Research Help in Another City - Atlanta Crime Edition

February 7, 2014 8:44 AM

I recently discovered the identity of a long lost relative who is deceased. Apparently he was in and out of prison his whole life for serious crimes. This was in the Atlanta area from the late 50s thru the 80s. Is there any kind of service available that could search local newspapers for articles about his arrests or trials?

I live 2500 miles away and so i was thinking itd be easier to find a local who could search for me, but for the life of me I have no idea what this service would be called. Any info on how expensive it would be is also appreciated.

posted by hamsterdam to Education (7 answers total)

There are a few databases (Nexis, Factiva, NewsEdge) that have full-text articles from thousands of newspapers, often going back several decades. Check with your local public library (or academic library if you have access to one); many libraries make one or more of those databases available to their users.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:11 AM on February 7, 2014

If the archives aren't online, you could post this on Metafilter Jobs. There are so many librarians and other researchers here. I bet you can find someone who will take this on and likely have suggestions for additional avenues to pursue. If it doesn't pan out, MeMail me and I will refer you to a friend who is an information broker.
posted by Wordwoman at 9:17 AM on February 7, 2014

Perhaps a professional genealogist?
posted by lharmon at 9:51 AM on February 7, 2014

ProQuest.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:52 AM on February 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Forgot to add, the major Atlanta newspapers of the time (The Journal and the Constitution) are not available for the relevant years via ProQuest as far as I can tell. So I'm pretty sure this is an on-the-ground type situation.
posted by hamsterdam at 10:26 AM on February 7, 2014

Here's a list of libraries that have the Atlanta Journal-Constitution microfilm. It comes from the AJC, so may not be comprehensive. You could also check WorldCat. Historic archives for the paper are online here, but unfortunately there isn't online coverage for the time period that you are most interested in.
posted by Wordwoman at 10:50 AM on February 7, 2014

You may want to contact the reference librarians at the Atlanta public library system - they may be able to refer to you a researcher or a company who could handle your request.
posted by rdnnyc at 11:10 AM on February 7, 2014 [1 favorite]