Times revises free access offer: questions raised about the role of database purchases.(lj news)(Brief article)

The New York Times last month revised its offer to give students free access to archived articles in TimesSelect, instead limiting access to institutions that already subscribe to databases carrying the Times, such as ProQuest or LexisNexis.

"The issue is that we have limited resources," explains Barbara Fister, librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, who raised questions to ProQuest. "We can't afford to buy a boutique version of something that's available in a clunky-but-free version when there are so many other things we should buy that aren't available except through purchase or subscription."

Fister said she called ProQuest after the deal …