Last month the Gale Group/PSIMedia notified me that they would no longer
support their subscription-based "City Directories Online".  This digitized
collection of city directories, although not as well processed as those on
Ancestry.com, was notable for its scope.  (For those who not familiar with
digitized city directories, they permit the researcher to sort directory
entries by keyword: "stable", "West 11th", "Jones" or "stable", for example.)
 The Gale letter made no mention of transfer of the source to a non-profit
operator.

Although the non-commercial online resources - like the Library of Congress'
"American Memory" - seem perfectly secure, everytime I use subscription
services like Poole's Plus, Ancestry.com and Historic Newspapers Online, I
wonder about their profitability.

Christopher Gray
"Streetscapes" Columnist, Sunday Real Estate Section
The New York Times
office:  246 West 80th Street
New York City   10024
voice:  212-799-0520
fax:     212-799-0542
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