• Search the Forum Newspaper Index, 1975-1995

The NDSU Libraries Reference Department staff selectively indexed Fargo’s Forum newspaper, beginning with 1975 and continuing through 1995. Indexed were article pertaining to the Red River Valley, North Dakota and western Minnesota. Articles on Fargo-Moorhead, area social issues, prominent North Dakotans, economic development and agriculture are examples of the types of items indexed. Omitted were national news items, syndicated columns, and routine birth and marriage announcements.  The indexes were published in book format by the NDSU Libraries and in 199 the data was used to develop this searchable database. Beginning in 1985 obituaries were also indexed, spanning from 1985 to 1995, and separate annual publications were issued. The obituaries are now part of the online Fargo Forum Obituary Index database.

Indexing practices varied somewhat from year-to-year: business news, letters to the editor, editorials, sports news, and reviews of theater, music, opera, and dance performances were selectively indexed some years and not indexed during others. If an article included a map, graph, chart, illustration, cartoon, or photograph, this is usually indicated. Indexing terms and keywords were taken from Library of Congress Subject Headings, the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature, and from the newspaper articles themselves.

The Forum newspaper is available on microfilm at the NDSU Libraries Microforms area as well as at the NDSU Institute for Regional Studies. Photocopying from the film is available. To order photocopies of articles contact the Institute via e-mail at ndsu.library.archives@ndsu.edu