the start date and the number of days/weeks/months/years (limit five years) I wanted to cover. So finding a particular date should just be a matter of narrowing it down to a minimum range.
One is unable to select a date and then go directly to it.

In the old days, when SABR had it, one could do that, and scroll to any page in an issue via a dropdown menu of pages. This version is completely inadequate. They need to do a huge amount of work on it to make it adequate. I have told them and so should everyone else. We need to keep the pressure on them.

They also need to enable the feature that highlights the word in a search. They have yet to do that, although I've told them on 2 occasions that they need to work to correct that.

[Brian McKenna]

This is indeed good news. It is what it is, at least there is free access with membership. It is true that TSN is of poor quality in its current availability - the poorest I've seen on any site with any publication. The search is essentially worthless for the publication's first few decades. Thankfully, the Sporting Life is available during much of this timeframe at LA84 Foundation.

Membership in SABR is well worth it in my opinion. Regaining access to The Sporting News only makes it more valuable. Considering that it's renewal time, this especially makes it a no-brainer.

[Bill Burgess]

This is indeed good news. It is what it is, at least there is free access with membership. It is true that TSN is of poor quality in its current availability - the poorest I've seen on any site with any publication. The search is essentially worthless for the publication's first few decades. Thankfully, the Sporting Life is available during much of this timeframe at LA84 Foundation.

Membership in SABR is well worth it in my opinion. Regaining access to The Sporting News only makes it more valuable. Considering that it's renewal time, this especially makes it a no-brainer.
Despite my incessant bitching and railing about the flaws in TSN, I quite concur with Brian. It's great to have it back on our tool-belts.

A researcher is only as good as his tools, and the 2 absolutely essential, must-have tools of every baseball researcher worth his salt are:
1. The Sporting News
2. Proquest.

And I must also add ancestry.com as a wonderful essential research tool and resource. And I might even add The Sporting Life to the collection, too. Baseball Magazine, too.

[SABRSusan]

Membership in SABR is well worth it in my opinion. Regaining access to The Sporting News only makes it more valuable. Considering that it's renewal time, this especially makes it a no-brainer.
Quoted for emphasis. :)

And we apologize for the glitch. The volume issue was something we couldn't test from our office. All I know is that people are trying to fix it. We'll let you know as soon as it is.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Despite my incessant bitching and railing about the flaws in TSN, I quite concur with Brian. It's great to have it back on our tool-belts.

A researcher is only as good as his tools, and the 2 absolutely, essential, must-have tools of every baseball researcher worth his salt are:
1. The Sporting News
2. Proquest.
And I must also add ancestry.com as a wonderful essential research tool and resource. And I might even add The Sporting Life to the collection, too. Baseball Magazine, too.

For sure, can't live without this one, one of the best tools.
The most accurate source there is.
When it comes to the game of baseball (or other sports) you get the write up the day it took place or day after it takes place. Not subject to exaggeration over the years, not subject to faulty recollection, not hand me down stories over years, the event just as it happened.
Access to a number of major newspapers including some black newspapers, magazines, too many sources to mention.
Mid Continent Library features Proquest and other sources of info, not only sports, a steal at 20 bucks a year.

[Beady]

The page quota problem has been fixed, it's searchable again and they now have the search terms highlighted. The searches remain very clunky and still don't seem to produce any results before approximately 1920.