Disk
Format:
On CD-ROMs or DVDs; usable only when installed on an individual computer.
Examples:
Le Monde sur CD-ROM, the Pennsylvania Gazette, Civil War Newspapers, 19th Century African-American Newspapers. Plain text.
The Electronic Text Center is closed, but information on the availability of CD-ROMs formerly located there is in the Databases in the Electronic Text Center LibGuide. (Note that the Pennsylvania Gazette, Civil War Newspapers, and 19th Century African-American Newspapers databases are available online through Accessible Archives.)
Content:
Selected runs of a one or a few newspaper titles with a common theme. Newspapers of historical interest: U.S. Civil War titles from the North and South, abolitionist titles.
Pros:
Requires very little storage space. Full text is searchable.
Cons:
Limited content and time period covered; transitional medium.
Access rating:
Fair.
Preservation rating:
Uncertain, but probably poor. Usable life of disks unknown. Software changes and online availability render this medium obsolete.
Notes:
Specialized use as a searchable language corpus: a snapshot of the language in a given context at a given time.