- Access to The Bullet
- Finding article within The Bullet
- About the Indexes
- Using the Indexes
- The Bullet Index Files
- Index to UMW in the Free Lance-Star
- Free Lance-Star Index Files
Access to The Bullet
UMW Libraries holds issues of the University of Mary Washington’s student newspaper, The Bullet. Current issues are shelved in Simpson Library’s oversized periodicals area, and in the Periodicals section of the Stafford Campus Library. A complete run of The Bullet, from 1922 to date, is available in Special Collections, on the 2nd floor, Room 217, of Simpson Library. Please note Special Collections’ hours and usage policy.
Finding articles within The Bullet
UMW Libraries compiles an index to selected issues of The Bullet. The index includes records for articles published from the Fall of 1991 through the present. The record for each article contains citation information and terms describing the main subjects of the article. Records are organized by date and are searchable. To access this index, please see Index to The Bullet below.
Currently, there is no index for issues prior to the Fall of 1991. Those interested in articles published prior to 1991 are encouraged to make an appointment with Special Collections to view these issues of The Bullet.
About the Indexes
UMW Libraries compiles an index to selected issues of The Bullet. The index includes records for articles published from the Fall of 1991 through the present. The record for each article contains citation information and terms describing the main subjects of the article. Records are organized by date and are searchable. Files cover one calendar year and, currently, files from 1991 through 2004 are available below. For access to files covering 2005, 2006, and 2007 please contact Simpson Library’s Circulation Desk at 540-654-1125.
Currently, there is no index for issues prior to the Fall of 1991. Those interested in articles published prior to 1991 are encouraged to make an appointment with Special Collections to view these issues of The Bullet.
Current issues of The Bullet are shelved in Simpson Library’s oversized periodicals area, and in the Periodicals section of the Stafford Campus Library. A complete run of The Bullet, from 1922 to date, is available in Special Collections, on the 2nd floor, Room 217, of Simpson Library.
Using The Indexes
For full usability in viewing these PDF files, we recommend you have a current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher. The files can be accessed using Acrobat 5.0, but search functionality is limited. You can visit the Adobe Web site to download the free Acrobat Reader software.
Navigating the Indexes
Movement within the PDF file is controlled with the large arrow keys: ![]()
First Page:
Last Page: ![]()
Next Page:
Previous Page: ![]()
Bookmarks: The Bookmarks tab is located to the left of the records and allows the user to quickly jump to particular newspaper issues by date. Your open PDF file will still be viewable on the right portion of the screen.
Pages or Thumbnails: The Pages or Thumbnails tab opens miniature views of each document page and allows you to navigate within a selected page.
Searching the Indexes
1) Select the binocular icon from the Adobe toolbar. ![]()
2) A “Find” or “Search PDF” search box will appear to the right of your screen.
3) Enter your search terms or phrase in the search box.
- The default search will look for the terms you enter as letters within words in the records. For example, a search for “war” also returns results for “awards,” “Seward,” and “towards.”
- If the “whole words only” box is checked, your keyword or phrase will be searched as whole word matches. Whole word searching finds occurrences of the complete word entered in the search box. For example, “Devil Goat Day” will only locate records with that exact phrase, and not records where only the words “devil” or “goat” or “day” appear.
- DO NOT connect terms with AND or OR (Boolean searching). For example, “DuPont AND exhibits” will return no results. You can either search for “DuPont” or you can search for “exhibits,” but not both at the same time.
4) The results of your search appear as links within a Search Results box. Clicking on these links will highlight that result where it appears in the corresponding record in the Index.
5) Click the “New Search” box to start a new search.
The Bullet Index Files
Index to UMW in the Free Lance-Star
Selected records from Fredericksburg’s local newspaper, the Free Lance-Star, that pertain to the University of Mary Washington are also indexed from Fall 1990 to the current update. Files cover one calendar year and, currently, files from 1990 through 2004. For access to files covering 2005, 2006, and 2007 please contact Simpson Library’s Circulation Desk at 540-654-1125.
Current issues of the Free Lance-Star are available in Simpson Library and the Stafford Campus Library in the Current Periodicals sections. Previous issues of the Free Lance-Star are available on microfilm in Simpson Library (Call Number: AN2.F73F72).


