Torstar Syndication Services and Micromedia ProQuest have joined together to offer Toronto Star - Pages of the Past, the fully digitized and searchable online database of the Toronto Star newspaper since 1894.

Toronto Star - Pages of the Past includes every page of every newspaper over the years—the editorial and opinion articles, business pages, photos, advertisements, classified ads, political cartoons, obituaries, birth and marriage notices—all in addition to the news that shaped each day.

It offers a unique perspective on the history of Canada and the world around it. The extensive archive includes over 30,000 complete issues dating back to January 2, 1894—over 2.0 million pages! There is a two-year plus current year embargo on the newspaper’s current content.

Toronto Star - Pages of the Past is certain to be a valuable resource in any library. This product will be of great interest to researchers, trend analysts, historians, government officials, genealogists, librarians, educators, and students.

The user-friendly format makes it one of the most convenient research tools available anywhere. To retrieve information, users can either browse issues by date, or search the database by keyword(s) or phrase, as limited by date. Researchers can also search by page subject or conduct a Boolean search.

To expedite search time, results are limited to five-year, or shorter, user-defined intervals. A detailed and easy-to-use results list allows you to quickly navigate pages of interest. Users simply select a page link to view their selection in a downloadable Adobe^® PDF format.

Each page was rendered searchable through optical character recognition (OCR) software. Search mechanisms highlight search terms within the text of each newspaper page, making results easier to spot. Simple image modification and navigation tools allow you to prepare and present information in various formats. Additionally, usage reports and statistics applications are available to administrators to help monitor and assess product value.