Education Manager of the “New York Times” Todd Halverson gave an in-depth explanation of the NYTimes.com database and its use as an academic resource during a presentation at Los Medanos College in L-109 Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The presentation began with an introduction from Electronic Resources Librarian and Department Chair Kim Wentworth.
With a plan to launch in January, LMC students, staff and faculty will soon have full access to the New York Times as a part of an institutional subscription through NYTimes.com.
As a part of the Academic Site License program, students and staff will be provided with an annual subscription to the publication.
“We have 1.4 million students and faculty and staff on our Academic Site License program,” said Halversen. “We just started in April of 2015.”
The program has been used at other schools in order to provide students an online academic resource that is less expensive than textbooks and is updated on a regular basis.
After the account has been set up, it can be accessed anywhere online or through smartphone apps. This can also allow students to set alerts and to track specific keywords.
Saint Mary’s College was the first college in California to sign up for the Academic Site License program.
A short video was shown entitled, “The New York Times: Because The World Has A Lot To Teach.” It showed the uses of the New York Times as an academic resource such as its ability to provide students with the opportunity to join the global conversation and its wide range of topics to choose from.
In the comments section, students will have the opportunity to be picked specifically by the New York Times as a part of the featured comments.
“Thinking critically and creatively, that’s really the basis for the New York Times since we started as an actual department back in 1932,” said Halversen
Although the New York Times currently ranges anywhere from a 9th to 10th grade reading level, the new stand alone academic resource New York Times in Education allows educators to access the site and provide course material at the appropriate college level. It also provides teachers with prompts and exercises for the students.
“The New York Times does a great job providing source material that really supports your learning outcomes,” said Halversen.
The New York Times is available in a variety of languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French. It also is broken down into different versions of the site such as International or U.S.
Newspapers that have been digitalized as far back as 1907 are also available.
“We also have a resource called the New York Times in Leadership that is going to provide you with curricular material and reference material to help build effective leaders that think ethically,” said Halversen
Prior to the academic license, students, staff and faculty can view and share up to 10 articles per month before being asked to subscribe to the website.