Gale To Digitize Decades Of Associated Press News

FARMINGTON -- The research and reference resource publisher Gale Monday  announced an agreement with the Associated Press to digitize the AP's corporate archives.

Included will be millions of pages of news copy -- some never-before published -- along with bureau records, correspondence, the personal papers of reporters and more.

This agreement follows on the large-scale partnerships Gale has signed with the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.

Said Frank Menchaca, executive vice president, research solutions, Cengage Learning: "Together we will provide users and customers an opportunity to access and analyze the archival materials that will reveal how news, public opinion, and history are constructed and shaped."

This agreement covers a variety of materials and includes content that has never been published. Covered under the agreement are the notes and observations of AP journalists, potentially giving widely reported events a new perspective, while also providing valuable insight into the stories that were not reported. In addition, the agreement encompasses records from dozens of United States and foreign bureaus, and special collections such as photographs, manuscripts, sound recordings and oral histories. 

"The Associated Press has been reporting the news since 1846; with Gale's expertise, AP can make its own historical record more widely available to the research community," said Valerie Komor, director of the AP corporate archives. 

Throughout the course of this multi-year project, Gale will work with an advisory board of professors and subject matter experts to guide the development of the digital products, with the first products available within the next year. The products will be a valuable asset for academic libraries, including students and faculty in journalism and history, as well as high school and public libraries, and will offer opportunities for new research angles on popular topics.

For more information on this partnership or to request an interview with a Gale spokesperson, please contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com.

For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.