The Customer Service staff of The Richmond Times-Dispatch online archive wants to help make your searching as trouble-free as possible. To ensure your continued satisfaction with The Richmond Times-Dispatch online archive, we offer the following answers to some of the most commonly asked questions:

• What is available in the archive?
  
  
• What is not contained in the archive?
  
  
• Where is the photo/illustration/chart?
  
  
• How do I purchase articles online?
  
  
• What forms of payment are accepted for purchasing articles?
  
  
• What is your refund policy?
  
  
• What is ProQuest Archiver (PQA)?
  
  
• How do I order back issues of Richmond Times-Dispatch?
  
  
• How do I get reprints of an article that appeared in Richmond Times-Dispatch?
  
  
• How do I get reprints of a photo that appeared in Richmond Times-Dispatch?
  
  
• How do I get better search results?
  
  
• What part of the article is actually searched for my search term?
  
  
• How do I browse articles that appeared on one specific day?
  
  
• What if I can't find my article?
  
  
• How do I find an obituary?
  
  
• I'm having trouble finding an article. Do you have search assistance?
  
  
• How do I request a subscription to the print edition of The Richmond Times-Dispatch?
  
  
• Why do I have to pay to read articles online?
  
  
• Why do you want my complete address?
  
  
• What about privacy issues?
  
  
• What do I do if I've forgotten my password?
  
  
• What formats are available for viewing an article?
  
  
• How can I get help for a technical problem (or ask about an error message that I don't understand)?
  
  
• How do I cancel my account?
  
  
• How can I ask a question about the billing of my account?
  
  
• What if I have a question that cannot be answered by the Frequently Asked Questions?
  
  

The Archive includes text of newspaper articles from the Richmond Times-Dispatch dating as far back as 1985. Articles written by the Richmond Times-Dispatch staff and other selected articles are usually available within 72 hours after publication.

Articles prior to are not yet available online. Articles from freelance writers, The Associated Press, and other wire services are not included in the Archives.
The Archives do not include:

• Advertising
• Syndicated advice columnists
• Legal Notices
• Real Estate Listings
• Birth Announcements
• Engagement/Wedding announcements
• Sports Statistics
• Stock Listings
• Weather Pages
• Comics
• Photographs or Graphics

Only text is included in the current archives 1985 - present. Photos, charts, illustrations and other graphics are not included. Please see What is not contained in the archives? for more information.

Advice for new users: After you do a search, a screen will come up with the results of that search. You may view a summary of the document for free. Once you determine which document you would like to view, click on the icon with the '$'. If you are a new user, you will be taken to a pricing page, where you can choose the plan to purchase. After deciding which plan best fits your needs, you will be taken through the purchase experience. After confirming your purchase, the full text of the document will be displayed.

You may choose to print the document or save it for your personal review later on. Since you have access to this document for 90 days, you may complete the same search and retrieve the document again during this time period.

Accepted forms of payment for purchasing articles:

(Billed by ProQuest Archiver)

Customers may submit an online refund request within two hours of purchase. ProQuest will refund the full purchase price provided the customer provides an explanation of why he/she is dissatisfied with the quality of the content delivered. If more than two hours has passed, customers may contact ProQuest Customer Service by email to request a refund at mypqabilling@pqarchiver.com.

Refunds for passes will be pro-rated based upon duration since purchase and usage.

No refunds can be given more than 60 days following the original purchase date.

ProQuest Archiver is an e-commerce platform for publishers to distribute their content on the Web. Visit myPQA to learn more.

Back issues are available for the last 30 days only. To order, please call 804-649-6261.
NOTE: All back issues are subject to availability.

For material that predates the online archive, interested parties may contact the news library's help line (804-649-6224).

Photos are available for purchase.
If you wish to purchase a photo that ran in the paper, call 804-649-6285.
NOTE: All photo reprints are subject to availability.

Be specific with your search terms. If your search is unsuccessful, refine your search terms. To narrow your search, use the advanced search page to fill in date range, author, headline, or subject fields. The more information you provide, the more precise your search results will be. To get more results, select different search words or a longer date range.

Using AND narrows the search, using OR broadens the search, and using NOT excludes unwanted items. The NOT operator is useful in refining an initial query that returns a broad list of results. WITHIN and ADJ controls how close your search terms must be to one another. ADJ also checks that words found are in the same order as in your search expression. For more detail, visit Search Tips.

The basic search includes the full text of the entire article, as well as text from the headline, author field, date range, subject terms, etc. For more detail on getting good search results, visit Search Tips.

On the advanced search page, use the date range option to select the specific date, insert a "*" into the "Search for" field, and click the search button.

Please review the Search Tips for helpful information, as well as How do I get better search results?. Unfortunately, ProQuest Archiver is unable to provide research assistance for the archives. However, more information is available here.

**Deaths and Paid Death Notices - past 7 days
Go this this site: http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/LegacyHome.asp
This page contains links to the area deaths. Scroll down the list to the date and find the obit you wish to view.

**Deaths and Paid Death Notices - to approximately 7 days after publication
1. Go to http://www.archivesva.com/
2. Type in obituaries and/or the last name of the deceased as your search text.
3. Click on the "Date Range" option and enter the date range
The search result will list the death notices and paid death notices for the days you entered.

The Paid Death Notices will list the deceased's name in the listing. Click on the title and view the document.

The Death Notices are listed as "Deaths" and the listing will include a person's name. That is only the first name listed in that day's death notices. Click on the title and view the document. Scroll down the article until you find the name you put in the search box.

For articles that pre-date or services that go beyond the Archive, please contact the Richmond-Times Dispatch Library Staff. They have microfilm records dating back to 1852, however, there is no index prior to 1930.

A simple request for one article requiring no more than 10 minutes of a researcher's time will be free of charge except for copying (if applicable). Any additional time will be billed at a rate of $1.00 per minute, plus copying. You will be notified in advance if the research is likely to result in charges and will be given an estimate before any costs are incurred. You will then be asked how you wish to pay.

Requests for research will be handled as quickly as possible on a first-come, first-served basis, but we can make no guarantees on how long any particular research might take. Their goal is to fill each request within two workingdays, but that will be determined by the volume of requests.

Order a Library Archive Search online: archive@timesdispatch.com

Send snail mail to:

Richmond Times-Dispatch Research Library
333 East Franklin Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Call or fax:
Telephone: (804) 649-6224
Fax: (804) 775-8059

Subscribe to The Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Richmond Times-Dispatch offers articles back to (text only) online as part of our website: http://www.timesdispatch.com/. You can search for free on any topic, author, or date, but there is a small fee charged to access the full article and print it out. The main purpose of the archive is to provide an additional service to our customers. In addition, the small fees charged help offset the cost of maintaining the archive. We hope you will find this service of value and feel free to contact us with your comments.

To safeguard against fraudulent charges on a credit card, we ask for complete billing information to verify that the credit card number and the contact information match what the credit card companies have on record.

Please visit our Terms and Conditions page.

Please visit our Forgotten Password page.

You can choose the format you would like to view by clicking the icon next to the article title. Please note: Only some document formats may be available. The following formats may be available:

Preview - The free Preview provides bibliographic information about the article, such as author and publication date, and a brief summary. This format contains no photos!

Full Text - The Full Text version includes the citation and abstract, along with the complete text of the article. This format contains no photos.

Please visit our Technical Support page.

Please fill out our Customer Service request form.

Please fill out our Customer Service request form.

If you still have questions after checking the frequently asked questions, please contact Customer Service. Please keep in mind that assistance is available only for technical and account-related issues. Research assistance is not provided.