For those who may have missed the announcement, the NYPL is in the process of digitizing their trade periodicals. To date, perhaps their most valuable database is a complete run of BILLBOARD.
While never as film-centric as some other trades, it was certainly as big a player as VARIETY, especially where live performance is concerned (in the 1940s, BILLBOARD sponsored the Donaldson Awards, a sort of pre-cursor to the Tonys.)
Great as this news is, there are a few "buyer beware" warnings I should I note:
1) BB is already available online from other sources for the years 1896-1922 and 1942-present. It's that pesky 19 year hole in the run that's the service only available within the NYPL.
2) I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to print out the articles I wanted. I felt better when the librarian I sought out for assistance couldn't get it to print either. My previous experience with their Proquest databases - which also administers this media periodicals collection - have been fine. Perhaps there is some fine-tuning that need to happen to get this in-house database to work within the Proquest universe, or perhaps NYPL wants or needs to keep a tighter lid on this copyrighted material. In any event, I was able to print out the search results and will use them to run through the BB we have on microfilm in Atlanta.
BILLBOARD - digitized at NYPL
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