LexisNexis has long been one of the best research tools for journalists, enabling reporters to instantly search billions of documents from tens of thousands of sources, from newspapers and trade journals to public records.
Today, LexisNexis is launching a new news search service, LexisNexis AlaCarte!, that will make it easy for anyone to search for free and retrieve content for small fees on an as-needed basis. This pay-as-you-go option is perfect for people who don’t have a need for — or can’t afford — the flat-rate LexisNexis plans.
LexisNexis AlaCarte! (http://AlaCarte.LexisNexis.com) provides users access to more than 3.8 billion documents from over 20,000 sources of news, public records, and government information, including top newspapers, magazines, and transcripts, company and industry reports, deed records, liens, zip demographics, state and federal legislation, and intellectual property. The information goes as far back as 1968.
The site also offers a Hot Topic button that allows users to search on related topics, such as the Iraq war or terrorism. LexisNexis says users will also get access to more legal information starting next year.
The new site is very user-friendly. Simply enter your keywords and search. The advanced search page makes it easy to search for articles about an individual or company, to select a range of dates, or to narrow your search in a number of other ways.
You can search for headlines in the massive database for free. In some cases, you may be able to go to the individual publication’s website and find the same story for free, so if you have time and no expense account, it’s probably worth trying.
If you want to purchase the full text of a story, you’re charged $3 per document and that gives you access to the story for 90 days. You can print and download the stories once you’ve bought them.
So when should you use this great new service? In general, start your research by searching Google to get as much free information as you can. But when it’s time to dig in deeper to see what’s been written about a topic or person or to track down hard-to-find details, LexisNexis AlaCarte! is a great option.
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