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Back issue trade magazines online?
posted by
ThomasRossi007
on
February 10, 2010 at 10:35 am
Aside from issuu.com, what other websites have back issues of exhibition magazines online please? And how do you access all issues of Boxoffice magazine in issuu.com?
When searching, it only shows 3 pages of back issues, yet on this site, many others have been posted such as the issue with the former Paramus, Route 4 Theater. How do you access all Boxoffice back issues on Issuu.com please?
Comments (2)
Try this on Google-boxoffice July 1949. The issue should come up as a link. Most dates will work.
Okay… The best bits can be found in the ‘Modern Theater’ section of Boxoffice. This section usually popped up in the third week of the month and is where some of the best pictures of long gone theaters come from. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in other weeks (names of managers, theater announcements, sales, etc), but I think this crowd is looking for pictures and write-ups (as they should be).
Some observations:
Navigation stinks. The ‘Back’ button just takes you to the first page of magazines. You have to manipulate the address bar to get anywhere once you click on an issue.
The years are not in order. If you want to go to one week, you may have to manipulate the address bar to zero in on a particular week. Unfortunately, not all issues are one issu. I’ve found a few months that are just unreachable (are they even there?).
The search function (magnifying glass icon) is indispensable. You’ll get nowhere if you ignore it. That said, it only responds to one word at a time. You can’t search for “Las Vegas,” but “Vegas” will get you what you something.
I love that there are box office stats for various cities, but not all theaters are covered. It’s great reading what was playing in certain Seattle theaters one week, but I know there were other- prominent theaters also operating at the time. Why were some included and others not?
The same goes for cities. I love reading about Seattle and LA. But there’s nothing about San Diego. Boo.
There’s no way to open an issue with tabs. You click on an issue and then you can only click back… to the original page. You search through a dozen or so pages for one issue has to begin again.
There’s also no way to capture pages or save pictures. I mean, is some of this under copyright? Most of the stuff we’re interested has been torn down. Enforcing some kind of ephemeral ownership seems miserly and undeservedly angry at us. Dick move.
There’s no index and no way of knowing where ANYTHING is without going through. Every. Single. Issue. Interested in a theater in Denver? Be prepared to look. A lot.
Finally, I’m glad we’ve got something, but exploring these issues through issu is labor-intensive. There’s a lot of work to be done to make the site really fulfill its potential.