Dire predictions about the demise of the book at the hands of the internet have thankfully proven premature. Since the computerization of America began in earnest, the number of books and periodicals published every year continues to grow rather than shrink. We are still a print-based culture in some fundamental ways.

For you, the reader, this is good news, because Buffalo continues to be the beneficiary of quality writing and publishing. This month’s column introduces you to a few websites that will help you explore Buffalo in print.

http://www.buffalocam.com/buffalo_related_literature.htm
Buffalo-Related Literature and Buffalonian Authors
Though this columnist generally avoids commercial websites, she is making an exception in this case. This page is provided as a public service by the law firm of Sacks & Kolken and is free of intrusive advertising for their legal services. Though it is slow-loading at average dial-in modem speeds, it is worth the wait. You will find a lengthy, mostly random list of books about Buffalo or by authors with a connection to Buffalo. Most book titles are accompanied by a summary and an illustration of the book cover. Do not be misled by the links to a well-known online bookselling website. They imply that these books can be acquired only by ordering online. Rest assured that they are also available through local bookstores, who need your business more than any distant dot.com. The typography and layout is inconsistent and publication dates have been omitted, though almost everything here was published in the last 25 years.

But the offerings cover all the bases: recreational guides; architectural guides; restaurant guides; Buffalo-themed novels; sociology; ethnic histories; sports biographies, institutional histories, cookbooks, and more. At the bottom is a bonus section of motion pictures filmed in Buffalo. If you would like to peruse a Buffalo book before purchasing it, chances are good that the Central Library owns every book shown here.

http://www.wnylrc.org/wnyindex/index.html
Western New York Index
Ever have the aggravating experience of remembering a significant Buffalo News article from 20 years ago and knowing that you never clipped it and saved it? I wish I could announce that the News has digitized their entire century-plus backfile of pre-computer newspapers, but that isn’t the case. Instead, there is a free online newspaper index to a small portion of these pre-computer newspapers: 1983-1996. During those years, librarians at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library created a pioneering digital index of newspaper articles. Search the Index by subject key words or by personal names and it just might supply a list of relevant articles.

Note that there is NO full-text here; that’d be a huge copyright violation and was beyond the computer capabilities of 1983 when this database was launched. But armed with the exact headline, date, and page number, you can visit a library and copy from the originals. The beauty of this index is that it isn’t limited to the Buffalo News, it also includes citations from Buffalo Spree, Business First, and the Western New York Genealogical Society Journal. Be sure to click on “Source Material” to learn more about which periodicals were indexed and which area libraries own them.

http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/nys/index.html
New York State Historical Literature Collection
For those who seek online, digitized books about Buffalo, it takes some patience but you will find many 19th and early 20th century publications concerning Buffalo (and other places in New York State) here in full text. Because there is no search capability yet, you are limited to browsing around 500 books in alphabetical lists sorted by author or title. Even I do not know the full extent of the Buffalo content, though I saw William Hodge’s “Buffalo Cemeteries,” “Buffalo Past and Present” (1912), and others on the list of titles beginning with B. To read a book of interest, click on it and you’ll see a simple navigation window on the left side. You can choose among four image sizes, and click on “Next” or “Previous” to turn the page. You can also go to a specific page number. Page scans, including any blank pages in the original volume, will appear in the right window. If you’re pleased by this generous digitization project at Cornell University, be sure to send fan mail.