Media History Digital Library

Welcome to the Media History Digital Library "We are a non-profit initiative dedicated to digitizing
collections of classic media periodicals that belong in the public domain for full public access. The project is supported by owners of materials who loan them for scanning, and donors who contribute funds to cover the cost of scanning. We have currently scanned over 800,000 pages, and that number is growing."

Online Access to the Histories of Cinema, Broadcasting and Sound.
"This archive mediahistoryproject.org/ preserves in a digital format classic media periodicals that are in the public domain. Various contributors have supplied the issues for this project, which is funded by major sponsorships and individual donations. Over 400,000 pages have been scanned so far. One may read articles on the website or freely download them to a personal device. Eleven serials have extensive runs (five years or more), and more than 100 others have scattered holdings. The earliest content is from 1903 issues of the New York Clipper, and the most recent is a 1995 report; however, the majority of the periodical runs cover the 1920s/1930s. In addition to appearing in one complete list, the magazine and trade titles are sorted into nine collections: Hollywood Studio System, Fan Magazine, Early Cinema, Year Book, Broadcasting, Non-Theatrical Film, Technical Journals, Global Cinema, and Government and Law. The latter collection features a small but intriguing assortment of reports, with titles including Censorship, and Communism and the Blacklist.

Minor complaints include the clunky searching capability and occasional loss of pictures and texts due to damaged copies having been

digitized. These should not discourage use. Whether scanning through the various tabloid movie magazines (e.g., Motion Picture Classic and Photoplay) or trade serials (e.g., Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers and The Radio Annual), one is actually learning about the history of the film industry and the evolution of the television industry at the expense of radio. In addition to cinema connoisseurs, students in such fields as marketing, design, or fashion will find these periodicals educational and entertaining. Using this website is so much easier than using microforms. One hopes the creators of this database will continue to receive the funds to expand its holdings. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general audience. -- J. A. Badics, Eastern Michigan University." Reviewed in August  2013 issue of ACRL's  CHOICE