National Geographic Magazine, November 2015, Vol. 228, Issue 5.

Now that we are well into April, a month that includes Earth Day and Earth Week, it might be a good time to check out a new Falvey resource, the National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-2015. The magazine has been a source of cultural, geographical, historical, scientific information and exemplary photography for over 120 years. As you read or browse, also consider the bravery of the photographers behind some of the imagery.

The archive features a fully searchable and browsable digital archive of the iconic magazine, including the ability to limit searches by date, map supplements, place names, magazine covers, feature articles, brief articles, images and a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books.

Researchers can also choose to graph either the frequency of a search term (the number of documents per year) or the popularity of a search term (the percent of the total documents each year).

When National Geographic magazine debuted in 1888, it reflected the interests of its small, mostly professional readership. The focus then was on scholarly articles such as “Geographic Methods in Geologic Investigation” and less on photos between its conservative brown covers. Today National Geographic remains relevant as a name in exploration, discovery and travel. So, discover for yourself why the archive has something for everyone.

• Find the magazine archive in the Falvey Library’s Databases A-Z list.
• Current articles are searchable in the Library’s subscription: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO).

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.