I'm looking for the author of this quote and getting NOWHERE! Please help!

I think that you might have to go there and do an archive search. I don’t think from my research that their material from the 1980s is available online. Sorry.

But I don’t live in San Francisco!! I live in Houston. How can I find out without flying halfway across the country? There has to be a way, right?

Ah. Well, you can try calling the Examiner and asking their librarian to help you. There may be a fee.

Alternatively, Fluther is filled with San Franciscans . . .

Okay, you think they have a librarian? I never even heard of that. I will do that tomorrow when “normal business hours” resume. Thank you.

All newspapers have librarians or archivists.

Okay, thank you again.

De nada.

You could also go to your local library and see if they have a database that indexes the Chronicle from the 1980s. At my library, we have the New York Times and other journals back that far but I’m not sure about the Chronicle. If I have the time at work tomorrow, I’ll see if I can find it.

Examiner, not Chronicle. Examiner seems a little less likely to be indexed than Chronicle.

@ Jeruba Oops – sorry, wasn’t paying attention. You’re probably right.

I found this if it helps: http://www.aspirennies.com/private/SiteBody/Romance/Poetry/Neruda/Review_100LoveSonnets_Neruda.shtml

@Resonantscythe – Thank you. A for effort, though I’ve also seen that page.

Oh no! I wrote to them, and they already wrote back and said:

“Hello:

The Examiner has a different owner than it did in 1986, and the current company has no archival information.
I might suggest the San Francisco Public Library.

Best wishes,
Leslie”

I love how she “might” suggest it. She’s not actually suggesting the library, she’s just…thinking about it.

~big sigh~ Now what do I do?

Go to the website for the San Francisco Public Library and see if they have an “Ask a Librarian” link where you can e-mail reference questions to them. They probably do.

P.S. If they do not have e-mail reference, you can go retro and call them on the phone. Ask to speak to a reference librarian.

No, they do, I’m writing my message right now.
That’s why I gave you the GA. I had no idea.

@La_chica_gomela Good luck! Someone must have those archives.

There is always the Library of Congress. A librarian there helped me find a picture I was in that was published in a now-defunct New York newspaper in 1964.

Also try Worldcat to see who might have the archives on microfim or microfiche.

SRM

@srmorgan:

I don’t live in Washington DC either, though; how is the Library of Congress any easier than the San Francisco Public Library? Do you know something I don’t know? Do they help you over email?

What is Worldcat?

Wow, @srmorgan, I’d like to know more too. I have searched for three pictures I saw in the newspaper and been unable to come close, even with lots of information about them.

I don’t think for your question the Library of Congress would be any better than the San Francisco Public Library. I’ve never looked into whether they have e-mail reference although they have wonderful resources on their homepage. SRMorgan has direct experience with them so may know more.

WorldCat is a catalogue of all the books published and what libraries own them. I didn’t think it did, but maybe it has lists of newspapers too? There are other lists, usually regional, which list what libraries hold which journals and which periodicals. They are called Union Lists.

I think a good reference librarian in a large San Francisco library is still your best resource.

@jeruba – Are your pictures photographs or photos of paintings? You might try a specialized art library like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

@Jeruba – Worldcat is a site which consolidates library catalogs from towns, counties, universities, institutions and allows you to search for books that might not be in your home town library.
I have generally used it in genealogical research: sometimes you will find that there might be only two libraries with a copy of a particular book and you MIGHT get it loaned to you through interlibrary loan.
I am fortunate in that my local library here in Wilmington allows internet access to inter-library loan and will attempt to obtain a book for me without my having to go to our main library branch downtown. In one case, I searched on my wife’s home town in upstate New York, found a history of her high school and the associated parish and was able to order the book. I got a picture of her grandparents that no one else had seen. Otherwise it was a pretty boring book but for $2.00 it’s a no brainer.

If you are looking for pictures, call the newspaper where you saw them. If not try the Bettman archive which I think is online.
In my case of working with the library of congress, it came about this way.
In 1964 my picture was taken as publicity for the sixth National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge PA. I lived in New York and they took us to a scout camp and we prepared recipes that would used by the various participants.
So there was a newspaper photo of me chopping onions in my scout umiform at the age of 15 and I wanted a copy. I thought my Dad had a copy but when he died we could not find a copy in his apartment. The newspaper was the NY Herald Tribune which stopped publishing in 1967.

Worldcat showed that the LOC had microfilm copies of 1964 and a very helpful librarian actually got the reel, found the article, printed it and sent it to me by snail mail, at no charge.
Also through Interlibrary loan, Duke University sent us the actual microfilm reel (us being my library) and I was able to print a very poor copy.
Again I live in North Carolina, not Washington DC and was able to contact the library of congress without any trouble over the internet.

@La Chica gomela.—- the public libraries in San Francisco must have this newspaper archived. Or, there is a newspaper morgue somewhere for this publication.

And strange as it may seem, the New York Public Library has huge on line resources and indices to their other holdings that are not available on line. www.nypl.org

If Jeruba could be more specific then I would have some other suggestions, however I write this on 3/11 at 8pm and tomorrow I will have surgery on my hand and will not be on line for at least a week or maybe reading but not typing so get it to me in a hurry,

SRM

I wrote them a message 2 days ago using their website “email a librarian” feature, which said someone would contact me, “usually within 24 hours”, but no one has yet…

Well, I asked this question more than six months ago, and no one from “Ask a Librarian” ever wrote me back, and I STILL need to find out. I looked at worldcat, but I didn’t have any success with it. Any new suggestions?

@La_chica_gomela Your best bet is still going to be finding a library with a database that indexes the Chronicle back that far. WorldCat is just going to give you books.

I think the San Francisco Public Library is your best hope but understand the frustration of not getting an answer back. In my experience, e-mail ref is pretty low down on the service priorites of many understaffed, overstretched libraries. I believe that if you call the reference department of one of their branches and speak to a live librarian in SF, they should be able to track down the quote for you.

For that matter, if you are near a good university or research library, they may well have a database (possibly Lexis-Nexis news) that indexes the Chroncicle. I don’t think my colleg does, but if I remember, I will check it out when I am there.

@janbb: Again, its the Examiner, not the Chronicle.

Yeah, my college library did absolutely zero to help me when I contacted them about it several times. And its supposedly one of the “best” 20 universities in the country. So much for that. I will try to call SF when I get a chance. Thanks for the advice.

Sorry about the newspaper name mistake. I didn’t reread the whole question – just wanted to respond to your frustration with some ideas.

Thanks, I really do appreciate it. It was just that you called it the Chronicle the first time you answered the question, and someone said something then too. And it seemed like a central part of your answer…

San Francisco Chronicle rolls off my metaphorical tongue more readily, I guess and I hadn’t reread the whole thread. But I’m glad you pointed it out since I will see if I can find it tomorrow in our databases. As Jeruba said (rereading it now), the Examiner might not be indexed, in which case the newspaper archives would probably be your only source.

ok. Thanks so much!