When you are doing research, you know there are lots of resources the Campus Library provides. But there are many other resources available, and vendors sometimes offer free trials. Such is the case for a new video database, Meet the Press. And we want your feedback on if it would be useful for your research.
Alexander Street Press – supplier of many of our best video databases – has produced Meet the Press, a video archive of over 1500 hours of the television show of the same name, which has been a seminal news source since 1947. It’s great for historical research – and numerous central figures in American history have appeared on the program, from Martin Luther King to Fidel Castro, as well as every single president since Kennedy. Hearing their words, from their own mouths, can deepen and enrich any historical research.
But it’s good for understanding social trends, too. Want to see how the news depictions of major social issues like abortion or race relations evolved? Compare and contrast videos from different decades. Meet the Press can support topics in history, political science, sociology, and economics. It’s friendly to mobile devices, too, so you can even watch videos on your phone (in HD quality!). And like most Alexander Street Press videos, they include synchronous scrolling transcripts on the right side of the screen so you can follow along – or click on a sentence to jump the video right to that point!
Meet the Press is available for trial from now through February 10th. Check it out and let us know what you think of it at iueref@iue.edu – your input will help us provide resources useful to your research.