The Political Science librarian organized a trial of the Proquest resource, Historical Black Newspapers. The trial runs through October 10, 2012. You’ll notice that the trial gives you access to a “Graphical Edition” and an “Extra Edition.” The graphical edition includes one more title than the extra edition, but I’m not sure what other differences there are between versions.
The library already has access to the Chicago Defender 1910-1975 through Proquest Historical Newspapers and within our newspapers collection we have coverage of many of the other titles. A comprehensive listing is available on Jason Schultz’s African American Studies subject guide. I mention this because I think it is unlikely the online resource will be a priority purchase for us, since we already own much of the content. Your comments on the resource are always welcome, however. You can leave them here or send them to me at jdorner@library.berkeley.edu.