All issues of the College of William and Mary's student newspaper The Flat Hat from September 1939 through May 1950 and most issues from August 2004 through February 2007 are available for browsing and keyword searching online. The remaining issues of The Flat Hat from 1911 through April 1990 and August 1992 through March 1999 are available for browsing. The missing issues which were not previously microfilmed and thereby not digitized in 2007, will be added in the future. The ability to search all digitized issues will also be added in the future. Current issues of The Flat Hat can be found online at http://www.flathatnews.com/.
The Flat Hat is a rich source of information, announcing events taking place on campus as well as reflecting student opinion. It began publication in October 1911 and, except during the fall of 1918, has been continuously published ever since. Until a few years ago, library staff indexed the The Flat Hat (as well as the Alumni Gazette and the William and Mary News) by subject and personal name. This index is still available as a card file in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) on the first floor of Swem Library for public use. All three of these publications are available in the SCRC on microfilm and in paper format. Contact the staff of the SCRC for further information or search assistance (spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090).