Digitized vs Searchable

On 29 May the Deseret News ran an article U. Library digitizes 100 years of The Provo Herald.

Buried in the fourth paragraph is that the archive, which is available online and free to the public is that "every page of every issue is keyword-searchable, a feature that cannot be replicated in print or on microfilm."

Although having images - sometimes called digital microfilm - available is an undoubted advantage it's nothing like as valuable as searchable text even if the search is far from perfect.

Having the search extend across the entire text of the entire corpus is in turn much more valuable that only issue by issue.

That's something I've been asking for from BIFHSGO's corpus of Anglo-Celtic Roots, but which I'm informed is not feasible with the current system and budget.

Maybe that's also the case for the 657 issues of the Arnprior Chronicle recently made available through the Arnprior and McNab/Braeside Archives.

Pity!