Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey  Tags: chicago_history chicago newspapers history  

If you want to search for particular words in CFLPS, it can be done but will require a different procedure than you may be used to.  Because it is impossible to search across the whole collection, you must open each individual file (for example, German, vol. 1 or Italian, vol. 2 or German, vol. 3) and search for the word there.

Follow these steps go get good results:

1.  Go to the Internet archive (through this link) to see a selection of volumes.  They will not be in particular alphabetical order, but it is possible to choose one at a time and search.  The page will look something like this:

2.  Within the Internet Archive record, it is possible to download the file as a .pdf, in Acrobat Reader or a similar program

3.  Once you have opened this file, press Control-F (or function-F in Macs) and search for the word.  If matches are found, they will be highlighted.

4.  If you want to try the same search, for other files (even different ones from the same language), you will need to start again with step #2.

Just as in any set of primary sources, users need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of this selection. 

It is best at  telling us about the particular concerns of ethnic communities, what information was important to the U.S. Government, and the priorities of the Chicago school of sociology.  There is an emphasis on communities from Eastern and Southern Europe,  with less information about those from other parts of the world.

Researchers should also understand that the translations in CFLPS were done years or even decades after the publication of the original articles.  Translations, often done by people within the neighborhoods and groups that were described, may have been biased to reflect well on those communities.

Do you want to test out your search strategies?  The way to get to the digital files of the CFPLS is by clicking on this link.

A general introduction to the CFLPS can be found at this link.