The Alternative Press Centre is a non-profit collective that indexes selected publications of the politically left-oriented alternative press and publishes an Index to them in a format similar to the traditional Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Originally named the Radical Research Center, the organization was founded in 1969 by a group of activist students and faculty at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, who wanted to make the information and perspective contained in the growing number of alternative periodicals available to more people. By issuing an Index the Center hoped to make the periodicals more easily accessible by giving librarians an incentive for establishing alternative press collections and by providing readers with a research tool.
To begin operation the Radical Research Center discovered what underground papers existed, determined which periodicals to index, organized and coordinated a national network of volunteer indexers, developed a new subject heading list to adequately index topics reported in alternative periodicals, produced a computer program to compile the data, and organized an office staff to handle routine inquiries, subscriptions, and complaints. In addition the Center also hoped to act as an information clearinghouse by reproducing specific articles that were not widely available. Although the project did receive one grant from the Danforth Foundation in October 1969, the Center depended on subscriptions and donations for a financial base and on volunteer indexers as a work force.
The first Index was issued in February 1970, and covered a diversity of publications ranging from the New Republic and Trans-Action to Leviathan and the Berkeley Barb. It included periodicals in local areas and a representative sample of publications covering the current political movements such as old left, new left, women's liberation, gay rights, and the anti-war movement. However, after the first issue, the Center had difficulty maintaining a quarterly publishing schedule. The students responsible for the Center's operation eventually realized that the project required more than volunteers to coordinate publication of the Index. Therefore, in the summer of 1970 some of those involved formed a collective and began working full time at the Center.
In 1972 the Center moved to Rochdale College, a free university in Toronto, Canada, where it could be assured complete autonomy from the university administration. Because of negative reaction to the term “Radical Research” and because the name never accurately described the Center's activities, the Center was incorporated in Canada under the name Alternative Press Centre. A collective staff of three people continued to do the office work, computer work, and publishing in Toronto while a staff of 60-100 volunteers continued to index approximately 150 periodicals. However, a lack of money and people still plagued the Centre in Canada, and in November 1973, it ceased publication.
Finally in July 1975, a new staff took over the Centre and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where it began indexing 1974 periodicals. The Centre also established an Alternative Periodical Information Centre which served as a library for its accumulated collection of over 150 titles of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters.
